Organizing Paperwork

Paperwork is a frustration for so many of our clients. There is a constant barrage of documents entering our home, some critical and most completely unnecessary. Without a great system for filtering out the important, it is easy for things to get lost and to feel overwhelmed by all the extra paper in the house.

This is tax season and many of you will be thinking about collecting those important docs. If they are lost under the rest of it, follow these easy steps to finding what you need.

• Collect all the paperwork from any area of your home.
• Sort all documents by type. Keep a recycle bin handy as much of what you find may not warrant sorting. “Toss” is likely the largest category! Try not to put too much thought into the item at this stage. Your only goal is to put it into the right category.
• Review each category and determine if you need to keep it. If you aren’t sure what you should keep and thus think you should keep it “just in case”, compare your categories to the ones in these simple Paperwork Guidelines.
• Create a storage system for the paperwork you need to keep. Simple is best! I like to have one folder for each type of document. These can be physical folders with the papers inside OR digital folders that you scan and save documents within. Only a few vital docs require the original copies. Label your folders and organize alphabetically.
• Now you can easily access all the documents you need to complete your taxes!

Reach out to us if you have questions about a specific document or you would like some help with the steps. We can collect and sort all the items and help you review. Then we can set up the storage systems for you.