Organized Record Keeping: One Key to Running a Successful Business

The most important thing for a business to prioritize is the time of the owner and their staff. In my 30 years of experience working with businesses, small and large, I have seen 20% of time being wasted in locating various documents and contracts. Especially time being wasted locating vendor invoices to support expenses.

To set your business up for success, be organized from the onset. Businesses need to evaluate what record keeping system will work best for them. It is best practice to save vendor information for seven years. Receipts for fixed assets such as vehicles, machinery, and computers should be saved for even longer. Real estate purchase documents and all capital improvements on the real estate properties should be saved for as long as the property is owned and an additional seven years after the property is sold.

Many online accounting programs have built in features to save your records and save your time. Be sure to back up your data as time goes on as the Internal Revenue Service and States are always a few years behind in asking for support of your business’ income and expenses. Talk with an experienced accountant today on how you can organize your business records.