It's a Team's Life

Records

I am not an accountant and the classes I have taken in accounting contrasted to how I keep records.   I have a hard time with the fact that expenses are not an expense.   If it takes money out of my pocket is goes in my expense column.   I quickly figured out that I was not cut out to be an accountant.

A lot of pressure was taken off of my shoulders when the light bulb went on and I decided I was not a proper accountant!   I could do things my way, which for our business works pretty well.   Needless to say when I talk to an accountant I get a little nervous, as I know for a fact I do not keep my records right in their world.

I like Quicken as I can set up my categories with lots of sub categories so I can micro manage if needed.   I have found that notes in the memo column help me when looking at an expense to know exactly why I spent $159.49 at auto parts.   The ability to split out a receipt and put expenses in separate categories is a feature I use a lot.   At the end of the year I print my records and I have the figures I need for my taxes.  

I am paranoid about losing my receipts, which has caused me mental stress while on the road.   What would happen if we were in an accident and my receipts were lost and worst of all fears my computer and back up was destroyed?   To relieve my fears when we are home I perform a back up of my computer and I leave all of my receipts.   The problem with this was when we needed something done on warranty my receipts are at the house.   I could copy the receipts and keep a copy in the truck, but I seemed to never get this done.  

This past year I started paying attention to a product called Neat Receipts.   I had not paid much attention before as most drivers I knew who were using this were sending all of their receipts to an accountant, which is something, I do not do.   I am a slow learner and it took a bit before I realized this was a product I needed.   When I bought my new mac I also purchased Neat Receipts for Mac.  

The scanner is very small and easy to store in the truck.

The product is better than I imagined and I have found myself scanning everything.   I have a horrible system for keeping business cards one pile here, one pile there, one group in my purse, and a folder with cards in it. Now I scan the cards into the neat receipts and I have a picture of the card as well as all of the information associated with the card and I include any notes I might have.

I scan all of our receipts with the appropriate information and include any notations I might need on what we purchased.   I have also started using our odometer reading as the PIN for all of our fuel receipts.   They are easy to identify this way and much easier than trying to read each receipt. Now I do not worry about a receipt fading.

I have also started scanning our BOL’s, which is a back up to our logs that we were on the road and working.   We have only needed our BOL’s a couple of times over the past ten years due to paperwork being lost so I do not see that this will be an issue.  

Now when I need to verify a receipt I can do a quick search through my Neat Receipts folder and bring up everything pertaining to a day, a figure, a name, a customer, or and PIN I have used.  

This added work to keeping track of my receipts is worth every minute I spend on this endeavor.    I am pleased with the combination of Quicken and Neat Receipts to keep track of our lives. I am sure I have only scratched the surface of all this product will do for me in the future.  

Here is the link to Neat Receipts if you are interested in this product:

http://www.neatco.com/products/neatreceipts?utm_nooverride=1&gclid=COm0qomXo6cCFUS5Kgod_C6ECg

See you at the truck show!

 

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Bob & Linda Caffee

Leased to: FedEx Custom Critical 


TeamCaffee


Saint Louis MO

Expediters 6 years been out here on the road 11 years

[email protected]

 

Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle; 


Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;


Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;


Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.