7 Organizing Tips For Handling Receipts

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” www.drdeclutter.com

7 Organizing Tips For Handling Receipts

April 15th is far behind us (whew!)… taxes have been done for a while. Oh, but… are you still finding receipts around the house? Folded up little papers that you can’t quite make out anymore in pants and purse pockets, grocery and store bags, in books, under piles. Oops!

There’s a method for handling receipts that I want to share with you to make your life work much better – be ready for next years taxes – and push the “delete” button on unnecessary stress, anxiety, overdrafts and embarrassment about those lost and misplaced little pieces of paper.

1) MAKE RECEIPT MANAGEMENT A “ROUTINE” PROCESS
Create a simple system and a “routine” for dealing with paper (including receipts) as soon as it comes into your hands – and stick to it. In "organizing lingo" I call this, giving your receipts a "home."

Here’s an example: When I buy something, the receipt goes into one of the zipper pockets of my clutch purse, the SAME zipper pocket every time. And, unless I have tons of errands/purchases in a trip, when I’ll take a Zip-Lock bag for more paper/receipts, I use that pocket in my clutch purse and always know that’s where they are. ROUTINE. When the cashier asks, (or doesn’t) “Do you want your receipt in the bag?” I say no and take it, put it into my purse pocket.

Whether you use your purse pocket, Zip-Lock bags, day-calendar, briefcase, binder or back pocket, keeping things ROUTINE is very helpful. No more, “Oh! Where did I put that receipt?”

2) DEDUCT FROM BANK ACCOUNTS IMMEDIATELY
How much money have you lost due to overdrafts? Ouch!

Unless you have a Trust Fund Account that never runs dry!… you need to stay on top of deducting Debit Card and Check payments each transaction or at the end of the day with your receipts in hand. One of the things I do with each transaction other than Cash (unless it doesn’t have “cash” printed on the receipt), is as soon as I get the receipt I pen in the upper right corner a circle followed either BA for Business Account, PA for Personal Account or CC or my Credit Card. When I return home, I flatten each receipt out on my desk, take out my checkbooks and account for the BA and PA purchases, checking the circle as I enter them into my accounts. I never have a late charge this way or need to turn on the computer to check my online banking account to make sure I have it all correct. And, with Debit and Credit Card payments going through the amazingly quick electronic system now, they’ll be posted to your account BEFORE you ever get home, i.e., if you wait to check your online banking, it might be too late – why create this stress for yourself?

Check your Credit Card receipts against your statements when they come in, or on line.

3) PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR RECEIPTS FOR COMPLETENESS AND READABILITY
For every receipt, just take a moment to give it a quick scan. Pen at ready; fill in any missing, faded or torn information, corrections, additions or unreadables before you move another step!

It’s easy to keep moving to the next errand or back to the office, but by the time you take the receipts out and/or start to input for accounting, it’s too late to remember what it was. Lessen stress over this little stuff by taking just a moment to look over the receipt right away and make any markings necessary for later use. If you pay someone to do your bookkeeping, what a waste of your and their time and money to try to figure out what that little piece of paper says!

If you’re self-employed, of course, you need to remember to write lots of other information on your receipt immediately, like who you “entertained” for dinner, “where” you traveled; etc.

4) EMPTY YOUR RECIEPTS OUT DAILY
Depending on what paper your receipts are printed or written, they can fade, rub off, or get smeared if left smashed in your shopping pocket/pants pocket too long, end up in the washing machine… or worse yet, lost.
As soon as you get back to your home/office take them out and have a designated Receipts Receivable System through which to stream them. Keep reading!

5) ROUTINE PAPER PROCESSING – HAVE A SYSTEM
When you get home/to your office, you need to have a SYSTEM in place that will easily take your receipts. Some people use boxes, others folders. A folder or a few may be necessary for holding bins: A folder for “Undocumented Receipts” for tax input and one for “Might return this – 7 Day Decision/documented.” Give yourself less than 7 days to make a decision on returns more often than not. Waiting too long may wait past the store policies for returns and now you can’t return it or only get credit, not cash back.

6) RULE #4098 IN STRESS MANAGEMENT: TAKE CARE OF YOUR RECEIPT ACCOUNTING SOONER THAN LATER!
If you have a bookkeeper, make sure your SYSTEM is one that they know and use and that your receipts are flowing their way on a weekly or monthly basis. Otherwise, “Tag, you’re it!” Schedule time weekly to do the necessary data entry, and create a consistent ROUTINE and stick to that schedule. Obviously, if you have very few receipts you can do them once a month or more, but only if the previous 5 STEPS are followed so that the receipts are in the holding file(s) waiting to be accounted for.

7) USE TECHNOLOGY IF IT MAKES ACCOUNTING FASTER AND EASIER
Quicken, QuickBooks and others are computer programs that have made receipt documenting a breeze. But, if you don’t have many receipts, they can also be a bother. Decide what you need and make it work for you. Pen and paper work just fine if it works for you.

So, you’re set! Come next tax season… you’re going to be so ready!

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter

Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

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