By Tara Richter…
Every year I can’t help but laugh at the commercials where the guy goes into the doctor and complains about a pain in his butt, to which the doctor replies “Oh that’s tax pain, nothing I can do about that”.
I get that painful feeling near tax time when, completely overwhelmed, I wonder where to start gathering the required information.
Having a small business compounds the tax pain since there are so many details, items, and numbers to keep track of. Once the end of the year comes it takes hours upon hours of sifting through receipts, papers and relying on memory for transactions, expenses and income from the previous year.
For this reason I’m really excited to try, over the next couple of months, the organization system for small business owners called The Simplicity Principle. The filing system comes in a coil bound unit with tear out pocket-folders for each month to hold papers & receipts specific to that month. Printed on the side of each folder is a Monthly Tracking & Reporting template to summarize the month’s activity. I love the fact that the front and back covers of the Simplicity Principle have both a Glossary and a Bookkeeping Process to offer a clear idea of exactly what I need to do at the end of each month as well as a specific understanding of what everything means.
I am really looking forward to getting organized with my small business document keeping process and with the new concept of it being an easy process instead of a burden. I like the idea of spending small amounts of time each month for tracking and reporting rather than leaving it all to the end of the year. I’m hopeful this process will greatly simplify book-keeping requirements and save my sanity!
Look for my follow up post closer to the end of the year sharing my experience using The Simplicity Principle. Interested in ordering it for yourself? You can pre-order the 2014 Edition of The Simplicity Principle and get the 2013 version for this year’s taxes free!
Stay tuned, here’s hoping The Simplicity Principle helps reduce my tax pain this year!
I do try to get organized but I organize things into junk drawers lol
That seems really handy!! We may be starting our own little company ourselves, so this would definitely be helpful!! Tax season is the worst 🙁
Awesome idea! I really need to get more organized myself.
i was an organized neat freak but after having my daughter that kinda slipped lol.
This looks like a great way to get organized!
i wish i could get that organized..good for you 🙂
That looks like a wonderful to stay on track when it comes to the dreadful taxes. Will have to tell my husband!
I try so hard to. Be organized, but it seems like I just end up hiding stuff 🙁
I try hard to stay organized and for about half of the year I do but then tend to just leave things lay around. I have a file drawer and when my papers get piled too high I then sort them and put them away. I have to stay on track for the whole year from now on.
I am not a huge organizer myself but I know how to navigate my unorganized mess! My best friend however, is the QUEEN of organizing – she would love this for a present!
I used to work as an office manager then financial manager and I learnt to spend the first and last 15 minutes of my day filing, organising and making sure I was ready for morning and all from today was filed away!
Wow great job , i try to be organized but its really hard to keep it that way !
I love organizing, but sometimes I slack at it.
Being and staying organized is one of the hardest things to do!!! 😉
I avoid starting a small home business for the simple reason that i’m scared of tax season as a business owner.
Sounds useful, I’m notorious for leaving it till the last minute and desperately searching for everything!
It is so hard to stay organized…I tried the accordion style and then I bought some dividers but both of these systems never worked for me. Papers are unorganized and when I need something I can never find it…this looks perfect. I am going to order one for my daughter too!
Organization needs dedication, but it can definitely simplify your life.
No money is money better spent than on a principled, experienced accountant that can save you money and time. Good on ya if you can do it yourself, but the pros know where you can do more or less and what other clients have been audited for. Have you ever tried to undo a mistake with CRA? It can take over a year.
Sounds like a useful system. I’m always struggling to stay organized.
I try to be organized -it’s a struggle!
realized how unorganized or organization was when we made our wills
This sounds like you’d be able to keep track of all that kinds of stuff so that when it comes time to find all your receipts etc to fill in your taxes, its not such a nightmare!
Sounds very useful! I would like to get more organized.
I have just managed to get my husband to put all his receipts and anything else he might need into a box,(at least they will be in order) I don’t think I can get him to do more unless I take over
i try so desperatly to get organized! It seems to never get quite there though!
Oh I’m so not ready for that lol
I start at the beginning of each tax year with good intentions.. goes well for the first few days..
being more organized is definitely a new years resolution for me! oh the time i wasted being so unorganized this year..
That looks like a great organization tool that would be perfect for my partner. He could definitely benefit from being more organized.
This product would awesome for any small business owner!
Great idea! I could the help getting organized!
Awesome tips! 🙂
very inspiring
Organization is always an ongoing process in our household.
What a great idea
My husband runs a small business too. His mom takes care of all our tax stuff though! We hand her all our receipts every other month. She has taught us how to do it too but she enjoys doing it so we let her and get her a gift card every year as a thank-you for doing it.
I am so not organized..well, I am kinda..I have an organized mess.
Anything to help me organize our small business is a life saver!
I think it is a great idea for someone that is starting a new business and has very little or know bookeeping experience. It is not impossible, but very helpful to get into good habits and an organizational system from the get go!
It is a good practice to be organized. I was an Office Manager and an Editor and organizing my day was crucial. Now that I am sick I have to organize my meds….lol
wow, help at your fingertips; sounds like a great organizer if one keeps it up
Seems like a good system. I love organization but I barely even have time for that these days!
I am organized, I like to keep everything in it’s place, now Hubs is another matter. The Simplicity Principle sounds like a great system, I hope you have success with it.
I think it is quite common problem- organizing everything not only docs, great to have working solution.
I wish I was more organized with all my documents. I think this system sounds very good for people like me who just have a junk drawer and I put all important stuff there until tax time..