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Records Management Time Savers

Posted on by Frank J. Albi Leave a comment

Managing business records is a lot of work. But it can also save you time — and money — in the long run.

In 1980, I started the first records control company in the Cincinnati area. Over the years, I’ve discovered a number of best practices that will help you save time while you control your business records.

  • Create an inventory of what you have in storage, so you can quickly retrieve records when you need them.
  • Consider using a records control company like BIS that barcodes and tracks records, to help you save time when you need to retrieve them.
  • Establish a disposal schedule — and follow it — so you don’t keep records beyond their required or useful life. Ask your records control company if you can be automatically notified when it’s time to dispose of records. That way, you can painlessly purge your expired files to achieve compliance with your business records disposal schedule.

For more of my thoughts on saving time, take a look at this short video:

Spring Cleaning for Your Business

Posted on by Frank J. Albi Leave a comment

Just as the fresh air and warmer temperatures of spring inspire us to give our homes a thorough cleaning, I think it’s also the perfect time to do a little spring cleaning in the office, too.

I’m not talking about dust bunnies under your desk or leftovers in the office fridge (but by all means, take care of those, too!) I’m talking about spring cleaning your records to ensure you save only what you need and safely dispose of the rest.

A good spring clean will reduce your risk and liability. Start by understanding the business records retention schedule regulations for your business records–personnel files and other HR records in particular. Once you know what you’re required to keep, you can create policies and procedures to be sure records are purged as soon as the applicable disposal period has been satisfied. Timely records purges not only reduce the cost of maintaining inactive files, they also keep possibly damaging records from being used by plaintiff’s attorneys.

Get organized and store the “keepers” to save time and maintain good records. How much time does it take for a file retrieval from your records storage area? Do you have a list of everything you have in file storage? Can you quickly find what documents you need? Time is money, but unlike money, once spent time can never be replaced. Every document you deposit at our Cincinnati document storage facility is barcoded and tracked by business records management software so that you won’t waste time when you need to retrieve records. You can also use tracking to tell you when it’s time to dispose of records so that you can painlessly purge your expired files to achieve compliance with your business records retention schedule. It’s like an automatic cleaning crew for your records.

Safely get rid of records you no longer need. After you fill all those bins with unwanted files (both printed and digital), what are you going to do with them? You can’t simply put them out with the garbage like household trash. Make sure you securely shred the paper and destroy the electronic data. Once the excess clutter is out of your office, you can really enjoy all the extra space and efficiency that comes from a good spring cleaning.

Good Recordkeeping Takes the Pain Out of Tax Time

Posted on by Frank J. Albi Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again, when flowers begin to bloom and accountants work overtime to get tax returns finished before a looming deadline.

With April 18 just a few days away, you should have already filed your business taxes, and hopefully your personal returns as well. Still pulling your hair out, frantically searching for records and receipts? Here’s a little advice to make next spring a lot less painful for you:

Get and keep your records in order, and your future tax seasons will go much more smoothly. Not only will you have everything ready for a simpler filing process, you’ll likely save on tax expenditures, including fees, missed deductions and penalties.

Our friends at the IRS point out multiple tax benefits of good recordkeeping on their website. Those benefits include:

  • Monitoring the progress of your business
  • Preparing accurate financial statements, such as income (profit and loss) statements and balance sheets.
  • Identifying the source of your receipts
  • Keeping track of deductible expenses
  • And of course, preparing your tax return

If the IRS does want to examine any of your tax returns (also known as the dreaded tax audit), you may be asked to explain items you’ve reported.  It will certainly help matters for you if you have a complete set of records to show the auditors.

For personal taxes, I like the “four shoebox” method, which means keeping the past three years’ worth of records in three corresponding shoeboxes. The fourth shoebox should be empty, ready to house the current year’s records as you accumulate them. Once you file your return next year, you can dispose of the records in the oldest shoebox (because you can only be audited for the past three years’ worth of returns). Then the newly empty box serves as the new tax year’s record holder. Sounds low-tech and simple, but it works.

I know it isn’t always easy to get your ducks in a row when it comes to business records — during tax season, and all year long. Want to get some help achieving pain-free tax returns in 2012? Learn more about how you can save time with offsite document storage and imaging, as well control business records management costs.