Ryan Vaughn of Incite Tax walks through low-effort bookkeeping systems for disorganized people: schedule regular sessions, track 3-5 key metrics, download bank statements to cloud folders, and keep receipts in a pile or envelope. If structure feels impossible, delegate it to a bookkeeper or accountant.
What are some tips for a completely unorganized person to stay on top of their bookkeeping, reports, documents, and receipts? I love this question because I think it's important that we acknowledge where we are weak. Just because we're weak in one area doesn't mean we have to lack confidence in other areas of our life. Organization is about structure and routine. So if you're unorganized, you're gonna need to add a little bit of that into your life. I'm gonna share some tips, but note that I'm sharing it from the standpoint of if you're unorganized, These are some things that you would consider doing. First thing, when it comes to bookkeeping, you do need to schedule time to get the books done. If you're not an organized person, you are going to hate doing your books. Usually if there's a task that we hate doing, it's very easy for most of us to put that off. Bookkeeping should be done on a consistent, regular basis to make it so that it's not a giant once-a-year project. The only way to do that is to schedule the time. So even if you're unorganized, honor that appointment and get the books done during that timeframe. So for reports, I find If I'm unorganized, having a simple list of things, not very many, 3 to 5, whether they're 3 to 5 reports or 3 to 5 metrics that I want to see, but just have a small number of things so that when it comes time to get reports, you're not having to reinvent the wheel every time. If I'm unorganized, a simple list of reports that I want to see will at least minimize the effort I put into thinking about what reports I should be getting. And then it goes back to the bookkeeping because usually reports are a product of bookkeeping. You got to have the time scheduled to look at it. So maybe that's part of it too, just schedule in a Recurring thing, maybe it's once a month. Look at these reports. Documentation: you probably want to find out how long the different companies are holding your statements. How long does the bank hold your bank statement records? Your credit card company? If you have a lender, how long do they keep records that you can access at any point? Some banks, for example, after three years, if you want a statement older than three years, or some banks it's a year, you got to go through a whole bunch of hoops, and that's just going to make an unorganized person hate this process even more. So find out how long they keep them because you are going to basically rely on them to hold. The data. I do recommend though, on some sort of consistent basis, go into your different accounts and save the statements. So I would go into my bank account and in one sitting download January, February, March, April, May, June, July, all the way through December, save those in a folder in a spot where I can find it. Maybe that's a Dropbox or a Google Drive. A lot of times you can have electronic delivery of these things, and that actually makes it really convenient for the unorganized person because you're just going to get a monthly email with your statement. So in your inbox, create another folder and just call it statements, and when you get those emails, move those emails with statements into that folder in your inbox. And now you don't have to log in once a month to download statements. You already have it there. At some point, maybe if your inbox gets too large and you're against your file capacity, go in then and save those statements somewhere on your desktop as opposed to keeping them in your email. And then receipts, at a bare minimum, at least pile them somewhere. Keep a pile on your desk, use an envelope and shove them in there. Receipts can save your bacon in an audit. We've seen that happen. My last thought on this is Sometimes people are unorganized because they choose to be because the idea of structure and routines feels very stifling to them. And there's nothing wrong with that. If you're that type of person, you should not beat yourself up or have any guilt over the fact that you are unorganized and don't like it. But you do need a solution in place because I am a big believer most successful businesses have some sort of component that keeps things organized. I mean, even Walt Disney, great creative. If he didn't have his brother Roy, it never would've happened. In fact, Walt, was not a success on his own until he brought Roy Disney into the picture. And Roy was more of the organized person. So look, if you consider yourself a creative or an unorganized person, and the idea of this concept of organization just like gonna hamper your ability to do what you do great, you need to find someone you trust to take over the organizational aspect of what you need done. That could be a bookkeeper, that could be an accountant, it could be a chief operating officer, it could be an office manager. So hopefully those tips help. Remember, profit is a choice. Have the courage and wisdom to choose it.
