Hard to believe, but yes, it is almost end of another financial year!! Soon we need to get all the paperwork in order for personal and business tax returns. And the paperwork just keeps multiplying… Here are a few tips to help you stay sane in the next few weeks and months:

• Check the age of your filed financial documents – most documents you need to keep for 5 years (and some for 7 years). Anything older you are allowed to destroy.
• Destroy your old documents safely by shredding them yourself or paying a specialised company to shred it for you. Do not throw documents with important information in the bin without shredding – this is a huge risk for identity theft.
• Now that you got rid of all the unnecessary documents, you can assess how much space you will need for adding the latest financial year to your filing.
• Before you box up the latest financial year’s documents – ensure you only keep one copy of everything. This will reduce the storage space you need. Ensure you destroy additional copies safely.
• Use sturdy archive boxes, which are especially made for keeping your financial papers. You can buy these at your local storage facility.
• Ensure you mark your archive boxes clearly with the financial year it holds, and which part of the documents are kept in that particular box. This will ensure you do not have to search through every box in a financial year if you need any of the documents in there.
• Do not allow your archived records to take up valuable floor space at your premises. You can safely store your archived documents in a secure locker at your local storage facility for less than you may think. This keeps it accessible 24/7, while keeping it safe and secure and out of your way.
• Stay calm and keep the focus – this time too shall pass.