I get overwhelmed by paper easily and lose important stuff pretty quickly. Is a Paperless Office a good idea for small Bonanzle sellers? Does anybody run a paperless office successfully? What did you find that works?
dogwdres Reputation: 54 See dogwdres' booth |
Paperless can be an option if you are very comfortable with using programs like excel for inventory spreadsheets, detailed sales records, mileage records and such as well as Quicken or Quickbooks for money transactions.
You also have to be obsessive about keeping recent backups if everything is done in the computer. In addition to in an inhouse backup you should have additional copies kept off-site (there are some online options), or a thumbdrive, or even a cd backup that you keep at work or at a friend’s house. Some things are easy to reconstruct without backups, others like inventory costs, mileage and many expenses can be almost impossible. Audits happen – you have to make sure you keep your ducks in a row to avoid financial headaches.
Even if you do things paperless you need to keep hard copies of some things like B&M receipts, so invest in a folio or paper keeper of some sort (not a file folder – things fall out). It’s best to get a new one each year and file the old one so each year’s documentation is kept separate. If you really want to go completely paperless you could always scan those receipts into your computer.
ANightOwl Reputation: 46 See ANightOwl's booth |
I run a practically paperless office. I do everything online- even bill paying- that I can. I don’t even have paper bank statements mailed to me – I bank online and check my balance etc there. Both business and personal. I love it. Every chance I get to reduce the paper trails I do so. It makes life much easier. IMHO
jamiro Reputation: 1261 See jamiro's booth |
I run a [URL removed] some computerized, some paper. I’d LOVE to have the ability to store a full copy of my ads electronically in a local database, but I think the closest thing that is available are the RSS feeds, which isn’t designed for this purpose and therefore isn’t a substitute.
I use PeachTree for accounting, Access for tracking my inventory, and I also keep a quick & dirty Excel spreadsheet to determine my COGS.
In addition to PeachTree for recording completed sales, I use a copybook to jot down a sold item. This way, I have a checklist I use to remember to remove the item from the Access database, make a notation on the Excel spreadsheet, and move the photo of the sold item from my computer and/or server.
StarvingPackrats Reputation: 338 See StarvingPackrats' booth |
I keep a papercopy of the ales invoice and one of the paypal receipt. With that I keep the insurance and delivery confirmation slips. All is kept for one year and then destroyed. Just a means of backup in case the computer goes down.
sofyblu2 Reputation: 63 See sofyblu2's booth |
I would love the ability to run a paperless office. I work for a social service agency here in NY…ever since we began electronic records our paper needs have Increased…We have to jump through so many hoops, that just submitting a budget takes two reams of paper….We do recycle it all though and donate whatever we can to the kids at schools to use for coloring paper..NY will never allow its offices to go paperless……anyone who works for a government office knows the offices are filled with so much paper waste…so we do our best at home to do as much electronically as possible
SecretGarden Reputation: 271 See SecretGarden's booth |
About Half of my business as well as my personal documents are now paperless… I feel I still have a need to keep a hard copy of some receipts however a big improvement from past and getting closer to a total digital filing system
Rubystreasurechest Reputation: 22 See Rubystreasurechest's booth |
I have to keep invoices and receipts of all my sales and expenses for my accountant.
the_seller_inc Reputation: 616 See the_seller_inc's booth |
My Bonanzle business is completely paperless. Everything is on spreadsheets, receipts are scanned and everything is backed up on a memory stick. It works well for me.
AwesomeSteals Reputation: 38 See AwesomeSteals' booth |
Well unfortunatly since at some point I have to make a work order or get lost I figure I might as well keep a complete file of the transaction. Plus I first learned my bookeeping skills on the old one write system, and at some point the Government is going to want me to write some of it down anyways and having been through one audit I would hate to be found wanting.
canacreations Reputation: 139 See canacreations' booth |
I try to go as paperless as possible, but sometimes I have to hold something to read. I print the speadsheet (right now I use excel, since I am most comfortable using this program) on monthly basis and then have a file for those with a copy of monthly invoices. This works for me as I do not have high volume sales.
CindyBear Reputation: 3068 See CindyBear's booth |
ok What if, What if everything was paperless and then something happens to you and have no access to the internet. Or what if some some odd reason every pc stops working, a major melt down..
There are some things I do paperless, But there are other things I continue to receive paper on. This way I can keep notes.
Another way to spell paper should be payper.
aqua_angels Reputation: 54 See aqua_angels' booth |
Oh thanks for the -1 point. It could happen though, you never know.
aqua_angels Reputation: 54 See aqua_angels' booth |
Paperless would be great, but since my business is an LLC, I need to have all of my proof of sales, expense receipts, purchases, etc. I use Quickbooks for recording and tracking everything but hardcopy proof is still necessary in case of audit. I have a have a folder for each account number in a rolling file cabinet that I use until the end of the year. Once taxes are complete and submitted, the information is stored in containers.
luvmykittycats Reputation: 22 See luvmykittycats' booth |
I’d love to go totally paperless. I figure that if I ever get audited, then I can print out the transactions from Paypal and my bank, etc. Otherwise, it seems such a waste.
But for now, I’m only attempting to go paperless, and am not quite there yet.
TimsDiamondWillow Reputation: 910 See TimsDiamondWillow's booth |
I purchased Quick books pro. I can track my inventory, sales,banking and every thing else paperless. Any advertizing I keep in a seperate file in my documents. As far as data loss, if you keep up with your regular backups and keep them off your computer things are fine.
Keystonecorner Reputation: 27 See Keystonecorner's booth |
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Asked: over 14 years ago
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