How Savvy Bosses Stay Digitally Organized

There are lots of ways to describe small business owners. From smart and ambitious to creative, decisive, and resilient, there are many notable qualities that help those of us in this position succeed. But what about organized? While maybe it doesn’t sound quite as exciting as the rest, being organized is incredibly important when you’re running a business. After all, there’s surely a lot on your plate and all those details matter!

This article will teach you how to organize your digital filing system (that’s right – all those documents you keep on your computer) so you’re fully prepared to leverage opportunities, apply for funding, and respond to any audits or financial reviews that come your way. 

Wondering which company, business, and tax documents you should keep? Find out by referring to our color-coded Savvy Boss Document List, which also spells out exactly how you should organize them. We believe that this will make things a lot easier and clearer for you!

An Introduction to the Overall Organizational Strategy

In order to keep everything organized, we recommend grouping your digital records into the following three groups: company, business, and tax documents. Don’t worry – we’ll dive into the specifics of which paperwork falls into each group below. 

In the meantime, note that you’ll want to create a folder on your computer for each of these groups. Then set up yearly subfolders within the “Business Documents” and “Tax Documents” folders.

For example, make a folder titled “General Administration” to house the three group folders (“Company Documents,” “Business Documents,” and “Tax Documents.”) Next, within “Business Documents” and “Tax Documents,” set up subfolders for each year (“2023,” “2024,” etc., or “TY [tax year] 2023,” “TY 2024,” etc., for your tax documents.)  

Put another way: General Administration > Tax Documents > TY 2022, TY 2023, TY 2024. Similarly: General Administration > Business Documents > 2022, 2023, 2024.

As you may have already realized, your company documents don’t need yearly subfolders since those records tend to be evergreen. So, in this case, the folder hierarchy will look like this: General Administration > Company Documents.

Group #1: Company Documents

Now, let’s spell out what goes in each group folder, starting with “Company Documents”:

• your company’s formation papers, including Corporate, LLC documents, and any DBA certificates.

• the letter from the IRS showing your company’s EIN (tax ID)

• your certificate of authority (sales tax)

• any foreign entity registrations

• any non-profit state registrations

Group #2: Business Documents

When it comes to your business documents, they typically renew periodically and, hence, need to be updated in your records. For instance, be sure to replace your insurance policies with the most recent ones after they’ve been renewed. Similarly, you’ll need to save W-9 forms each year after requesting new ones from your contractors who may have moved (or company information changed).  

This folder should also serve as a reminder that certain contracts, whether with clients, contractors, or partners, sometimes need to be revised and replaced.

Your “Business Documents” folder should include the following items:

• insurance policies

• contracts

• independent contractor agreements

• your W-9 form

Group #3: Tax Documents

It’s vital that this folder includes yearly subfolders. Why? So you can easily locate a specific tax document when needed, particularly if you have to respond to an audit letter or tax notice.

You’ll want to digitally file the following records in your “Tax Documents” folder:

• annual forms, such as:

• wage statements (W-2s, K-1s)

• income statements (1099-NECs, 1099-MISCs, 1099-Rs, 1099-Gs, etc.)

• interest and dividend statements

• investment account statements

• virtual currency statements

• tuition statements

• pension statements (e.g., contributions to a retirement account)

• childcare statements

• receipts that include:

• big ticket items

• scanned paper receipts

• charitable contributions

• estimated tax payment contributions (paid from a personal account)

• health insurance premiums paid for the year

• out-of-pocket medical expenses

• income reports, including:

• POS reports (Shopify, Square, etc.)

• invoices

• sales receipts

• financial reports, such as:

• bank statements (all accounts – even credit card accounts)

• business financial statements (profit & loss, balance sheet, cash flow)

• loan/line of credit statements

• prior year tax returns

• 1099 forms:

• 1099-MISCs (rents; attorney fees)

• 1099-NECs (independent contractors)

• 1099-Ks (include the gross amount of all payment transactions)

A Final Word from Tuesday P. Brooks, Owner of AJOY

As you can see, there are quite a few documents that small business owners should keep organized and handy! But don’t feel intimidated. AJOY’s Savvy Boss Document List exists to make this whole process much easier for you. Simply gather together the paperwork on the list (this can also be used as a paper filing system, but hopefully you are not still using paper.😐) and save it according to the hierarchy mentioned above, so you’ll feel good about being organized and running your business like a boss!