If you’re a woman entrepreneur or small business owner, you know the importance of keeping track of your finances. But all that paperwork and receipts can feel overwhelming! Here are some tips to help you stop drowning in financial paperwork and get organized.

The paperless office is here! You know all about it and maybe even planned to start one at some point. But there are so many options that you just don’t have time for— Instead of sorting out what filing system would work best with financial documents, you end up drowning in them.

The challenges of managing finances can be daunting, but there are ways to make it easier! I’m going over three different methods for getting your documents digitally organized and giving some key questions you should ask yourself before deciding.

Let’s talk about the WHAT of organizing our financial documents. Before we dive into HOW, let’s first agree on what you want to store and use for each type!

Different types of Financial Documents

Make sure you keep a list of all the receipts from your purchase. This will allow easy accounting and review if there’s an issue with something purchased or received that needs attention!

Keep a copy of your bills and check stubs for checks you write and receive.

Make sure you have a document that proves the financial stability of your business. This can be anything from bank statements or tax returns, but it should show how much money was made and where those profits went!

Digital documents are the contracts you send or receive each month, receipts from online orders, and notifications of recurring expenses.

Here are digital documents to keep:

• Bill received
• Receipts for purchase
• Bank Statements
• Credit Card Statements
• Loan Statements
• Recurring billing notifications
• Tax paperwork
• Sale System Detail Report

Here are the physical documents to keep:

• Bill received
• Receipts for purchase
• Bank Statements
• Credit Card Statements
• Loan Statements
• Recurring billing notifications
• Tax paperwork
• Check Stubs
• Charitable contribution receipts

Figuring out how to organize all of your financial documents can be overwhelming. The most confusing part for many people is figuring out which type of document goes with what else and then having an easy way put them into one system!

Cloud Folder

Cloud-based folders are a simple yet effective way to organize documents. For those with straightforward business models, this may be all they need!

That’s why I advocate for cloud-based storage instead of saving documents on your computer. We all know the horror story about having our hard drives crash, and even if you have never experienced it yourself, there are plenty who can relate to that feeling when they thought their own drive was going to be crashed at some point in time!

Cloud systems are a great way to ensure that you never lose your most important documents!

Financial documents can be physical or digital and should organize in folders. If you have hard copies, scan them; if they’re electronic, save them as a PDF file for easy storage on the cloud system.

Here are some tips if you decide to go with the Cloud folder:

• Organized the folders by years.
• Schedule in your bookkeeping routine to scan the physical documents.

Will this system work for you?

It’s important to note that this system requires some maintenance. If you have more than 50 transactions per month, it may be better for your business if there is automation.

Attach in your Bookkeeping Program

This is a great way to keep track of your finances if you use an online bookkeeping program. Every receipt, bill, or invoice gets attached with their related expense in the app, so there’s no confusion about which transaction belongs when it comes down to business expenses!

The cloud-based folder system makes it easy to organize and store all of your physical documents. The attachment method holds them internally, so you still need to scan in any paper pieces to attach each expense in your bookkeeping software programs like QuickBooks Online (or other accounting tools).

Will this system work for you?

Are you using bookkeeping software that supports this? If not, then this probably will not work for you.

Do you need to share your documents with a partner, investors, or bookkeeper? This is an excellent method to see all the documents in place with expenses.

Document Management App

The third document system – is the automated one! This method isn’t free to use, but it offers many benefits.

With Hubdoc, capturing your financial documents is easy. You can take photos on your mobile, use email, and scan or upload documents into Hubdoc.

Your key documents are stored online in one place.

Hubdoc does the data entry by reading key information from bills and receipts and turning it into usable data.

Supplier names, amounts, invoice numbers, and due dates are extracted for you to create transactions in Xero and QuickBooks Online with the source document attached.

Now your accountant can gain access to all your bookkeeping directly from Hubdoc. Simply grant your accountant access to your account, and an email invite will be sent.

Now your accountant can stay in the loop.

Will this system work for you?

Who do you share the data with your accountant, bookkeeper, or business partner?  How about having employees who use business credit cards need them to upload receipts?

The system is best for those who need everything in order and organized because this program does most of the heavy lifting. It’s like having an assistant to keep track of your papers so you can focus on what matters most: family life!

By taking control of your paperwork and creating a system that works for you, you’ll be able to keep your head above water and make strides towards financial stability. I’ve created a free checklist of documents you should keep. Download it now and get organized!