Control Finances and Documents
The management of documents that accompany financial transactions is essential for ensuring compliance and auditing, as well as record keeping, dispute resolution, accountability and future planning. Documentation is also crucial for ensuring regulatory compliance and to ensure that data is not lost or information is not stolen.
While some of these documents might be physically stored, many are now stored digitally to make it easier and safer. Some examples include investment documents as well as receipts and important purchases bank statements as well as tax files, bills and life bowne insurance policies.
Set up a system for filing that is efficient and reflects the information that you have. A folder structure that includes categories like «Estate and Legal», Bank Accounts», «Investments», and «Utilities» is useful. You can further subdivide each category to help you quickly locate the document you are looking for. It is also important to use abbreviations and keywords that are easy to understand by anyone looking for a specific document. For ease of sorting it is recommended to format dates in YYYY MM DD.
In addition to creating a well-organized system for your paper files, you should consider taking the next step to make your documents digital and save your financial documents on an online location in the cloud. This lets you have greater control over your documents and helps you stay organized while eliminating the risk of misplacing or losing an important document. Plus, digital storage is more secure than physical storage because thieves aren’t able hack into your computer as easily.