Category Archives: Get organized

Thoughts and ideas on general organizing so you can find stuff fast.

Got a Phone Tree?

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The recent inclement weather made me reminisce about phone trees.  Let me explain what a phone tree is.  When I was in the military, every organization had an staff roster roughly in the form of the group hierarchy.  The Colonel would call two or three people below him, they would each call two or three folks below them, and and so on until everyone in the organization got the call.

The phone tree could be used to announce that an emergency had occurred and everyone needed to report as soon as possible.   It was also used when weather events could change our work schedule.  We didn’t have cellular phones, text or a lot of email back then.  Now you could set up a automated roster so easily.  Ah, progress.

Even with technology, you need to have a framework of a plan in case of emergency.  Who will make the decision to close your office due to weather?  Will you close your office in the middle of the day and send folks home?  Will you make the decision the night before the hurricane?  Who on staff will and will not get paid if the office is closed?  If there is a fire, where does everyone meet to do a head count?  There are no right or wrong answers.

You should, either by memo or in your employee handbook, let folks know that these things can happen…how they will be contacted or who they should contact? how is pay handled in these situations?  Setting up a framework can help everyone know what to expect, and his or her responsibility.  It can also help be efficient and keep folks safer.

Buried by credit card receipts?

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I had a client that had more than eight credit card accounts.  Some of those had multiple card holders.  To make it even more complicated (as if it were possible), the cards were issued for multiple legal entities within the same business.  Oh yeah, and sometimes they used the cards for personal things.

In perfect  “Bookkeeper-Land”, there would be one card for each entity and business owners would never use it for personal things.  The truth is I can’t think of one business I’ve ever had where this has been the case.  And you know what, that’s my job.  I organize the chaos and work behind the scenes to make it look pretty.

I start by identifying each card by the last four digits as it’s “name”.  Seriously, there are multiple Visa cards and they each have a different financial institution behind them so I can’t call it “Visa” because they might be three of those.  Using the last four digits is handy also when the receipts get dumped on my desk.  Why?  Because that is usually the only identifying quality to tell which account the receipt belongs to.

I make notes on receipts as to why a purchase was made and/or what account it will be coded to.  The receipts can sometimes be small, so I staple them to a sheet of paper to write my notes to the side (i.e. Mr. Doe had lunch with prospective client Ms. Smith).  I keep a folder for each of the cards by the last four digits for incoming receipts.  At the end of the billing cycle, I at least have the receipts sorted and I can then interrogate the primary card holder about the other transactions.  No way around it…you still have to track folks down.

I keep a separate short term asset account on the chart of accounts.  That is where I code the personal items of the owner in case they don’t cut a check back to the company right away.  I don’t want that payment to delay my reconciliation of the account but I have to keep track of it.

It’s not always pretty, but it is the reality.  I like the challenge of the credit card puzzle, I guess.

Holy cow! It’s 1099 time.

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This may sound strange, but I actually like the process of sending 1099’s to contractors each year.  Why?  It forces you to really review your vendors and who you do business with.  How much did you pay for an attorney’s services this past year?  Does a company have a new mailing address?  The list goes on.  While I find the process of auditing my vendors therapeutic, realizing your records for them are incomplete to generate your actual Form 1099’s can be a bit stressful.

I prefer to send a Form W-9 to EVERY vendor before I cut the first check.  The vendor has an incentive to then return the completed form quickly, since they would really like to get paid.  As soon as I receive the completed form, I update my QuickBooks vendor profile.  I keep the hard copy on file, or you can choose to scan them in.  These forms are for your records…no need to send them to anyone or the IRS.

At the end of the year, there is a mad dash of accountants and bookkeepers to get complete information for all their vendors.  There will always be a few holes to fill in, but if you make an internal guideline to send them out to every new vendor going forward you won’t have this on your already lengthly to-do list in Q1.