Tech to ease your troubled mind

​My kids asked me what my biggest fear is, and they give me quizzical looks when I utter those dreaded three letters: "IRS".  Thankfully they are too young to understand that there is more to fear than spiders and monsters.

In the same way, a question I get asked most often by my clients is, "Do I have to keep a copy of my receipts?" 

My biggest fear in life and my answer to this question are intrinsically linked... YES!

Now I'll be the first to say I'm not the best at getting receipts for every business purchase — I'm human, just like you. My filing system up until recently — albeit functional — was not perfect. Honestly, I would just throw them into a folder and pray that I will never have to search through it again. Even with this "catch all" system for receipts, many paper copies will fade over time and they can't be read. What do we do then?  

Honestly, I was just crossing my fingers and hoping the detail on my bank statement would be sufficient if that time ever came.  Unfortunately, a retired auditor from Colorado just moved into an office down the hall from mine and we were having a conversation about this subject.  She recommended to always have a receipt.  THAT is what the IRS looks at. 

BOOM.  (I actually was thinking a slightly stronger version of this word).

My intention isn't to put the fear of the IRS in you... if you know me, you know my main focus is efficiency — for you, and for me and my team. I was ready for a better system, which led me to some research on different software technologies that could take some of the burden. 

Enter: Receiptbank.

I have had trainings on the system, I tested it on my own business, and have implemented it for a number of clients to test drive it... the overwhelming feedback? I am blown away at what this can bring to my ease of mind as a business owner.  No more receipts floating around in every corner of your car, your office, your bedroom, or your wallet!

Here's how it goes: I make a business purchase, take a photo of it in my app on my phone (I can even make notes and label certain things at this time), hit OK, and the app uploads the photo to Receiptbank where I can view it on their website.  All of your QBO accounts and customers are synced with Receiptbank so they are directly matched with vendors and customers in your books. Receipts that are emailed to you can easily be forwarded and magically entered that way as well.  If you use Dropbox to hold receipts, you can even link Receiptbank to that folder.

One of the other benefits of this would be accuracy of your books. EAS would now be able to view your receipts in real time and categorize expenses with additional accuracy and less questions to you at month end... all you need to do is take a photo with your phone when you purchase something, or forward a receipt for an online transaction. 

If you're ready for this stress-free system that allows you to FINALLY toss those mountains of receipts sitting around, reach out. We're excited to have added it to our software partners! And maybe you — like me — will start telling your kids "spiders" instead of those dreaded three letters.

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