What is the Best Software to Create Forms?

There are many software solutions available to help your business create forms. Forms are used to capture data for a specific business purpose. Deciding on the best software for your business will require you to examine what features and functionality you need to accomplish your desired outcome. Software for creating forms should be both simple and powerful enough to help you capture all types of information needed. This article covers some of the top considerations when selecting the best software to create forms for your business.

4 Data Considerations When Creating Forms for Business

The basic purpose of creating forms is to collect data. When deciding on a platform for creating forms, consider how data is captured, stored, and made available for reporting. 

#1. Data Capture

All form builders are designed to capture data. But there are some important distinctions to make and not all form builders are created equal.

Understand how data is captured from users. You will want to determine how you need to collect data from your employees, customers, or partners. For example, if your teams largely operate in the field, having mobile forms will be required to capture data from a tablet or phone. You may also want the ability to collect data offline when in remote locations and have it sync to the cloud when WiFi becomes available. Knowing how you plan to collect data will help you determine what software solutions and features are needed to support your use case.

Consider what types of form fields are needed. You will want to understand the types of fields that can be used when creating forms. For example, some software solutions will allow you to build custom form fields like:

• Image capture for users to upload a photo
• GPS capture to log the location of the submission
• Signatures to document agreements and records
• Calculations for automatically performing math based on form fields
• Barcode scanning for equipment or inventory
• Drop down and multiple choice fields
• Required fields to ensure accurate data collection

Balance ease-of-use and customization. Most businesses need forms to be customizable, yet easy to use. Some of the basic form solutions are easy enough to use, but fall short when it comes to making customizations to the forms. Best-in-class solutions today are designed with a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to quickly and easily develop mobile forms for data capture. Having the ability to make customizations (without requiring help from developers) empowers your team to move faster.

#2. Data Integration

It’s important to understand how your business needs to use the data once it’s captured in the forms. For example, you may want need to integrate with:

• Cloud storage and databases
• Accounting systems to process payroll
• Finance systems to process billing
• CRM systems to access customer data
• Other similar types of cloud-based systems

Syncing data between systems can improve data quality, reduce manual work, and enable data insights. As you evaluate technology, make sure to inquire about the types of integrations available. Some will be simple data connectors, while others may require a webservices API to connect your data. 

While there may be some upfront work involved to get your data integrated, there can be significant time savings in the future achieved through a connected data ecosystem.

#3. Data Analytics

Data analytics provide a way for your company to look for business trends and patterns. Identifying trends allows your business to take the appropriate next step and address any concerns or opportunities.

Capturing data through forms should enable and promote data analytics. This allows business leaders to dig into the data to better understand project performance, financials, and opportunities to drive business growth. 

Best-in-class form builders should allow you to both capture data and use that information for analytics and reporting. Make sure to understand how data captured can be used for analytics, so you can take advantage of the opportunity to leverage data to inform business decisions.

#4. Data Processing

It goes without saying that apps and software should have the highest level of security and data privacy. The technology should be secure and enable compliance with any applicable regulations. 

For example, your business may need to be HIPPA compliant if you are processing medical information. Or maybe you may need to be GDPR compliant if you are processing and storing customer data. Best-in-class solutions will have the highest level of security and compliance, helping to ensure that your organization is following best practices for data security. 

The best software for your business will prioritize the data needs of your organization. This will ensure that you capture accurate information, integrate data into your processes, and share data to any one that needs it.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas is a mobile platform that makes it simple for any business to automate how work is done, replacing outdated processes and expensive paperwork. The GoCanvas App works on all smartphones and tablets, helping companies easily collect information across their organization, share it instantly with others and gain real-time insights on their business operations.