Prepare Your Taxes and Save Money
It's time to get last year's documents out of your filing cabinet, prep your tax information, and archive all pertinent paper work.
If you are overwhelmed at the thought and not sure where to start just follow these directions and you will be well on your way.
1.
Start with the right supplies
Allocate 2 hours in your day planner for annual transitioning.
This is cleaning up last year's files and inserting this year's.
However, if this is your first time archiving allocate a little more time.
3.
Ensure that all invoices from the previous year have been filed in the appropriate sub folders.
4.
Label each hanging folder with the appropriate folder name and put in a sub- folder with the same name and active year written on it.
For example my hanging folder tab says Dues and Subscriptions and the sub folder says Dues and Subscriptions 2007.
This year's sub folder will say Dues and Subscriptions 2008.
5.
Tabs can be positioned to the far left or far right on each hanging folder to allow for easy retrieval of documents and a clean look.
6.
Office Expense headings will commonly include: Auto, Dues and Subscriptions, Communications (land line, cellular, & internet), Meals and Entertainment, Office Supplies, Professional Services, and Utilities if you are home based.
7.
Office Document headings will include: Bank Statement, Bank contract/communications, Business License, Government - GST, Government - PST, Tax Information, Marketing, Advertising, etc.
8.
You are now ready to remove your 2007 expenses and place them into a contained area so that you can prepare your tax information.
Note - if you are challenged by paper clutter in your office consider creating one bankers box labeled Taxes where you can contain all documents that pertain to your taxes.
You can organize it once it is all contained or you can contact a professional organizer to help you prep your tax materials and set up an effective filing system to suit your specific needs.
9.
You are also ready to remove your 2007 documents and place them into a banker's box for your archives.
When you receive your tax documents back from your accountant they will be combined with the same years office documents.
10.
Most importantly - label your banker's boxes, hanging folders, and sub folders.
This system will not only ensure accurate tracking of all business documents but it will also allow you to easily transition years and effortlessly compile pertinent tax information.
If you are overwhelmed at the thought and not sure where to start just follow these directions and you will be well on your way.
1.
Start with the right supplies
- Hangingfolders
- Subfolders
- SharpieMarker (or better yet, a label maker)
- Tabs(3 inch are best because they allow you to generate labels with Avery 8366labels later if you choose).
Mysuggestion is stick to one colour (for files and tabs) until your filingsystem is fully functional.
Note - if you print your own labels you cancreate coloured labels.
- Banker'sBoxes
Allocate 2 hours in your day planner for annual transitioning.
This is cleaning up last year's files and inserting this year's.
However, if this is your first time archiving allocate a little more time.
3.
Ensure that all invoices from the previous year have been filed in the appropriate sub folders.
4.
Label each hanging folder with the appropriate folder name and put in a sub- folder with the same name and active year written on it.
For example my hanging folder tab says Dues and Subscriptions and the sub folder says Dues and Subscriptions 2007.
This year's sub folder will say Dues and Subscriptions 2008.
5.
Tabs can be positioned to the far left or far right on each hanging folder to allow for easy retrieval of documents and a clean look.
6.
Office Expense headings will commonly include: Auto, Dues and Subscriptions, Communications (land line, cellular, & internet), Meals and Entertainment, Office Supplies, Professional Services, and Utilities if you are home based.
7.
Office Document headings will include: Bank Statement, Bank contract/communications, Business License, Government - GST, Government - PST, Tax Information, Marketing, Advertising, etc.
8.
You are now ready to remove your 2007 expenses and place them into a contained area so that you can prepare your tax information.
Note - if you are challenged by paper clutter in your office consider creating one bankers box labeled Taxes where you can contain all documents that pertain to your taxes.
You can organize it once it is all contained or you can contact a professional organizer to help you prep your tax materials and set up an effective filing system to suit your specific needs.
9.
You are also ready to remove your 2007 documents and place them into a banker's box for your archives.
When you receive your tax documents back from your accountant they will be combined with the same years office documents.
10.
Most importantly - label your banker's boxes, hanging folders, and sub folders.
This system will not only ensure accurate tracking of all business documents but it will also allow you to easily transition years and effortlessly compile pertinent tax information.
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