Organizing business paperwork

[stephbrownthinks]

I was wondering if any of you had tips for organizing business paperwork? My husband is in the final stages of getting his contractors license and will be running his own business. He started a corporation if that makes any difference. I'm just looking for tips that will make it easier come tax time, as well as any filing tips you've found helpful especially pertaining to self employment.

[Cynthia Mosher]

You might try posting in the WAHM Well forum. Women who work at home are self employed and may have some good suggestions for you. :)

[lisalu100]

This is concise, I'm supposed to be cleaning and working lol...

1. Filing cabinet, 2-4 drawers, letter sized, deep.
2. Hanging files, use a separate one for each vendor, and each customer, each account. Buy a p-touch labeler for easy, good looking labeling. Label each hanging file. Manila files are ok, but they quickly fill up, and are harder to keep organized.
3. Research Dropbox if you are going to be traveling, you can access your files from anywhere
4. I like the starred approach to organizing our emails on gmail.com. Any emails you need to action can be immediately starred, and you can make it so that you can see the starred emails first.
5. Phone calls are hard to make, but they are really important to get repeat business. Communication is key. Utilizing travel time to make hands free phone calls saves time.

6. "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity"  is a wonderful book

7. Keep mileage records ad update regularly. I just google map the location and enter that amount. My accountant thought that was fine.

8. Set a certain time every  week/month to do admin tasks, and hire someone to help you if you aren't that great at keeping it up. Even if you help him, set a regular time.

Good luck!