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Blog: Surfing the Paper Wave
 Organize Your Files, Part 1 of 3
In my own home office and in my customers' homes and offices, I have found that files fall into three broad categories: documentation, information, and active files. This is true whether your home office is for business or personal use; whether your files are paper or electronic or both; and even whether you have an "office" at all, or just a file cabinet somewhere in your home. This week, I will be discussing documentation files. Tune in next week for ideas about information files, and the week after that for some pointers on active files.
Documentation files, as their name suggests, document something: the events, major and routine, in your personal life, or your business operations. On the personal side, your documents include:
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Certificates of birth, death, marriage and divorce.
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Purchases of homes and cars, including titles, mortgage and loan documents, settlement paperwork, and the insurance policies that protect these possessions.
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Purchases of smaller articles, usually documented on credit card statements, and any warranty coverage on such items.
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Financial documents, including bank and investment statements, employer benefit summaries and reports of Social Security earnings.
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Health histories for the members of your household, including such varied items as pediatric record books, copies of relevant medical tests and weight loss club cards.
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Education records for members of your household, including tuition receipts, current report cards and communications with teachers about current problems.
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Employment records, including resumes, copies of performance reviews and letters of reference.
Customer records and the documents describing the conduct of your business comprise your business documents. Customer records include your current active customers, your inactive and completed customers, and any prospective customers that you intend to pursue. They also include materials that support your work with your customers. For example, my customer support materials contain:
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Contractors and suppliers, such as junk haulers and closet companies;
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Forms and brochures, such as my invoice and the telephone questionnaire I use when speaking with a new prospect;
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"Homes" for things, such as thrift shops, charities that take donations, and recycling facilities.
Customer records should all be kept together, and labeled as to what type they are.
Files that document the conduct of your business include:
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Licenses to conduct business, articles of incorporation and the like.
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Insurance policies.
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Tax returns of various types that get filed throughout the year.
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Supporting tax records, such as deposits of income, expense documentation, and inventory records.
Whether business or personal, it's good to keep your documentation files together, in the same filing cabinet or drawer. Many people find that a filing system based on subject areas, such as those I've just listed, makes it easier to file and find things than a simple alphabetical system.
posted on: 11/18/2007 10:30:00 AM by Suzanne Kuhn
category: Paper
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Surfing the Paper Wave
by Suzanne Kuhn
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About Suzanne:
Suzanne Kuhn is the owner of ACE ORGANIZING, offering affordable, customized, energizing organizing solutions to homes, schools and small businesses in the five-county Philadelphia area and central New Jersey. Although an organizing generalist, (she'll organize anything!) Suzanne has a growing specialty in paper and electronic filing systems and financial organizing. To receive her FREE booklet, 50 TOP TIME MANAGAGEMENT TIPS, email her at [email protected]
Suzanne's Website:
http://www.onlineorganizing.com/BlogList.asp?sort=organizer&schedule=41&name=Suzanne_Kuhn
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