End of Year processes for small business

In New Zealand  for small businesses (and not so small) it’s all about EOY – or end of financial year – at the moment and advice is pouring in from experts on how to deal with your particular EOY issues. For example:

Gaylene Hughes at JDI Business Coaching offers her tips for EOY accounting processes. Other accountants are also advising their clients on how to improve their EOY processes.

Phil Astley points out a number of cardinal errors made by small business owners either through the box of papers or even with an accounting system.

What is missing from these and other commentators is help with organising all this financial information so you can store it in a way that makes it quick and easy for you to locate everything you need when you’re preparing to take it all to your accountant.

That’s where we come in.

At Terrace Consulting we specialise in helping businesses to organise their office mess and to sort out their files, either paper or electronic – or both. We can save you money that you would normally pay your accountant because with our help your EOY documentation is in order before it gets to your accountant.

This means that our clients can get on with their money-making work to produce their profit, knowing that they will be able to find the information they need when they need it.  No more wasted time searching for information that hasn’t been organised properly or has been saved in a hurry – somewhere!

Contact us today so you too can benefit from our 20-plus years experience working with businesses of varying types and sizes to organise their information. We can work with you in person, by email, phone or skype. Alternatively you can DIY with our step-by-step workbook “Keeping Good Records for Small Businesses”

Let us do what we do best so you can get on and do what you do best.  You’ve got nothing to lose and lots of time to gain

“Keeping your head above Apple’s cloud” (Blayne Slabbert)

A few weeks ago I wrote about how to manage electronic information on all the different devices we use in our business.

So I was really interested to read at the weekend a similar article in the Dominion Post about how to use Apple’s iCloud service to make our digital life easier.

Although this article was written along the same lines as mine, it focused on Apple devices and iCloud.  Interesting reading and the message is the same.  The “cloud” in whatever flavour (Apple, Android etc) can help you manage your electronic information and simplify your electronic business life.

Try it.  It will be worthwhile.  Remember to put some structure into your cloud storage so you can find the information you’re looking for when you need it. You can do that when you download our eWorkbook that gives you a full set of instructions on how to set up a filing system for your business.

It’s a good idea to get started now so you are ahead of the game in the new financial year.

If you can’t access the Dominion Post article though the link – contact me and I’ll send you a copy.

 

Managing risk in your business

If you business is to operate effectively, you and your staff need to be able to create, store, access and reuse information received or produced during the course of a regular working day.

Establishing core principles for keeping a good record of your business activities will reduce risks and lessen exposure to issues that may incur corruption or even loss.

Risks associated with poor document management include:

  • Unreliable information is used to make business decisions
  • Key information or documents are hard to find or lost
  • Time is wasted re-creating documents that cannot be found
  • Management practices become untimely, inappropriate and inefficient
  • The business is unable to comply with legislation or regulations
  • The business gains a negative reputation.

Core principles for managing information include:

  • Having a structured system for storing documents that is easily understood and available for all team members to access and use as and when required
  • Ensuring that all documents created as part of normal business activities are filed appropriately in the approved filing system
  • Establishing standard policies, processes and procedures and ensuring team members understand and maintain them when creating, storing and using organisational information
  • Making and storing notes on key business decisions – made by your Board or with clients.

You can read about more hints and tips to improve your business in my free eBook; and even more if you download the eWorkbook that gives you a full set of instructions on how to set up a filing system for your business.

Your first step to improve your office efficiency

You can improve the way your office operates by creating efficient access to all the information that you use in your business.

Information, both electronic and hard copy, is the cornerstone of your business.  No matter what your business is you need information about stock, designs and other intellectual property, cash flow, staff, client and supplier contacts, business plans; in fact all the knowledge that is held by your business in paper files or electronic documents and systems.

Not knowing where to find all this valuable information, or being unable to access it quickly when needed, can result in loss of contracts and lower profits.

You and your staff need to get at important information quickly and efficiently

If only one person knows where and how information is filed, other people in your business won’t be able to access it when that key person is unavailable

Your systems and processes for keeping business records will reflect the information flow and ensure that everyone is able to work efficiently. This in turn will improve productivity and thus increase profits.

Think about this…

  • How you lost a contract because you couldn’t find a key tender document in time for a meeting
  • The complaints from your team because they couldn’t find something  someone else had filed
  • Information you can’t find after you have filed it
  • An important email that was deleted in error or lost in the thousands of emails in your inbox
  • The tax payment you missed and penalty you had to pay because you couldn’t find the reminder from your accountant

When was the last time you were in one of these situations?  You need to organise our business information so you can find what you need when you need it.

Our e-workbook is here to help you.  This step-by-step instruction book will give you the tools you need to build your own system for keeping your business information under control.  It won’t take you long and will save your heaps of time and money currently lost in unproductive searching for information.

Don’t waste any more time searching for elusive documents or files.  Create your own filing system using our instructional workbook.  Available online now.

You can read more hints and tips to improve your business in the free eBook.

