Paper vs Electronic Record Keeping

A good friend (not a client) of mine who is tech savvy and uploads electronic copies of all of her bills and receipts in her Accounting Software recently told me she still prints all of her bills and files them with all of her paper receipts. We all know I am an advocate for being paperless so can you guess how I took this news? Actually I wasn’t too bad, I just told her I would create a post on social media and she could read my thoughts on it! View post on Instagram

ATO rules that true and clear electronic reproductions of original paper records are ok. Follow this link for the official ATO ruling.

Think of the trees you will save!

Keeping electronic files will also mean you have access to your receipts & bills from anywhere simply by logging into your accounting software or online storage drive. You no longer have to go looking through filing cabinets to find the hard copies. A clear scan of a receipt that is likely to fade later is actually better than keeping the original that often fades after a few months.

I do recommend keeping a backup of electronic files however this process doesn’t need to be complicated or time consuming. For my own business and the clients whose data entry I manage I have automated and streamlined the whole process….let me show you.

Supplier emails bill - Email is set up with a rule to automatically forward to HubDoc - HubDoc is set up to automatically code most bills - HubDoc automatically files bill in a second location (Dropbox or GoogleDrive) and sends to Xero - Bill is now open in Xero, with file attached, awaiting payment and nothing has actually been manually done yet. A streamlined automated paperless process!

Electronic records are subject to the same record keeping requirements as paper records. This is a blog topic for another day, however it is important you are aware of these requirements, if you’re unsure what they are please head the ATO website and read up on the them.

Please note - this blog refers to the ATO record keeping and I recommend you check the requirements of all organisations you deal with.