Organizing Financial and Tax Return Information Digitally

It's that time of year again when everyone is looking for better ways to manage financial papers and information. So here's the latest updates on the tools I've found to be the easiest and fastest ways to organize financial data for tax time.  In fact, this year was SO easy for me that I had all my financial data loaded into Turbotax by Jan. 15, and all we are waiting for is my husband's W-2  I'm going to be done as soon as we get that! It feels so good to not have to worry about getting taxes done.  I can enjoy my spring!

Can you believe I used to be one of those people who waited till the week of April 15 and then would be running to the post office to get it postmarked before midnite?  Seriously.  I used to despise doing taxes!  But taking my Big Girl pill, and getting organized, really helped me not only conquer my loathing of financial matters like budgeting and taxes, I became a MASTER of it. 

Once I got started it became addictive.  It's so empowering to conquer things you are afraid of and thought you could never figure out.  (You can read more about my financial story and how I got out of $25,000 in debt here) You can also read about how I worked as a financial organizing coach with an ADD client to get her papers and financial life in order in this article where I was interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel about what an Organizing Coach does.

And now, on to the tools that make my financial organizing so much easier! 

p.s. Leave a comment below if you have any specific financial organizing questions you would like me to write about here! 

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NEAT RECEIPTS

I got the new NeatReceipts Scanalizer in 2006. It  worked FABULOUSLY!!!!  My husband and I hooked it up and got it working in about 15 minutes.  Then we started scanning.  Here's how it went.

At first it had a little trouble recognizing about 40% of the receipts but, IT LEARNED!  Soon it was recognizing and accurately inputting 80 - 90% of them.

The only thing we had to do with some receipts was adjust the total and enter the category - which is extremely easy to do.  It was worth the effort because when you finish you get to press a button and generate a report that has all your business expenses sorted AND subtotaled for you!

In about 1 hour we had our process streamlined and 6 months receipts scanned. (about 100 receipts) 

Within another hour I had all the totals I needed to send in my estimated tax payment for 4th Quarter...AND I was ready to file my tax return for the year. 

In 2 hours, I was able to input my whole years worth of expenses!  This year I kept up with it once a month or so and so it took me no time at all.   

You can also enter expenses with no receipts. We manually entered expenses for which our only receipts were checks or entries on my business credit card statement such as:

• Payments to our web host
• Payment to subcontractors
• PayPal expenses    

You can enter documents into the Neat Receipts software on your computer using any scanner you have.  The software is what you really buy NeatReceipts for. For example, we wanted to  scan our credit card statements.  That worked but it was actually easier to use our flatbed scanner for that.

It's set up very similar to the Excel spreadsheet I created years ago to enter all my income and expenses for my Schedule C, but it's more reliable because you can't accidentally delete a formula. And it would take many many hours to have Excel generate the beautifully laid out and easy to read reports you get with Neat Receipts.You can export the results to Quicken, QuickBooks, MS Money which I now  also use.

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QUICKBOOKS SIMPLE START EDITION 2008

I got started with QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007 a year ago and I'm thrilled with it!  I have upgraded to 2008 and there aren't really any major changes.

To complete my Schedule C in Turbotax all I had to do was print my Profit & Loss Standard Report  and everything was in the exact right category for the 1040 Schedule C.  Of course, that's because I set it up that way.  Read my review of QuickBooks Simple Start Version here.

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TURBOTAX BUSINESS & HOME

I've been using Turbotax for about 8 years now.  Ever since my tax preparer's rates went up to $600 to do both my Schedule C and personal returns.  I LOVE IT!!!  It has two tracks.  One track walks you through and interviews you.  You answer the questions, and before you know it you are done.  Once you really get the hang of it, you can also go in through the "Expert" track and just fill out the parts you know you need to complete using what is kind of like an electronic form.  If you have a fairly simple return, you can save a lot of money over using a tax preparer.  It has saved me thousands of dollars.

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FUJITSU SCANSNAP

The Fujitsu ScanSnap is next on my agenda to get all my paper scanned and reduce the amount of file space I need.  Check out the Fujitsu ScanSnap in my Neat & Simple Amazon A-Store with over 22 positive Reviews!!!  I also posted a review of the Fujitsu Scansnap by Tracy Axcell, another professional organizer here. 

RELATED

See my recommendations on how to handle paper receipts here.

Check out my book on how to get your entire office including papers organized!  The"Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office" 
Good Luck With Your Taxes!

Leave a comment below if you have any specific financial organizing questions you would like me to write about here!