In an effort to become more organized, I am looking at implementing a few different procedures for the new year.
One of those is implementing a better way of keeping track of expenses. Does anyone have a good expense report form that they would not mind sharing?
Thanks in advance,
Jimmy
Shoebox
First buy a new pair of workshoes, get a good sturdy shoebox, put the receipt in the shoe box and expense the shoes. Keep your old worn out shoes for yardwork.
Then use you company credit card to buy everything expense related. Put all those expense receipts in the shoebox. Then at the end of the year request a complete breakdown of your credit card, and I can agree with the credit card company categories. Compare and take the larger value if you want.
All vehicle expenses go on a weekly daytimer calendar in the glovebox along with mileage. January 2nd put a new calendar in the glove box or boxes and put the old one/ones in the shoe box.
Any cash expense goes in your personal daily calendar. January 1, copy required phone numbers, meeting dates and other deadlines in new daily calendar, put old calendar in shoebox.
December 31, buy several daily calendars since they become cheaper as the new year approaches. Put receipt in shoebox.
January 31, review all personal credit card receipts for year for business expenses, also review your personal debit card receipts. Business purchases on these should be minimal, so you can use the original bill, a copy or as I do, a hand written tally.
Take the old adding machine from the basement, run a tape on each expense category, staple to receipts and return receipts to shoe box. Return old adding machine to basement next to 30+ years of shoeboxes.
In the surveying business, expenses come when they come, income is on a totally different cycle. You do not need a monthly form that you fill out and leave 72 lines blank.
Putting everything in a spreadsheet is for regular people who want to pretend they can run their life as a business. Use your time to make money or have fun, not neccessarily exclusive.
For banking I have business size checks in a personal style checkbook. If I happen to get 3 checks in one day, I usually make 3 deposits with notations. The least you should do is to enter each client/amount on a separate line with a deposit total line. When I first went into business I had an accountant set me up with a bookkeeping system and a one-write check system. The accountant lasted until April 13 when I contacted him to sign my income tax forms. He informed me he could not have them done and was going to file for a extension. He needed me to put all the information in a form so that it went right into his computer. When I looked at all I had to do plus I had to write a check for close to the amount owed I figured it was less work to actually do the taxes myself. So he was fired. It took me a couple of years to use all the one write checks. But having to carry that too big book around a survey convention that year convinced me it had to go also.
In actuality I don't buy all those calendars. The free one call calendar works great for the glove box vehicle expenses. Last year I do not know what happened to it, and I resorted to a mini notebook. For 2013 I got a one call calendar in the mail yesterday and another today. My wife uses them also to log in her hours helping out at my mother's house. My wife had already picked up a 2013 weekly planner for $1 but did not have receipt, I still love her though. Plus she brought home 2 free advertising ones, they are hard cover and would never leave the office. Last part of next years expenses is to get a new pocket protector.
Oh yeah, and a new shoe box.
Paul in PA
I've been trying to get in the habit (it hasn't quite set yet) of using this app for android:
You take photos of the receipts when you spend money, enter a description, and add tags (good for multiple businesses), and can then export a report whenever you need to. The reports include all the notes, the photos and in HTML format or spreadsheet. It also handles deposits.
You still need to keep your receipts of course, especially anything over $75, but this helps you to keep track of it all and feel in control of that shoebox.