Your Virtual Office

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SHRED IT!

    Once you've decided what to keep, get rid of the rest.  Use a shredder for any document that contains client information, employee information, account numbers, or financial details.  "I can't imagine a business not using a shredder," say's a consultant who helps home offices and small firms get organized.

    Shredders come in various shapes and sizes, with price tags to match. You can spend $30 on a personal shredder. Or you can pay $10,000 for a behemoth that hacks huge quantities of paper into particles tiny enough to meet Department of Defense standards for destroying Top Secret documents. Most small firms will want a shredder that falls between those extremes.  Some shredders cut paper into narrow strips, but it's worth spending more for a cross-cut shredder; it will create confetti-like pieces that are harder for crooks to piece back together. And get a shredder that's big enough for your business; otherwise, it will jam and overheat. If the entire process simply seems like to much of a burden -- or you think that two much employee time is being taken up with the shredding process -- you might want to consider a service like Shred-It, an outside vendor who will come to your premises and remove and securely shred your excess documents for you.

You can stay on top of your records and we can help you do just that.  We offer the service of assisting you in going paperless!  We're experienced, organized and able to assist you in all your business needs and record maintenance.

TAME THAT PAPER TIGER

Before you drown in a sea of paper, consider streamlining your operations by scanning, shredding, or both.

Almost anyone who works at a small business -- let alone anyone who owns or helps run one -- can grasp the allure of paring down paperwork.  Many firms are buried in documents, with bulging files packed into cabinets that clutter up the office.

You can cut down on the clutter and confusion by making some key decisions, and then acting on them.  First, you'll need to decide which documents you can discard and which you must keep.  Next, you'll need a strategy for storing those records.  You'll want to make sure that your strategy makes the most of existing technology, including low-cost scanners and easy-to-use document management software that can make your task much easier.

Out with the ... Uh-oh!  You may feel sorely tempted to load all of your old files into a truck and toss them in the nearest dumpster, but resist the temptation. The FTC received more than 245,000 identity theft complaints last year alone -- you don't want to be part of this year's statistic.  Moreover, federal laws increasingly dictate what businesses must do with their trash.

Take the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).  It requires physicians and other medical providers to destroy all records that contain patients' personal information, ranging from insurance information and clinical notes to appointment schedules.

You're not in the medical sector? Consider this: A provision of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), effective June 1 of this year, requires any one with at least one employee -- even a parent who employs a nanny -- to shred, burn, or otherwise annihilate any paper that contains personal information about employees, such as Social Security numbers of the results of background checks.

No business wants to run afoul of IRS auditors or federal rules. Still, that doesn't mean you mush hang on to everything, just in case. Too much paper can make your business far less efficient, and make it harder to find the information you really need, "A basement full of filing cabinets is no good if you don't flow what's in them," says Jim Roopa, operations manager of the Massachusetts-based Records Improvement Institute, a records management consulting firm.

 

RETENTION IN A NUT SHELL

· ONE YEAR: Duplicate deposit slips; job advertisements and employment applications; purchase orders.

· THREE YEARS: Cash and credit card receipts; employee attendance records; expired insurance policies

· SEVEN YEARS: Accounts payable and receivable records, bank statements and canceled checks; cash books; expired contracts and leases; employee records (after termination); expense records; payroll and employment taxes records; inventory records; invoices to customers and from vendors; sales and use tax records.

· PERMANENTLY: Accountant

audit reports; annual financial statements; canceled checks for important purchases such   

The Rules on Records

Federal and state laws dictate how long to hang on  to certain types of information, but the guidelines are often just minimums.  It’s often up to you to decide how long to keep certain documents.  For example, the IRS requires all tax papers to retain supporting documentation for three years after filing a return — but auditors can look back even further if they suspect you’ve been cheating.  For that reason, many experts advise keeping such records for at least seven years.

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Go Paperless

as property; capital stock and bond records; deeds and mortgages; depreciation schedules; general ledgers; incorporation records, bylaws and charters insurance records; legal correspondence; licenses and permits; patents, trademark and copyright registration; property records and outside appraisals; tax returns.

DIGITIZE IT!

Once you have cleared away extraneous paper, maximize space and efficiency by digitizing some of the remaining files, because some of the remaining files.One CD can hold bout 10,000 text pages, or the equivalent of an entire four-drawer filing cabinet — you will likely see how quickly digitizing documents can free up valuable space in your office.

    You will need a scanner, a document management software program, and a storage medium, such as CDs or DVDs; or you can contact your ‘virtual assistant’ ‘me’ TempAssistant], me who can easily do that for you.  You gain the space, organize your documents, and we do the work.  What a way to start 2007,