Organizing for tax season and beyond

Charles Richmond has a New Year's tradition that doesn't involve diets or gym memberships.

Every January, the small business owner from Murphy heads to the nearest office supply store in search of ways to improve his operation over the next 12 months. The owner of CJR Commercial Janitorial Services was at Office Depot in Plano on Friday browsing a wide array of clips, file folders and labels armed with new ideas.

"I just keep things in order on a month-to-month basis, then I go back and decide what worked and what are some things I could improve," Richmond said. "My order is making sure I have everything ready for tax time."

As 2012 sinks in, people like Richmond are flocking to office supply stores and container stores determined to make the next 12 months a bit more organized than the last, starting with their taxes. File boxes, tax software, receipt organizers, calendars and cleaning products are at the forefront of retail outlets, urging people to turn their messes into a successes.

"Usually our overall campaign in January is all about getting organized and getting ready for tax season, and we help by offering products to help people save time and be more productive throughout the year," said Owen Torres, spokesman for Office Depot.

The average person spends one to two hours a week looking for things, with 80 percent of what they sift through belonging in the trash can. That being said, people might not make such a fuss if they simply had a shredder and a few file folders, said Tonia Tomlin, professional organizer and founder of Plano-based Sorted Out.

"I think the biggest misconception and why people don't get prepared for tax season is that they procrastinate and they don't have a good filing system," Tomlin said. "There's nothing fun about taxes, paying them and getting paperwork ready, but if you don't it's going to cost you more money and time if you're not prepared."

Tomlin and her team of organizers provide a range of consulting services to help both corporate and residential clients regain control of their time and the disorganization in their lives. At $75 an hour, Tomlin said hiring a professional organizer not only saves the client time but also money, as CPAs are likely to charge more for organizing a box full of odds and ends.

"Make an appointment on your calendar every week for a couple of hours so you're not stressing out three days before tax time and you're staying up into the wee hours of the night trying to get your stuff together or you're having to file for an extension," Tomlin said. " You have to allow yourself to have that time to go through things and set a realistic expectation."

Regardless of whether one opts to hire help or go it alone, replacing chaos with order begins with a clean and simple filing system, Tomlin said. Eliminate unnecessary papers like miscellaneous flyers, take-out menus and dated birthday cards first. Once the piles have been whittled down to what's important, they can be sorted by category and subcategories, she said.

"You really need to take your time with taxes because you could save a lot of money," Tomlin said. "There are a lot of things people don't take advantage of that they don't necessarily know [about]."

While all the bells and whistles of modern-day organization certainly help, they won't work if not used regularly and properly, Richmond said. Small-business owner or not, tax season or any season, the real key to getting organized starts with behavior, he said.

In the end, developing a weekly commitment will prevent backlog and, ultimately, disarray.

"The best thing to do is to dedicate some time during the week to something that's the same," Richmond said. "Block some time, say, an hour every Friday, to go through your receipts. Don't push the structure off to the next week or the next thing you know, you will be a month behind, and then you'll be really lost."

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****

 Plano Apartments
 Plano Attorneys
 Plano Auto Dealers
 Plano Auto Parts
 Plano Auto Repair
 Plano Beauty Salons
 Plano Car Rental
 Plano Dentists
 Plano Doctors
 Plano Flowers
 Plano Hotels
 Plano Insurance
 Plano Loans
 Plano Mortgages
 Plano Movers
 Plano Pizza
 Plano Realtors
 Plano Restaurants
 Plano Storage
 Plano Tax Preparation
 Plano Travel
 Featured
 More...