Just send your receipts, and Shoeboxed will upload them into a personalized online database. has given small business owners and taxpayers an easy and convenient way to stay organized.
Well, several companies have products that can help you manage receipts with just a few clicks of your mouse-or camera phone. Maybe stuffing receipt slips into boxes or desk drawers and then drafting spreadsheets to calculate your monthly spending takes time you just don't have on a daily basis. “If you are paying taxes on income that you really didn’t make because you haven’t deducted your true expenses, then you are sabotaging the longevity of your business.” “You don’t have a grip on your true expenses if you can’t add it all up at the end of the year,” she said. "If you have to open a file cabinet and search for a file, or do not have a spot at all, then you probably won’t stick with it,” she said.Ĭollecting receipts for itemization at tax time has shown Fiehn how quickly all the little things can add up. Make a simple plan that you can live with, she advises. “It is all about having an easily accessible place to put them so you use it,” Fiehn said. She also keeps a file on her computer, and digitally stores receipts from online spending. Fiehn keeps an envelope tucked in the passenger seat of her car for all her food and toll purchases, a box at her home and a special drawer at her office, right next to her desk. But is it? And, is it really that beneficial? Yes, according to Catherine Fiehn, a Milford, Connecticut-based photographer and entrepreneur. In theory, getting organized about keeping your receipts sounds easy. By the time crunch time comes around, you’ll be ready to roll.” “Tabulating a month’s activity isn’t as bad as doing it for a year. "Consider collecting all the relevant data and creating a report of your activity once a month-perhaps when you sit down to pay the month’s bills,” Chen said. He suggests taking time periodically to transfer the expenses from receipts to a comprehensive spreadsheet. Chen says it's important to make a habit of labeling each receipt when you tuck it away for safekeeping so you can remember the nature of the expense. Something as simple as a shoe box or as sophisticated as a three-ring binder with plastic sleeves can work. One way to do that is to create storage spaces at home, in your car and at work where you may file receipts as you spend money. Chen holds a master's degree in accounting and taxation from the University of Hartford.ĭedication is the hard part, Chen says, but simplifying the process will help ease the burden and increase the rewards during tax season. Whenever you incur a valid expense, write the nature of the expense on the receipt and put it in an envelope when you get home, advises Eric Chen, an associate professor of business administration at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford, Connecticut.
The big secret to keeping receipts is organization that, experts say, along with conscious effort and a little time each day, can make itemizing expenses less challenging.