 

How to manage your electronic documents across devices

In my last blog I discussed the complexity of managing electronic information on all the different devices we can use to run our businesses today; the laptops, ipads, tablets smart phones  etc.

I gave you some rules to consider to help you keep your business information manageable when you’re out and about.

I noted that there are some technological solutions.  Lets have a look at these now.

For example you can use a laptop as your main device whether you’re working in the office, working with a client at their place, or when you’re out of town on business.

You can sync all your devices; use cloud based email (eg Gmail, icloud) and storage (eg Dropbox, Google docs).

You do have to think about what is best for you and your business and learn how to make the best use of the technologies and electronic devices.

You will still need to have a filing system within your chosen solution so that your business information is organised for quick and easy access no matter what format – email, text documents, spreadsheets, databases, images.

If you don’t I can promise you that your information will still be in mess no matter how much you spend on the technology.

That’s why I created my eWorkbook ‘Keeping Good Records in Small Businesses’ so you can learn what to do, what is important and how to do it. If you want to create your own filing system then this book takes you through the steps one at a time.  Alternatively you can use it as a starting point and work through it with one of our consultants – in person or via the cloud.

You can read about more hints and tips to improve your business in my free eBook; and even more if you download the eWorkbook that gives you a full set of instructions on how to set up a filing system for your business.

Judy Owen has been working with businesses of all sizes and complexities for more than 20 years to improve and streamline the access to their business information.  She and her team can show you how to reduce risk, improve productivity and increase profits with good business systems and processes in your business.

 

Filing used to be easy. What’s happened?

Filing used to be easy – or seemed to be – when we only had paper to sort out.  Sure there was lots of paper and people had shelves full of binders and large cardboard folders or boxes all neatly labelled.  But it all looked efficient and probably was.organised office#1

Still is for those who still keep good paper records of their business activities. It’s easy to find what you’re looking for because the labels on the folders are so clear.Then along came PCs and Macs with their electronic documents, spreadsheets, presentations and – OMG – email.

The devices and the software came with instructions on how to put the bits together and how to use the software.  The missing link though was how to organise the information people created and stored inside the devices.

As a result many people couldn’t find documents and important business information.  No-one had explained how to organise these files so documents could be found quickly and easily when they were needed.Now our electronic life has become even more complex as we have become more mobile and use tablets, mobile phones, laptops when we’re on the move and often a desktop PC back at the office.

So when we want to access certain pieces of information, which device is it on? Did I reply to that important email? If so where is my reply?  It can be so confusing.  So what to do?

Well there are a few simple rules you can impose on yourself:

  1. Stop and think about the implications of your actions now when you want to revisit them later
  2. Consider how critical it is to send that email from your smart phone right now.  Can it wait till you get back to the office later in the day?
  3. If you really must send an email while you’re out and about, Bcc the message to yourself so it’s in your inbox on your main device
  4. Don’t check your email on your mobile phone during the day (Hmmm, now there’s a challenge!)
  5. Discipline yourself to only send email from, and save documents to, your main device.
  6. If you are ruthless you can stop emails coming into your mobile phone.  You won’t be alone. Search Google for ways to stop email on your mobile phone

There are of course more technological solutions.  I’ll look at these next time.

Season’s Greetings – celebrate with our special Christmas offer

Special Christmas offer from Terrace Filing Services

20% off our e-workbook “Keeping Good Records for Small Businesses”.
Only $45.50. Offer ends 6 February 2014.

Give your business a flying start in 2014.  Take a fresh look at your filing system.

If you have been frustrated at the amount of time you have spent searching for that elusive piece of information during the past year, it is especially timely now to review your filing system  for both paper and electronic files and documents.

Take advantage of our special Christmas offer and take a few hours in January and February to give yourself loads of time later in the year. This offer is for 20% off our eWorkbook – the eBook that gives you step-by-step instructions to create or revise your office filing system.

To get this offer contact Terrace Filing Services
By email: judy@terrace.co.nz
By text: 0274851706
Put “Christmas Special Offer” in the Subject.
Include your business name, email address and quote the code mx1312
For further information phone +64-4-9041498 during business hours or contact Judy
Offer ends 6 February 2014  

Testimonials and recommendations

Testimonials and recommendations – you can’t really go past them as a marketing tool. I’ve been delighted with some I’ve received recently from happy clients.

Here are some excerpts:

“We contracted Terrace Filing Services to assist us to implement an electronic filing system. Judy Owen project managed and did the majority of the work for us to a very high standard. Judy consulted with the team and designed and implemented our new system.  The associated documentation and help files was first class and I would unreservedly recommend Judy to any business looking to implement or upgrade their filing systems, documentation or staff training in their filing systems.”  Stuart.

“Thank you Judy for your report after visiting my office.  I was surprised at the level of detail included and the additional suggestions for things that I hadn’t even considered. I have immediately implemented some of your suggestions and I am enjoying the benefits of them already.  I will be implementing more in the near future and look forward to having my office organised, tidy and with everything in a logical place. I would recommend anyone with a home office space to contact Judy for a consultation.”  Sandy.

