85 – 3 things I am doing this month to organize my files and tax documents

85 - 3 things I am doing this month to organize my files and tax documents Lisa Woodruff 28:52

1. Collecting tax documents.

Collecting, organizing and preparing tax documentation is overwhelming. I think it is because the information you need comes to you in a trickle through the mail, your email inbox and your own receipts – little by little – every day for weeks like Chinese water torture.

So I have come up with a few ways to alleviate my anxiety and take the torture out of tax preparation.

Have a file, box or basket to put ALL incoming tax information.
Make a master list AFTER you file your taxes this year of the documents you needed to find. Above is a picture of my list.
Set aside a 3-4 hour chunk of time to organize and prepare your taxes in one sitting. I actually look forward to this day. 🙂

2. Purging all my files & creating a color coded Filing system. After I file our taxes in early February I purge our Filing cabinet. The first time I really did this it took days and I was able to get rid of 80% of what I had. Download my FREE Printable – To Shred or Not to Shred

So I thought and thought and came up with this simpler, yet still cool, system. I already had colored hanging files {which I LOVE!!} and I assigned each category in my Filing cabinet a color.

Then I purged each file as I put the contents in the new colored file.

3. Systematizing my home based business income & expenses for 2016.

Tax time has been a breeze the past few years because I have kept up with my business taxes each month.

Having been in business for myself for over 20 years, I know how hard it is to keep everything organized. This year I disciplined myself to do my finances in my business all by myself DAILY!

Each month I would reconcile and do my tax prep on the 1st of the month. I actually started to look forward to it because I have created a checklist and form to fill out each month so I didn’t miss any expenses.

Each month I knew how much I actually made. I was able to continually refine my process and reduce my expenses.

This year I had my graphic designer make my pages in to adorable printables and they are available in my ETSY shop both as a digital download or printed with divider tabs in a DUO Binder.

Click here to read the full post, download the printable and enter the giveaway!

Lisa Woodruff Founder & CEO of Organize 365®

Lisa Woodruff is the founder & CEO of Organize 365®.

Lisa, along with 87% of America, believes organization is a learnable skill. Yet less than 18% of those same Americans feel they are organized. Through The Productive Home Solution course, Lisa aims to teach Americans young and old the skill of organizing and unlocking their time for what they are uniquely created to do.

As the host of the top-rated Organize 365® Podcast (which has 17 million downloads and counting) Lisa shares strategies for reducing the overwhelm, clearing the mental clutter, and living a productive and organized life. Her sensible and doable organizing tasks appeal to multiple generations. Her candor and relatable personality make you feel as though she is right there beside you; helping you get organized as you laugh and cry together.

Under Lisa’s direction, Organize 365® has conducted academic research establishing the definitions of housework, home organization and the weight of paper in the American home. This ongoing research is making the invisible work at home visible to all. The goal is to eliminate it and free people from the monotonous tasks of daily living; and unlock their time for what they are uniquely created to bring forth in the world.

She is the author of four books including: How ADHD Affects Home Organization and The Paper Solution. Lisa’s understanding of the lived female American experience has helped her to create products & courses like the Sunday Basket®. These products and courses externalize the routine tasks that take up the executive functioning capacity of our brains; freeing us up to think and create again!