Not so, however -- at least anymore -- in the offices of the accounting firm Adams, Brown, Beran & Ball.

With a dozen offices around Kansas -- including in Great Bend, Hays, McPherson, Hutchinson, St. John, La Crosse, Lyons, Hillsboro and Ness City -- the company is making an effort to "go paperless."

It's part of a larger focus by the company to be more environmentally friendly.

Founded in 1945, the firm provides accounting, tax and consulting services to clients throughout Kansas. As a well-established business, it employs people of various ages, said Justin Mitchell, a partner with the company in Hutchinson, including many who are in their 40s and 50s.

When a group of new, younger accountants -- part of the company's "Tomorrow's Leaders" group -- suggested the change, they expected some resistance, Mitchell confessed.

"It's a tough transition," he said. "When you have a wide range of employees, some are not as comfortable with technology, while others will take to it and thrive with it."

But ultimately, he said, the effort has been "very successful, with very little kickback."

That's due in part, he believes, to the approach the company took. It hired a consultant to help make the transition, and he recommends others contemplating a paperless office also do so.

"They advised us to move to using three (computer) monitors," Mitchell said. "They also gave us advice on different software to use."

They've found -- besides saving on reams and reams of paper -- that the system is actually more efficient than using and constantly shuffling through paper.

"On one monitor you have the tax return you're working on," Mitchell explained. "The taxpayer's paperwork is on another monitor. They bring in their W-2s and 1099s and you scan all that in and put it in a PDF. Then you can pull up last year's return on the third monitor. You can review the information as you use a workable PDF to input it into the third monitor. You do not have to flip back and forth to see what's on the screen."

Even moving to two monitors can increase efficiency, Mitchell said.

"My best advice is to consult someone who has done this before," Mitchell said. "Don't jump into by yourself. Seek advice from someone who has made the transition to paperless."

Other things to consider, according to several Internet sources, are selecting the right scanner for your needs and a computer backup system.

If many documents need to be scanned, a system that reads sheets of paper, rather than scanning one item at a time, is necessary. The quality of documents being scanned will also determine software needs and whether it requires optical reading software.

Another benefit of the paperless office -- besides saving on paper, ink, officer copiers and printer maintenance costs -- is eliminating filing cabinets and reducing storage space.

"I never counted the number of reams of paper we went through in a tax season, but we've cut that by at least half so far," Mitchell said.

Besides going paperless, the accounting firm's "Green Team" identified a half dozen other initiatives aimed at saving resources. The team meets quarterly to discuss the progress of its recommendations to the firm and develop other ideas.

Some of the practices implemented so far include: installing programmable thermostats in each office; installing compact fluorescent light bulbs; establishing collection centers for recyclable aluminum and plastics in each office; recycling shredded materials; video-conferencing to reduce travel; and developing a best practices checklist.