Files and folders are virtual dinosaurs in this age of the paperless office. All businesses can benefit from the proper management and organization of office records. Throwing things away seems almost a sin for some small business owners which is precisely why many find themselves buried under a mountain of disorganized paperwork.

Trying to organize a mass of paperwork can seem like an impossible task. Many people don't know what to throw out and what to keep so all papers get shoved into boxes and drawers. Finding anything becomes impossible. The management of all companies needs to come up with ways to organize and file important paperwork.

"Most small businesses don't deal with their papers until it's too late," said Barbara Hemphill a well-known author on the subject of office efficiency. Paperwork piles up and documents are impossible to locate. If management and owners learned more about time management, paperwork would be in its place.

Beginning to Organize

Set aside a day to commit to organizing your office space. To eliminate the distraction of customers or phone calls, schedule it on a Saturday. But if Saturday doesn't work well for you, dedicate one day each week as "Office Cleanup Day." Then, require all staff members to participate.

It is possible to organize the office by yourself and even some true blue entrepreneurs have been known to set aside a day for the task.

Tackle the paperwork on your desk first. Sort by subject, then sort by dates. Once everything is sorted, create file folders for each subject. Place paperwork neatly into the appropriate file folder and set aside, but don't forget about it.

The accounting should be a top priority for obvious reasons so find all of the income statements and receipts lying about the place and sort these too. You always want your records to be current, so stick to the task of posting transactions to your books until everything is up to date. I can be a slacker on this one myself and wind up spending the majority of the day recording transactions. If it looks like you are not going to get finished, then just quit at a point that will be easy to start back up from again.

Once you've organized paperwork into file folders, you'll need to assemble boxes or purchase crates to keep documents in. Your filing system will depend on the type of business you operate. Some businesses organize their files by the client's name, while others use job numbers. No matter what type of business you operate, you will always file your accounts receivable and accounts payable the same. All that matters is that you have a system to your filing.

Organizing your Computer Documents

You need a contingency plan for all your paperwork and electronic files. If there was ever a flood or fire and your documents were destroyed you need to have a backup plan. For your important paperwork consider getting a scanner and filing backups electronically.

Always keep extra copies of your computer documents and files in a fire resistance safe at another location. Files can be stored on backup tapes, floppy disks, CD ROMs, or external hard drives. Be sure to keep a log of what files you have stored where.

You must be able to access information in a timely fashion in order to get through the list of tasks that must be accomplished on a daily basis. Do not procrastinate and put off organizing your office space because management strategies are essential to the success of your business.