If you can’t think of any topic more dreary, then you might as well at least make receipt management consume as little work and time as possible. Just don’t do nothing with your business receipts – that would be worse than a shoebox. And don’t leave them in your truck for days or weeks to let the sun and heat do their work to fade out the print. All the clever ways to restore them to readability are way more work than just taking care of them to begin with.
You can research your odds of being audited as a small business, and you’ll see they’re low. But low probability is no consolation if the IRS chooses you. As you know, if you are audited, you have to prove everything. Everything. And bank and credit card statements mean next to nothing.
Back in the day, there were conscientious business owners who meticulously filed all their receipts by hand, or had their kids to it for them, in file drawers that stretched on for years. You can still do that if you want to. But now we have apps for that!
In my practice, I offer receipt management to all my clients. I use Receipt Bank, which is available at no extra cost to you. Clients can add the app to their mobile devices, and snap a picture of paper receipts. Alternatively, email receipts and invoices, such as from Build.com and other online suppliers, can be forwarded via email to your personal Receipt Bank address.
Once receipts have been received by Receipt Bank, I publish them to the client’s QuickBooks Online account, where they are matched with and attached to the corresponding bank or credit card transaction, effectively audit-proofing the books.
No lost or misplaced receipts, no piles or files, no wasted time, no nagging concern that your number could be up with the IRS in a given year. Just peace.
There now, is the whole thing starting to sound a little more interesting?
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