When it comes to running any sort of company, everything hinges on getting up earlier than the other guy and beating the competition into the ground. As a couple of prime directives, these are pretty easy to follow and grasp, but how can you do it? There’s no surefire way of getting ahead of the competition, save years and years of hard graft, which is why the structure needs to be in place before you hang anything upon it. Business processes can come in many different guises but the one that will benefit your company the most is incredibly simple, but I bet you don’t always have it in place, a good filing system.
Why is this important?
Not to go over the basics, but if you’ve got yourself a good filing system, the business can get a good head start. One of the big reasons you need to have a proper filing system in place is your finances. From completing your tax returns to solving disputes over pay, the advantages of a filing system resolves problems quickly, reducing time and productivity wastage. Most companies have an accountant for this very reason, but it’s not something that people can afford, and there are plenty of software options available, like quickbooks.com but this is something that is suitable for an accountant or for one person. There are bound to be issues with pay on occasion. And if you need a paper system as well as a digital one, you can make the most of websites like thepaystubs.com, where you can print out pay stubs and put them on file. Accountancy and finances are just one part of the reasons to have a unique filing system in place. People drastically underestimate the amount of paperwork, digital or real, that comes with running a company, and the cost of trying to retrieve one piece of paper could result in one whole day lost, especially if you leave it a long time until you decide to create a filing system.
What’s The Best Filing System?
The best place to start is with your computer. As the majority of data is now done paperless, you should go through every file on your computer and break them down into categories. Place the files in those categories and continue until all have been completed. This can be an overwhelming task, so you need to block out some time to do this properly. Making folders and sub-folders can be time-consuming. And, probably the most important thing to state is to make a system that works for you. Every business is different, and so your filing system will be too. Think about the amount of employees and people you want to access these files, and so you may need to take a user-friendly approach to how you store documents. The structure will consist of main subjects, like “Finances,” and then you can create sub-folders within, such as “Profits – Weekly” and “Accounts Receivable” or “Accounts Payable.” The key to an organization really is… organization!
