QR codes on documents and handover forms: why and where

An acceptance act, a delivery note or a stock-count sheet passes from hand to hand on paper, yet behind it sits an electronic record, a file or a spreadsheet. A small QR code on the sheet joins the two: hold a phone to it and the right entry opens. This simple idea saves a lot of time, but if it is placed badly the code will not read.

What a QR on a document gives you

Someone holding the sheet can, within seconds:

• open the card of an item or a piece of equipment: name, serial number, responsible person;
• view an electronic copy or a photo of the act;
• check the latest status of a shipment: received, returned, under inspection;
• jump to a page where a defect can be reported.

You need no special program to read it: a phone camera usually does the job, and an imager scanner makes it faster still.

Not every piece of paper needs a code. The best returns come from:

• a stock-count sheet: the code leads to the file of that count;
• an asset handover act: the code opens the equipment card;
• a delivery note: the code shows the delivery status;
• an internal order or request: the code links to the order record.

If a document is a one-off that nobody will open again, the code is surplus.

What to put in the code

Best is a short identifier or a short link, not a long text. A document number or the address of a card will do. The fewer characters in the code, the larger its squares and the more reliably it reads. Do not write a total, a name or a date into it: those can change, while the printed code cannot. A link, on the other hand, still leads to the right place after the data is updated. Do not publish an open link to confidential data; the page should ask for a login or permission.

If the link address changes, codes on documents already printed stop working, so pick a permanent address and never change it. Internet is not available everywhere in a warehouse: also write the key details, the number and the name, on the sheet itself.

Size and placement

For the code to work, follow six rules:

1. Printed, the code should normally be at least 2 × 2 cm; larger is safer.
2. Leave a white margin around it at least four squares wide.
3. A stamp, seal or signature must not fall on the code. Give it a corner of its own in the template, for example the bottom right.
4. Keep it away from the line where the sheet gets folded.
5. Print a black code on a white background; colour fills and shadows hamper reading.
6. Write a human-readable number beside it, the document number. If the code is damaged, the number can be typed in.

Each photocopy makes the code fainter, as the dots run together. So print the code on the original and never copy from a copy. A phone camera is usually enough, but if many documents are processed in a day, an imager scanner is quicker. If a code will not read from a badly scanned, skewed or half-torn sheet, the code itself is not always to blame.

The limit: a QR is not a signature

A QR code does not prove that a document is genuine, because it is easy to copy. For a document to carry legal force you need a signature, a seal or the rules of electronic document exchange. The code only adds convenience: it helps you find the record fast. Agree the current requirements with your accountant or lawyer.

Rolling it out

1. Choose which documents need a code: an act, a delivery note, a count sheet.
2. For each type, decide where the code leads.
3. Reserve space for the code in the template and put the number beside it.
4. Print ten sheets and test them with a phone and a scanner, folded and photocopied.
5. Give staff a short instruction: where to find the code and what to do.
6. A month later, open a few old documents and check that the code still works.

Conclusion

A QR code on a document ties paper to an electronic record, but it works only with the right size, a clear margin and short content. The Shtrix team places the code in your document templates, tests printed sheets in different conditions and checks that the code leads to the right records.