This post is part of the paperless stories feature at DocumentSnap. Some stories are from readers that have successfully gone paperless, some are still going through it. Would you like to share your story too?
Today’s featured DocumentSnap reader is Sherri-Lee Mathers. It is a little different than the normal reader stories as it will be from my perspective, not hers.
Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege to speak to two chapters of the Institute of Professional Bookkeepers of Canada about going paperless.
In preparation, I spoke to someone who is an awesome combination of IPBC member and DocumentSnap reader, Sherri-Lee Mathers from Balsam Way Bookkeeping over on my old stomping grounds, Vancouver Island.
Sherri-Lee runs her practice as paperless as possible, and told me about a recent payroll audit that she participated in on behalf of a client.
Being the organizational superstar that she is, she used Nitro PDF to organize all the documents that the auditor would need into one searchable PDF.
She went through and, using Nitro’s annotation features, highlighted the important information (check numbers, etc.).
Sherri-Lee told me that when the auditor came in, she was able to search the PDF for everything that he asked for, and was able to bring everything up on the screen right away.
At the end of the audit, the auditor told her that he was done in half the time that he had budgeted, and he said he was extremely impressed at how organized and easy the process was.
One thing the auditor did say: while he was happy to work with the electronic documents during the audit, in Canada the paper copy did need to be produceable if he asked. This matches up with what another awesome IPBC member and DocumentSnap reader, Laura Kenway, also reported at Bookkeeping Essentials when she talked to the CRA[1]. You’ll want to check with your own tax authority on what paper you do/do not need to keep.
Any time you have a happy auditor at the end of the audit (and happy for the right reasons!), I’d call that a win. Nice job Sherri-Lee.
If you have questions for Sherri-Lee, leave a comment and I will try to get them answered.
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Canada’s version of the IRS. ↩
