6 Ways To Beat Piles of Paperwork!

gazza — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:00:00 +0000

gazza Tue, 18/06/2013

Paperwork is a headache for all electricians. It's time consuming and confusing. Even if you're old hat at it, the thought of coming home to do a pile of paperwork at the end of a long day on the tools is not appealing.
Quotes, invoices, estimates, receipts, and the dreaded self assessment tax return that sends you scrabbling to find that one piece of paper that will decide if you get a fine or not. The list seems never ending.
Not only do you have to remember where you stuffed that last receipt, but there are always going to be those stragglers that clients or merchant yards give you that never get found. Nothing is in order, just put down in a pile, and there's usually so much of it that it feels like you're tackling a mountain rather than a molehill. Especially if you're lucky and have a steady stream of work coming in.
So what are some things you can do to help cut down the hours you spend on paperwork? Luckily we have you covered, with our tricks of the trade for organising and beating your mountain of paperwork:
Plastic sleeves - These are perfect for keeping at the front of your van for any pieces of paper you get handed to you throughout the day.
It doesn't take up any room, and this way everything is all in one place instead of in the van door or in the depths of your pocket, and it'll just help you get into the habit of keeping the paperwork somewhere that will be safe when the windows are open.
A stapler is your best friend - Even if the documents don't necessarily have to be together, over the course of a busy day you can just staple everything together, making it much less likely for you to loose that one sheet. Just chuck a stapler in the front of your van, it takes up no room, and it only takes a second.
Make a template - For your quotes, invoices and estimates, think about creating a template in Word or Excel. So you can just drop all the information in easily and quickly, without having to create the basic design again.
Technology can be useful - Most phones have a pretty decent camera on them these days. You can take a picture of any and all bits of paper you get throughout the day, and then you easily and simply get 2 copies. So if those notes for a quote, or the receipt for the builders yard does go walkabouts, you still have all the information you need.
Or if you're the type to break the latest smartphone by standing on it occasionally, and only trust yourself with an old Nokia, think about investing in a scanner. It's annoying and takes time, but at least you then know you have two copies of any vital pieces of paperwork.
Expenditure log - Again, this takes a little time to get set up and do, but once in the habit it becomes second nature. At the end of the day just get all and any receipts and log them onto an Excel spreadsheet. That way all the important bits – the totals and receipt numbers - are all kept in one place, and you can chuck the hard copies into a folder, not worry too much if it's in order.
Make Time - Unfortunately this is what a lot of paperwork hassle ties down to; time. Setting aside that 10 minutes a day when you walk in the door to sort through anything that's important. Have the folder in a place where you walk past every day even, so that when you do, you'll remember that bit stuffed in your pocket that you have to chuck in.
Instead of taking two to three painstaking hours on afternoon, you can cut it into chunks, a small bit of paperwork everyday, and it becomes much more manageable.
Paperwork is one of the biggest factors for electricians being wary about working for themselves. It's hard stuff to get your head round at first and even when you've been in the business for a while. But by following some or all of our tricks of the trade here, it can help you on the way to effectively and easily managing your paperwork, and hopefully cut out the headache!
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electrician invoicing