“Thank you for bringing your valuable expertise and care to help our information-intensive business.  With years of history and many thousands of files it is easy, even for information professionals like ourselves, to have our files ‘drift’ out of order, and fantastic to have your support as we brought them back into shape.”  Sarah.

And just in case you think I only work with people whose names begin with “S”, here’s one more

“Judy came to help me with both my paper files and the electronic ones. Both were a mess! She was quick and clear.  It has made such a difference that this year my tax returns were filed early and my accountant was most surprised and pleased. It also meant my refund came through earlier! I can recommend Judy and her systems.” Barbara.

Wow – it’s great to be appreciated.

You can read about more hints and tips to improve your business in my free eBook; and even more if you download the eWorkbook that gives you a full set of instructions on how to set up a filing system that is tailored for your business.

Judy Owen has been working with businesses of all sizes and complexities for more than 20 years to improve and streamline the access to their business information.  She and her team can show you how to reduce risk, improve productivity and increase profits with good business systems and processes in your business.

Workflow in a digital office

Over recent months I’ve been moving towards a digital office. I no longer print and file invoices that are sent electronically. I scan and store a digital record of invoices that come in the mail. This is going to reduce the space I need to store paper files.

However it raises some interesting challenges. Why? Because I no longer have papers of physical files on my desk that alert me to the need to take some actions.  I’ve had to create new workflow processes so that I still do everything I have to do on time.

The workflow starts with email.  Anything that needs action is moved to an email folder headed “Action” and highlighted for action on a particular day or time.  I’ve created an action board (based on a Kanban Board) that I use to ‘log’ actions in columns headed “To do” “Next” “Doing” and the very satisfying “Done”. This board is on the wall next to my desk so I can move the sticky notes as I take action on the items on the board.

I do print items that I need as working documents, for example if I’m writing a report for a client I prefer to review and annotate on paper before making changes on screen. But at the end of the project the working papers are shredded (and added to the compost bin for my garden).  I keep one paper copy of the final report(s) and everything else is stored in my computer system.  This system is backed up to the cloud immediately and to a portable hard drive according to a regular backup schedule.

How a digital office works for your business will depend on how you currently work and how you want to work in the future.  Other things to consider include:

  • The amount of storage you have for paper records, especially those that need to be kept for seven of more years
  • The storage space on your business computer system
  • The reliability of your computer backup system.

You will need to be prepared to change the way you work so that actions are taken on time.  The long term benefits are very likely to outweigh the short term pain as you make the move in your office.  If you have cloud storage then you have access to your documents any time anywhere. So if you leave your office to go to a client and forget a document or critical spreadsheet, you can access your business information from your laptop or even your smart phone.

You can read about more hints and tips to improve your business in my free eBook; and even more if you download the eWorkbook that gives you a full set of instructions on how to set up a filing system that will work for your business.

Judy Owen has been working with businesses of all sizes and complexities for more than 20 years to improve and streamline the access to their business information.  She and her team can show you how to reduce risk, improve productivity and increase profits with good business systems and processes in your business.

It’s easy to manage your email inbox: don’t send email

The email inbox is still the biggest problem for lots of people I work with.  The best advice I’ve seen recently about managing your inbox is don’t send email.  Really?? How does that work? You simply can’t live without email!

How often do you send an email to say “thanks” for a message sent to you? Is that message really necessary? How often do you receive an email message that simply says “thanks” or “OK”

Your email message generates emails back.

Think carefully about the next email you send. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Why are you sending this information by email?
  • Is it really necessary?
  • How will that email benefit you and the receiver?
  • What does it add to the information the other person needs
  • Is this the best way to communicate your message? Or is there another way to get your message through to someone else?

Don’t do long email threads.  If the email conversation is generating a worthwhile discussion, phone the person, go to their desk/office and talk to them or arrange to go out for a coffee or lunch.  If more than one person is involved, arrange a meeting – even if only for a few minutes.

If you need to keep a record of the phone or in person discussion, write a quick note when you get back to my desk and file it.  If you need to remember something important from that discussion – say the time and place for another meeting, make a note of it – in a notebook or in your smartphone.

Now you’re not going to stop the emails altogether.  And I don’t suggest you do.  Email is a very effective way of communicating with other people.  But use it sensibly.

Organise the emails you go get into folders so emails like newsletters, social media alerts and such don’t actually reach your inbox.  Google has started to do this very effectively with Gmail.  Check out this video.

If you don’t use Gmail, it’s worth taking a few minutes to follow the Google’s advice and set up your own folders in the email package you use.

For more information on how to do this go to my blog “Demystify your inbox”  and “Good habits around email”

Remember your email inbox is not a filing cabinet

You can contact me for more help or you can read about more hints and tips to improve your business in my free eBook; and even more if you download the eWorkbook that gives you a full set of instructions on how to set up a filing system for your business, including filing emails.

Judy Owen has been working with businesses of all sizes and complexities for more than 20 years to improve and streamline the access to their business information.  She and her team can show you how to reduce risk, improve productivity and increase profits with good business systems and processes in your business.