This is the end of the financial year in Australia and it might be time to assess how we do our paperwork. Where possible I go paperless which boils down to having a very organised system on my computer with adequate backup and a very good scanner that will get a serious workout.

If we choose to do this, the first thing we need to establish is what type of paperwork we get. One simple category is definitely; bills. Bills can all go in one folder you can have a date reference and a company all in the title. If you start with the month, day, and year they will all be in order say 071914. If you then add the name of the company and possibly your EFT reference number or cheque number to the statement you can find your paid bill back multiple ways by a simple search on the screen.

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Action items are another big category, I would place them on a pile on your desk, and action them weekly or daily as need be. Once the action has taken place, you can also scan this and file or just dispose of the item.

Lastly, regarding the bulky papers we receive and need to keep. You need to think about the future and about the category, examples are insurances, agreements etc. They will grow over the financial year and might warrant a physical file or folder. The more unique day-to-day items can be filled as a soft copy under the date with a clear name again.

The overall benefit of computer-based filling is that if it doesn't work for you, you can tweak, change, and adjust the system in an hour if you so choose. You do however need a starting point to build on, this time of year is perfect to start some systems. As a wrap-up for this article, I would like to simply wish you a streamlined and organised start to the new financial year.