My Organized Biz

Let’s say you have a fabulous idea for a business. It could be a service, or a product, and you just know it’s going to do well. Maybe you’re already in demand, with friends and family encouraging you to strike out on your own. It could be something as simple as selling your artwork, or handmade products on etsy. Or maybe you’re a great assistant, manager, or consultant.

But you don’t have a lot of office experience when it comes to managing your own stuff. Did someone else always do it for you? Was it just not necessary when you weren’t “officially” doing business? Or are you being drafted into the family business?

There are many ways to stumble into doing business for yourself. And it can be overwhelming. So how do you go about setting up your files?

First, figure out what you need to file. What do you need to keep? Contracts, legal documents (incorporation papers, any lawsuits), insurance papers, tax info, and receipts are just a few of the things you’ll need to keep. If you have any doubts, consult your lawyer and tax professional.

You should keep invoices, and mark them paid and file them. Whether you’ll need to keep them depends on what the invoice is for. If it’s a business expense, you’ll want to keep things until tax time.

A lot of your file setup will depend on what type of business you do. Let’s take me for example. I’m a writer. I set up my files so I can keep track of my expenses, and I have categories for various types of those expenses. Anything that’s a business deduction gets put in a tax file for computing later.

I keep copies of my paid invoices, in case there’s any question of payment. As I’ve mentioned before, I file many things by the month, but you may find that a category works better for you. Maybe you want to put utilities in one file, warranties in another, and medical expenses, auto expenses, and home expenses all in separate files as well.

If you print out correspondence, you will probably want a copy of that as well. You can file it by the subject matter or by whom it was sent to.

There’s no absolutely correct way to set up a file system. The only right way is the way that works for you. It has to be something you can use to actually find things when you need them. Where’d I put those incorporation papers? Where’s last month’s utility bill? Didn’t I already pay the service bill for the copy machine?

If you can’t put your hands on it, your filing system isn’t working. It takes some thought. Don’t just throw things in a drawer. Take some time to think about your needs and then design your files around that. Need help? Email or leave a comment and we can go over specific examples for you.

Have you ever had trouble setting up your office space?

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