Here is what I do to get my clients organized. The best part is that it’s very cheap to do (under $10.00) and will help keep bookkeeping costs down while allowing you to stay organized!
Envelopes
I go to the dollar store and buy 12 of the 9×12 Kraft Envelopes (not the padded ones, just the regular ones) as well as mailing labels (the large kind). The envelopes are I believe 6 for $1.25 at Dollarama and the mailing labels are $3.00 I think. Write the month and year along with your company name on each label (one for each month – like this:
January 2018
Accountable Value Financial Services
). Affix one label per envelope. When you have an expense, print it off and put it in the envelope. All bank statements, eTransfers, Deposits, Invoices should go in that envelope for that month. When you send an invoice, print a copy for the envelope (if you send electronically you only need one copy, if you send/give in person, print 2 copies – one for them and one for you). If you send an Interac eTransfer, print off the confirmation and write on there what it was paying or what it was for, then put it in the envelope. When you receive funds for an invoice, either print off the confirmation (if it is an eTransfer) or take a copy of the cheque along with the deposit slip from the bank; put these in the envelope. When your bank statement comes in, put it in the envelope as well; when it comes time for bookkeeping, we will organize it according to your bank statement date. If you take cash out of your business account, you should make note of it somewhere as to why, otherwise it gets recorded as a shareholder draw and could be taxable at the end of the year.
Once a month, all you would have to do is give your bookkeeper the envelope. If you find a receipt that was missed going in the envelope, you can always put it in the next month’s envelope and it will get attached properly to the financials.
This is what I do to start organizing my clients. It’s far less work than some other ways of doing it which saves time and money. If everything has it’s own folder, then it’s difficult to reconcile at the end of the month; you are looking through a dozen folders rather than just one. Time = Money
Feel free to use my methods or alter them to suit your needs. They aren’t perfect, but they work well. I can only speak to what works for Accountable Value Financial Services and our clients and what I have seen from working with other companies.