Help Your Clients Stay Organized

Published under Career Accountant Tips, Running a Business

The Client Organizer

You Stay Organzed, But Do Your Clients?

My second client was a contractor with checks, deposit slips, sales invoices, bank statements, and estimates spread from one end of the pickup truck to the other. I learned very quickly that a client’s lack of organization can create a lot of extra work for the accountant.

So what was the solution? The Client Organizer.

Help Get Clients Organized to Make Your Job Simpler

The Client Organizer is simply a filing system that can be installed in the client’s office, or in a file box that the client keeps on the road. Where this filing system resides depends upon where the bulk of the financial transactions take place. If the client is a retail store, then a filing cabinet is enough. On the other hand, for clients that are on the road most of their working day, such as a contractor, you’ll want the filing system in a light weight file box that you can get at any office supply store.

The Organizer must be simple with only a few categories, or else your client won’t use it. Here’s a list of the five sections the organizer should include:

Daily Cash Reports
Accounts Receivable Invoices (Alphabetical Files)
Accounts Payable Invoices (Alphabetical Files)
Payroll Information (If Applicable)
Banking File
Miscellaneous File

For a few dollars you can create such a box as a demonstration unit to show a prospect a simple system that will help their business keep on top of their source documents. They’ll appreciate it’s simplicity and that you showed it to them.