Organizing Receipts

andrew07

Hello all, I was just wondering how you all handle your receipts that we all have for purchases, (business and personal), I don't have time to do it and unfortunately the wife is not that organized,

What is the best way to keep them organized and accounted for, do you have an accountant keep track and organize them (probably expensive), or hire a relative or college student, what programs would be the best, I was using a spreadsheet before, just trying to get some helpful input, thanks.

orson

Job foreman are responsible for getting the reciepts to the office and submitting in the proper location to the bookeeper. Every reciept must have a job# if it is a job supply and a category number that corresponds to either a Quickbooks item number or Quickbooks expense account number. The company bookeeper then accounts for the reciept in Quickbooks and files it. Additionaly we designate reciepts "TM" for time and materials, "W" for warranty work and "A" for allowance items. A typical reciept might be labeled 45-270-TM for job #40, Trim Carpentry, Time and Materials.

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Crete Buster

andrew07,

Another option you may want to check out is www.neatreceipts.com

From their website,

"
NEAT Receipts develops scanning and software solutions that help you organize your paper and simplify your life. Scan, analyze and organize your receipts, bills, business cards and more - then store everything in a database on your PC. Say goodbye to clutter and hello to an organized, digital life."

I'm looking into right now myself. It seems that it may be the answer I'm looking for my "organizing" issues.

If anyone on the forum has used this product firsthand, please share.

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Mike Finley

Receipts serve your business 2 ways

1) A record for you to use to figure your profits and losses.
2) A record to prove your profits and losses to the IRS if asked for them for the next 7 years

For #1 you need to enter the transactions the receipt represents into your accounting software (quick books) or a ledger book if you are doing it by hand.

Example - $300 for 4 yards of cement for the Smith Job on 8-22-08 : needs to be entered into your accounting system so you can deduct that $300 as an expense for materials from the $4000 of income that Mr. Smith paid the company. So you only pay taxes on the profit of $3700 and not the full $4000.00

For #2 all you need to do is file them in a way that you can recall them if needed. Most people write the job name on the receipt and use a monthly file system. Stick that receipt for the $300 cement in the Aug folder. If you need it, you query quick books. Most likely the steps would be you are questioned about the Smith Job expenses. You look up the Smith job in quick books, see it was done in August 2008 and you pull your August 2008 folder which has all the receipts for that month in it. You pull all the receipts out of that folder that say "smith" on them and you have your $300 receipt.

Keep in mind #2 is only needed if you would be audited. Everything else you will be doing you do with your accounting software with the data that represents that receipt. Your receipts only need to be saved and saved in a way you can find an individual reciept if asked for it.

Meetre

not to preach at you, but FIND THE TIME!!! this is your business!! it's how you pay your bills. get it taken care of man(or woman)!! maybe you need to just write on it in the truck before you leave the store, but get it in your accounting software or on a ledger. Then file it. Must do for BUSINESS!!!

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andrew07

Thanks guys good advise, this is the hardest part of business for me to get done, but I know its got to be done.

"andrew07,

Another option you may want to check out is www.neatreceipts.com"

Yea I am going to look into this, thanks.

davy crockett

I bought Neat Reciepts from Costco and it is great. Takes a little getting used to and you have to have computer sense but for a small biz it is the bomb.

andrew07

You really don't need that program, I found a way that has been around for along time, download free edible text software, then scan receipts and it turns it into text just like that program but this is free at http://www.freeocr.net/, then copy into Excel, put IRS categories next to the receipt items and even the tax amount if you wish do do a simple formula, then I am going to get a 12 pocket expandable folder to hold all receipts by month, and whenever I need to find something I can look it up on Excel to make it easy to find. I can also put a copy of the Excel on my Moto Q phone to make it easy to find receipts on when I am not at my computer. I am getting organized!

Crete Buster

i will have to check it out to see how it compares to neatreceipt before i buy it. thanks.

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Mitch M

I am not sure how NeatReciepts can help. What is the difference between that and just a regular scanner? Especially one that is all in one with copier, scan, etc together. How does the filing in the computer work?

I deal with a lot of receipts every month and while I love technology I have to draw the line sometime. Besides, I have to convince my wife if it looks worthwhile.

Crete Buster

mitchm,

check out their website www.neatreceipt.com and it explains how it scans, categorizes and organizes etc.

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blel0906

Receipts were always a challenge for us all those small peices of paper UGH...This is how we do it...

Each of our techs is given $100 petty cash that they sign for upon hire...Once a week when they turn in their hours for payroll I have added an expense report to the bottom of each time record...broken down by category Gas, supplies, tolls..they break down their receipts and stapple them to their time records...I then cut the check to said employee after verifying they add up and enter the break down in Q books...If I ever have to proove back the checks cut to the employees I just pull their weekly reports where I also record the check number associated with the reimbursement...Sometimes because of gas prices we have to reimburse in between...basically I do the same thing just attach those reciepts with the past report...

Anything else we put in a bank zipper bag, once a month I run a report on QBooks for any cash or anything that was entered as misc...take my receipts out of the bank bag and run a spreadsheet by month balancing back to those transactions...Put the receipts in an envelope list the month year and stapple the report to the bag place it in a file...Run a seperate report that I keep in a three ring binder along with my bank recon and month P/L, Balance sheets...

Supply bills etc just get filed under the vendor...

Never have been subject to an audit (knock on wood) but I have been told the more organized you are the less likely they are to dig too deep (ie digging through and scrutinizing each and every reciept) If i ever had to experiece an audit I hope that my monthly reports would be suffiecient...I also try to log on my reports if the it was a cash or credit card transaction and who's cc was used if that is the case

darienite

Have a business account strictly for material cost so you can keep accurate records without going crazy. Try to keep actual receipts also, but its good to have this paper trail. Also you can utilize an expense credit card...very easy way to account for expenses and have a monthly paper record. On top of these two things we keep all receipts stapled to the project contract and in the file cabinet by last name (of course we have a copy on quickbooks) but cant hurt to have paper back up.

We are a remodeling company not dealing with tons of employees or anything. 3 man crew, but it still can be difficult to stay organized. Good luck!

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Sarah9910

If you are using QuickBooks, you can set up your employees like a credit card, when you pay the employee for expenses, you post the payment to the liability account called their name (make is a sub account of an account called "employee expense reports" or something like that. When they send in receipts, you enter them using the credit card "Enter credit card" feature, posting the receipts to the gl account or item they go to and job if for an item.

Make life easy, leave them in the envelope from the employee and staple that envelope to the check stub and file in a paid bill file named with vendor (or for expenses, employee) name (plus one for each letter called "A Misc, Paid 2008" etc.). When you need to know the cost on a job, look on the job report, if the bill paid was named "Joe's Electric" you have one place to look for it, the "Joe's Electric Paid Bills 2008" file. It will also keep the job file neater. At then end of the year, you can print out labels from QuickBooks for next years paid bill files.

Most software now has the ability to scan invoices in and attach the scanned copy to the job file, so you can look at the receipt (marked up maybe by the job super) without going to the paid bills file (and you can email it if you need to). But you will know it's there if you need it.

Important note: no invoices will be in any files if no one is doing the filing. Everyone hates to file, be sure you look under your employees desks for boxes of paper, I fired a gal once who I found just tossing receipts, paid checks, etc, in a box under her desk and saying her filing was done.