Tax time - again!

It's tax time - again. Didn't we just do this last year? I need a Daily Money Manager. Oh - wait. I AM a Daily Money Manager!

I don't know about you, but I hate tax time. Thankfully it is a little easier with a little organization. Especially as a business-owner the paperwork can be overwhelming even for the most organized of people.

In order to make my tax season as stress-free as possible (do those words go together? Tax and stress-free?) I attempt simple organization throughout the year.

For one, since receipts can overwhelm me with the business I keep a box on my desk that any business-related receipts can just be thrown into (I can be lazy sometimes) and at the end of the month I scan them and enter them into my tax spreadsheet. That way I can double-check my accounting program (I just use Mint.com - it is online and easy) against the spreadsheet so I make sure I have all of my receipts and don't miss anything. The IRS accepts scanned receipts now, so this is an easy way to store them for the end of the season as well.

I also have my tax files set up by category -
Scanned receipts (in envelopes by month after they are scanned)
Advertising
Utilities
Travel
Health
Donations
Tax paperwork
Other

This way, as I enter everything into TurboTax each file goes in order with the categories they will ask me about.

I store my personal information in the same way - organized by category in the order TurboTax asks for it.

The last helpful thing I use is Itsdeductible.com
This website is where I list all of my donations and it lets me know the value of each item. The great thing - it also imports directly into Turbotax!

Tax season can be a breeze if everything is kept organized throughout the year - and it doesn't have to be time-consuming if you keep it simple.

New Services and Sites to help you Organize!

Newest Tips, Tricks and Services to Help You Organize!

What's the newest way to save time and money? Daily Money Managers! This field has recently come to the forefront due to our increasingly busy lives and time-consuming personal finance and management needs.

So, what does a Daily Money Manager do?
They will:
- Balance your checkbook
- Manage your bill payments
- File your financial, health and other vital paperwork
- Maintain vital records
- Work with your CPA, Lawyers, Insurances and more to ensure they receive what they need
- Much more

How do you find a Daily Money Manager?
You can visit the American Association of Daily Money Managers (http://www.aadmm.com/) for more information and listings.
A Space That Works also offers this service. Suzanna Letchford has a background with Finance including studies at UCF in Finance & Accounting, years as Managing Director and Director of Finance . Call 407-416-6118 to find out more.

What is the latest link to de-stress your life?
www.JackCards.com

JackCards.com is a FANTASTIC service that allows you to:

- Add people to an address book and get event reminders
- Pick out an actual card (NOT an eCard) from a great selection of high-quality cards
- Schedule the card to arrive at either their house or yours. (You can add a personal message in your own handwriting before dropping the card back in the mail again)
- They can either pre-print the address and return address and pre-stamp or send you the address information with the card so you can hand-address it without needing to look anything up.

Never forget a birthday or event again - and toss all of those greeting cards floating around your home that you have forgotten to send!

(*Note: ASTW never receives any payment for promoting any businesses besides itself on its media. Any promotion is based solely on ASTW's personal opinion of the product.)

Organizing Central Florida (Orlando, Tampa and palm coast)

A Space That Works’ Professional Organizers offer an array of services from advice to one- on-one organizing. Servicing homes, business and training in time management we remove the stress and frustration of disorganization leaving peace and time to do what you love.

Get cords out of the way

Have a lot of electrical cords jumbled up and on the floor? Wrap them together with an old spiral telephone cord (this allows individual cords to stick out where they need to and contains multiple cords into one bulk cord) then use hooks to hang the cord bundle up and off of the floor so little ones cannot reach it.

Phone Time

For those of us who have to be on the phone uninterrupted but have small kids this can sometimes be a big challenge! One idea is to have a phone toy box. Put a few fun toys into a box and put it away where the kids can't get it (on top of the fridge or near the phone are two good places.) When you need to talk on the phone uninterrupted you can pull out this box and let the kids play with a toy from inside until you are done, then the toy goes back into the box.

Kids look forward to your phone conversations now and feel like they get a treat when you are on the phone. This also keeps the toys seeming fresh and new to them, ensuring they do not lose interest as quickly!

For more tips and tricks watch my blog at: http://aspacethatworks.blogspot.com/

Or, visit the free organization discussion groups - more info can be found at: http://messies.meetup.com/65/


Suzanna Letchford
Professional Organizer/Owner
A Space That Works
407-416-6118
www.aspacethatworks.com

"There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror
that reflects it." --Edith Wharton

Organizing Incoming Mail

Hello, all!
I just wanted to share a quick tip with all of you for organizing - I have found it to be EXTREMELY valuable!

To handle incoming mail at the office or at home, create a file box (one that will hold either a few hanging folders or manilla folders - not too large.) This box can sit on the counter or desk and should be located closest to the door and garbage can.

Create files with the following titles:
To Pay
To Act (or To Do)
Pending
To Enter
To Attend
To File
To Read

Then, use the files as follows:

To Pay - all bills and items requiring payment
To Act - Anything that you have to take action on
Pending - anything you are waiting on someone else for (catalog orders waiting to come in, anything you are waiting to talk to someone else about, etc.)
To Enter - anything that needs to be entered (or scanned) into the computer
To Attend - party invitations, meeting announcements, theme park tickets, airline tickets (anything you have to attend - make sure to RSVP and to write it in your calendar before putting it in here)
To File - papers that need to be filed in the filing cabinet (clean this out and file all of them when it gets full)
To Read - magazine articles (rip them out of the magazine,) informational papers, etc.

Also put a bag with your:
checkbook
envelopes
pen
stamps
check register
return address labels calculator

in the front, you can then carry this box to wherever is convenient to pay your bills - and you can always find your things when you need them!


For more information about this system and others feel free to join me for my free discussion groups:
May 1, 5:30pm and May 8, 11:00am at Barnie's Coffee in Lake Mary, FL. For More info go to: http://messies.meetup.com/65

I would love to hear any questions or ideas you all have about organizing as well!
_________________
Suzanna Letchford
Professional Organizer
www.ASpaceThatWorks.com
407-416-6118