Computer Odometer
How to keep your financial records organized
People have too much paper to deal with - even though the computers were to help in that area - It was not only most of us. I'll give you some quick tips to help keep financial records and income throughout the year.
- Monthly Transactions. I found that this system works well for many small business owners. Create a file folder from January to December. Keep two months on your desktop (January-February, April-May) in an area that is easily accessible - colored folders can really help too. When you make a purchase online print a receipt and place it in the file folder marked for that particular month. The same can be said of the toll receipts or the food he bought when he met a client potential. When your statement credit card comes in, and after paying the bill, placing the statement with your statement month-end in the folder files. Now you can send the file to your accountant or if you are the designated bookkeeper, once your accounts have been reconciled past month file away in his cabinet.
- Customer invoices. When a customer invoice is prepared, print an extra copy and file it marked file a bill for that particular year. At the end of the year you will have a record of all income you have checked. In case of a hard drive crash computer at least you will have a record for tax purposes.
- Mileage Register. You can easily create a mileage log in Excel to track their travel to meetings with clients, running at your local office supplies to buy the ink cartridge just ran out of maybe passage through the post office for mailing or sending the proposal of a new customer. Nor can we forget the networking events you will attend as part of your marketing plan intensified. The spreadsheet must have a column for date, beginning odometer / final, total miles, and its description.
- Outside of-pocket expenses. For cash disbursements we do throughout the year - the coffee at the airport, tolls paid to a meeting, or fast food in a seminar, you keep these receipts in a colored envelope marked with the year and keep track of spending in an Excel spreadsheet. You can then monthly or quarterly total and reimburse yourself for those expenses. Please make sure labor income and the spreadsheet to your accountant at year end.
- Taxpayer. Create a file folder taxes at the beginning of each new year. Throughout the year, anywhere in related tax expenditures in that file, such as medical bills, recipes, monthly or quarterly statements of investment, property taxes, and year-end statements from bank interest. At the end of the year when you are gathering documentation for your accountant, most of the information will already be there for his counter and asked where you placed the ad tax refund you received in April.
- Bank statements. For those who do not receive monthly statements bank in the mail, I suggest you create a file folder of bank statements on your computer. Each month, download the file from the bank website and save in this folder. You can configure the folder as a password-protected file if you have other people using your computer. At year's end, burn all the monthly statements in a CD and shop with your taxes for that year. Most banks have only 18 months of the states, some only 12 months your server. The IRS requires that you maintain 7 years of bank statements for audits. Once the CD is created, you can delete files from your computer and create a new folder for the new year.
I hope these tips and soon you will not feel so overwhelmed at the beginning of the new year trying to get all your files so that the preparation taxes. If you are interested in a disc retention schedule that the IRS recommends that companies, please email me at linda@yourextrahand.com and I will be happy to forward along to you.
Happy organizing!
About the Author
Linda Siniscal is the owner of Third Hand Secretarial Service LLC which she started in 1994. THSS is a virtual assistance company that assists small business owners with their administrative and bookkeeping tasks. Email Linda at yourextrahand@gmail.com or call 732-899-0810 – www.yourextrahand.com.
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