Clean up your act! Get your files organized and be ready for tax time

Are you pulling your hair out trying to find things? Do you have 2016 receipts and bills getting mixed up with all the 2015 paperwork that hasn’t been filed yet?  Are you starting to worry about finding everything for tax time and losing valuable time digging for things you need now in 2016?

Tax time is around the corner and with it comes that feeling of dread mixed with a little bit of panic that you can’t put off the inevitable too much longer, you will have to start pulling things together. Problem is, your piles are many and you don’t know where to start.

Our project for February is to get our files organized – finish up 2015, and get your office and files ready for 2016.  Do it now before you get in too deep!

Here are a few tips to help you finish 2015 in good order, be ready for tax time and be on your way to an organized 2016

1. Plan for a day of uninterrupted “quality” time to get your office in order.  When you think of how much time and frustration it takes to find things, 4 – 6 hours to get it organized is a good investment.
2. First, gather up all the 2016 receipts, files, bills and bit and pieces that are starting to clog things up and getting mixed up with all the 2015 paperwork. Put them all in a file folder labeled – 2016 TO BE FILED and we will get to them later after we have taken care of 2015. Until you have your files set up, keep putting all 2016 into this file to keep them out of your way.
3. Now that the 2016 layer of paper is gone, take all the 2015 loose papers, the piles, the stacks and anything else that is hampering your ability to find anything and sort them into categories. Depending on your personal situation this could be: Monthly household bills, financial statements, insurance documents, medical, children, tax documents, junk mail etc.  Get it all out, use the dining room table as your sorting table.
4. Have bags ready to drop recycle or shred the items that you do not need to keep or don’t know why you even have them.
5. Take the sorted  2015 receipts and get your  filing caught up, get these things put away.  Note – If you don’t have a filing system setup and you haven’t filed anything for the year 2015, take some hints from Tip #8 and create a system that gets your paperwork organized.  Also accept that this may take you a bit longer than a day! But the good news is you are finally dealing with your personal paperwork!
6. Move all of your 2015 files to the back or into another file drawer to make room for your 2016 files.
7. Create your 2016 file folders.  I use a combination of hanging files and manila file folders.  You can write your labels or go high tech with a label maker it doesn’t really matter as long as you have a system to put things away that works for you.
8. Design your filing system. I keep my filing system as simple as possible.  My system looks something like this,  I have hanging files for:
   • Each month of the year to file general monthly receipts and  bills. These are usually non tax related documents and can be disposed of at the end of the year.
   • Tax Documents – anything that will be needed at tax time goes in here.
   • Financial – individual manila folders for each bank, credit card or investment account.
   • Insurance – individual manila folders for auto, home and whatever else you may have.
   • Medical – individual manila folders for paid medical expenses, Medical coverage benefit explanations  and medical coverage.
   • If you are a small business owner you will have additional files for business expenses, client files, business taxes and licenses.
9. Now that you have your files ready to go, get your 2016 filing caught up, Your desk should be clear and you can breathe a sigh of relief.
10. NOW,  it is  time to get your 2015 Taxes ready to go!  You should be able to find everything you need to get them done efficiently!

Need some help getting to the bottom of those piles and finding your desk? Give us a call – we would be happy to help you discover a system that works for you.