Managing Small Busine Tax Records: No All-Nighters Allowed by Pete Lorenco

This year's tax season is just an unpleasant memory viewed from a safe distance not unlike a flashback to your frantic Spring Finals Week in college (hopefully minus the mystery burgers and Jolt cola). Amen to that. But are you destined to live it out again in a Groundhog Day kind of way?

Flash forward: It's 2014, and the week before your filing deadline. You've stored every last bit of your financial information for a year leading up to this. You don't have hardcopies of any documents, because you hate how they clutter your desk. Then your computer crashes, sending the information you painstakingly compiled deep into the digital abyss. You're left scrambling and are likely to file your taxes late again.

The good news? You can avoid this fresh h***. Reformation is close at hand no summer courses required. You and your growing business can graduate to a higher level of recordkeeping excellence provided you're open to revising some bad habits.

Lack of Preparation Adds Up

If this scenario sounds like what you've already endured, you're not alone in your tragic chaos. Did you know that 30 percent of an employee's work hours are spent chasing lost documents? That's six weeks of man-hours per year. And the cost of retrieving a lost document is $120, while recreating one is $220. What's more, poor recordkeeping causes small businesses to lose out on audits.

Plot Your Final Goodbye to Sleep Deprivation

So how can you avoid these costs? Start by staying on top of your records management and data backup and recovery now. A formal company-wide strategy stores tax data in one place for multiple years so that it's auditable and easily accessible by those who need it when they need it, which ultimately helps you mitigate risk, reduce overhead and stay compliant.

It also pays to be ready throughout the year for the workplace version of pop quizzes. Actively monitor records storage and archiving processes and your data backup and recovery systems to account for changes in your workflow and business objectives.

Finally, consider teaming up with a trusted information management partner to help your business:

Guard against the risks of natural or man-made disasters

Locate and retrieve records easily on demand

Adopt consistent recordkeeping and destruction policies

Establish an auditable chain of custody for the life of your information

Track your information management progress with online applications and reporting tools

The end result? Instead of re-creating a week of bedlam each year, you'll enjoy 52 weeks of ultimate peace of mind.

Learn more tax-time and records specifics by visiting the offices of entrepreneurs Len and Ben (Infographic). You'll surely recognize some of the work habits in each of these interesting workplaces!

LINK:	http://blog.ironmountain.com/2013/service-lines/small-business/managin...
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