R.18 Organizing and Transmitting Receipts on a Monthly Basis

Authored by Winona Dorris and Poppy Davis 

The most efficient way for your bookkeeper to work is one month at a time. If you give them receipts in random order they will charge you for the time it takes them to organize your receipts. If you organize the receipts yourself then you will save money on bookkeeping. It also gives you a chance to review your receipts and make sure that none are missing and that any that need notes have notes. 

To organize your receipts for one or more prior months: 

1. Get receipts for all of your business transactions back to the first day of the current year
2. Get seven envelopes of folders and label them with the following names: 
   
   1. Income
   2. Production Expenses
   3. Sales Expenses 
   4. Equipment Purchases 
   5. Vehicle Expenses
   6. Office Expenses
   7. Other Expenses 
3. First, organize receipts into each of the categories
4. Then, look at each receipt and if it needs any additional explanation, write a note to clarify what the receipt is for and then 
5. Sort receipts by month within the category 
   
   1. You can use a piece of scrap paper to separate each month
   2. You do not need to put the receipts in order by day within the month

To transmit your receipts for one or more prior months:

Option A: 

1. Take a picture of each receipt and upload each receipt to your bookkeeping system
2. Write a big “T” for “Transmitted” on the back of a receipt when you have transmitted it to your bookkeeper.

This option is slow, but you can do it all from your home, and you do not risk losing your records. You will end up with an electronic record of each of your receipts which is a good idea because the ink on the receipts may fade, or the receipts could be lost. 

Option B: 

1. Go to a copy shop or use an app on your phone and scan your receipts - you can usually lay your receipts out so that you can fit three or more receipts on one page to be scanned
2. You will get an electronic file of all of your scans - you can have this file e-mailed to you or you can have it saved on a flash drive (you will have to buy a flash drive or bring your own)
3. Upload the file of scanned documents to your bookkeeping system

This option may be faster if you have a lot of transactions, but there will be a fee of around ten cents a page at a copy shop. You will end up with an electronic record of each of your receipts which is a good idea because the ink on the receipts may fade, or the receipts could be lost. 

Option C: 

1. Deliver your folders to your bookkeeper, or deliver them in person. 

This option may be cheapest and easiest, but it may not result in you having digital copies of your records, and it is possible that your records could be lost, and the ink on most of the receipts will fade. Your bookkeeper may scan your receipts for you, but they will charge you for their time to do this.