Ryan Vaughn shows chronically disorganized people how to manage bookkeeping by scheduling a regular time slot, tracking 3-5 key metrics, downloading annual statements to a cloud folder, and collecting receipts in one pile. If structure feels suffocating, delegate to a bookkeeper or accountant instead.
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, you know, I think it's important that we acknowledge where we are weak. And just because we're weak in one area doesn't mean we have to lack confidence in other areas of our life. So props to whoever asked this question. So, um, organization is about structure and routine. So if you're unorganized, you are going to need a little— you're going to need to add a little bit of that into your life. Um, now, so I'm going to share some tips, but note that I'm not necessarily sharing the best practice tips. I'm sharing it from the standpoint of If you're unorganized, these are some things that, as I thought through it, maybe you would consider doing. Some of these are good ideas for everybody. Other than— other of the ideas are kind of more of like, if you really are that unorganized, at least do this. So the first thing when it comes to bookkeeping, you do need to schedule time to get the books done. Now, if you're not an organized person, if you would consider yourself unorganized, you are going to hate doing your books. And usually if there's a task that we hate doing, it's very easy for most of us to put that off. So just keep that in mind. Um, but I mean, bookkeeping should be done on a consistent, regular basis to make it so that it's not a giant once-a-year project. And, uh, the only way to do that is to schedule the time. So even if you're unorganized, schedule the time and honor that appointment and, and get the books done during that timeframe. So for reports, I find if I'm unorganized, just having a simple list of things, not very many, 3 to 5 maybe, 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, thinking— having to think through, well, what should I look at this time? Um, so again, 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. So how long does the bank hold your bank statement records, your credit card company, if you have a lender, if you have loans, how long do they keep records, um, that you can access at any point? Like some banks, for example, after 3 years, if you want a statement older than 3 years, or some banks it's a year, if you want a statement older than that time period, you got to go through a whole bunch of hoops to get them to send it to you again. Um, 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, at least once a year usually, 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 Save those in a folder, in a spot that I know well where I can find it. Maybe that's a Dropbox or a Google Drive type of thing. Type of thing. Is there anything else on that one? Oh, 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 say— 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 or once a year 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, maybe you go in then and 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 You know, 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, and I'm not— I mean, if people have examples, I'd actually— this would be a great case study. Most successful businesses have some sort of component that keeps things organized. I mean, even Walt Disney, you know, great creative. If he didn't have his brother Roy, it never would have 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're— if you consider yourself a creative or an unorganized person, and the idea of this concept of organization just is like, it's going to 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, it could be all of those. So hopefully those tips help. Remember, profit is a choice. Have the courage and wisdom to choose it.
