Quick question about file organization - on comp and physical

M

macgrl

0
I have a couple of separate businesses and have a quick question about file organization - I guess this question could apply to different situations..

Bascially I need to have an accounts file for each business to keep track of papers for each company that the account / tax people need.

So should I have an account file with a different section for each business or with in each business file have a section for the accountant.

My thinking is to have a file for each business then a section for accountant, invoices, other papers etc rather than have the main file as accountant or invoices or whatever it might be with a separate section for each business.

Main file = Business X then sections...
-accountant
-invoices
-contacts
-insurance
-etc

Then at the end of the tax year just tie the 3 accounts files together with the relevant information (some businesses file at different times to others but some information is needed at the same time each year for all 3)

or Main file = Accountant then sections
- Business X
- Business Y
- Business Z

Main file = Insurance
- Business X
- Business Y
- Business Z

At the end of the day is it a personal choice as to what work flow / system works best for the invidual and feels most natural?
 
How does your accountant or attorney want to get stuff? By business or by task?

I am an officer for 2 organizations and also have both my business and my husband's to deal with in addition to our personal stuff. I have a separate filing area for the specific papers related to each business and have a folder for insurance, expenses and income for each of them. I use a different color file folder for each business so it's easy to see where a file goes in my filing cabinet. I know some folks don't like to use colors but I do.
 
Thanks for your reply...

the accountant likes each seperate business to have seperate receipts / invoices etc and then he ties together any final figures that he needs.

What I can do with the system I have at the moment is I can just pull out 6 sub accountant files from the main folders and am good to go.

One business is as a landlord and I have 4 properties....each house has organized like this both on comp and physically in cabinet

House A main folder

Subfolders

-insurance
-safety
-invoices / receipts
-tenants info
-contracts and deposit

this is the same for each house as it works for me rather than say having a main insurance file with sub files for each house...is this the most efficient way of doing it? or is it bascially the right way is that way that works for you.
 
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