How to organise your business receipts

When it comes to running a business, organisation is crucial.

We all have our own ways of doing things but bookkeeping and accounting are all about numbers and it is important to ensure they are done right. And a big part of that is ensuring that you are organised with your financial records.

What do we mean?

We mean do you have a box of receipts well organised and ready to hand over or do you have them all stashed in a jacket pocket, the bottom of a bag or simply lying around on the desk? If you keep your finances organised, it can save you time and can even help your business be more up to date with cashflow and financial reports.

Here are a few easy tips to help your business become more organised with the paperwork to save you time and hassle.

Create a storage space

Whether it is a drawer, an old shoe box, a folder….it doesn’t really matter but make sure that you have somewhere that receipts etc can be safely located.  This isn’t a specific spot on your cluttered desk; this is a designated collection point that is safe. If you get into the habit of storing these things in a designated location, you won’t miss anything and it will make it a lot easier for your to do company finances.

Do you need to keep hard copies?

Less and less people print things these days which is good for the environment and also easier for you to manage your finances – as long as you don’t loose them.

You need to keep at least 6 years of financial records but they don’t have to be paper documents. So scan things and have a good old clear out of the office.

What about a filing system?

If you are going to start storing your receipts in one place, you could take it to the next level and begin a filing system for them.  Filing your receipts by category with a folder for each type of expense can make things so much easier. If you are storing digital receipts, having them in a folder system is very easy.

Frequent reviews

How many times have you been up late at night trying to sort out your receipts that you haven’t looked at in months? Did you vow ‘next time I will do it more frequently’?  In that case, do it.  A default diary is a great way to set time aside to get these things done.  Think little and often.  It will be a lot more productive that way.

Or…

Get someone else to do it.  That someone else being us.  We are Momentum Bookkeeping and our goal is to make running your business easier. Whether it’s getting paid by your customers on time, completing your VAT returns or processing payroll; the demands on businesses can seem endless. While you may not love bookkeeping, we do.

For most small businesses bookkeeping is a chore, for us it is a joy. Seriously!!! We don’t like bookkeeping… We LOVE it!! And the bigger the pile of paper on your desk, the more excited we get.

We have over 17 years’ real experience of working with small and medium sized businesses across every industry sector. And while we may be based in Glasgow, we have clients across the country.  Thanks to the marvel of modern technology, we can keep up to date with our clients through zoom, phone, email and scheduled face to face meetings so that they are always being taken care of.

We have extensive experience in all major software platforms, be it Xero, Sage, Quickbooks etc. So if there is a particular piece of software you have used previously, we can continue to use that with you. It is not about us selling a particular package to you. It is finding out what your business needs and building some real momentum for you.

And if what you are using is not right for you, we can take it a step further with a bespoke bookkeeping system designed just for your business. Many of our clients are using our own, bespoke software package which can be completely customised to your needs. We don’t want you to have to work around package constraints.  We want your business to run smoothly so that you can focus on the growth of your company.