The most important is to have a system that you can follow and use. Here are a few tips that will help you to be more organised.

Filing by category or month – one of the methods of filing receipts is by category/vendor or bills by suppliers. However, it is time consuming and a lot of files are needed.

Another most popular filing method is to file the receipts in a monthly folder, separate it by the month and then file the receipts in order by date.

With these 2 easy methods, it will keep your files neat and easy to find.

When paying - record the date and cheque number on the bill. It's a simple thing but is useful especially should you need it in 6 or 12 months down the road.

Always get a receipt - cash purchases are difficult to claim, and credit card statements are not always proof enough. By having the receipt with a notation on it, it provides you an audit trail and document proof.

Bookkeeping on a regular basis – do it at least monthly. Any longer than that makes your accounts unmanageable and you will tend to put it off more.

Bank reconciliation – this should be done monthly by comparing your bank record to your bank statement and matching up all the cheques and deposits. It’s much easier to find mistakes on a monthly basis than to reconcile a whole year's worth of data. For cancelled cheque, cut the cheque number, paste it on the cheque butt. Do not throw away cancelled cheque.

Review accounts receivable at year-end to determine those that are uncollectable.

Archive last year's data. You need to keep all files for a period of 7 years.

Keep business financial affairs separate from your personal affairs.

Organized records will make life much easier for your bookkeeper whether that person is yourself or someone you're paying to do that job for you.