Managing Payments & Orders: Tips for Organizing Records

[mrshamel3808]

Do you guys keep receipts of all the payments you deposit for each show? I bank with Wells Fargo and when you deposit checks at the ATM they can print out receipts with an image of every check you deposited. Up to this point I've deposited show payments seperately if I have a stack of checks from multiple shows so that I have receipts for payments of each show. But I wonder if it's neccessary? Or is it just more paperwork to have stuffed into my files. Also, do you keep the order forms from shows? I have all the order forms from all my shows filed but wonder if it's necessary since everything's kept track of electronically. I'd probably keep order forms from recently closed shows so when they receive their order and I could refer back to the order form, to see if they wrote something incorrectly or if I did, etc. Any other reason I should keep them after they've had their products for a while?

 

[jbdowd0798]

I just deposit each show seperately and write in my check register who's show was deposited when so that its easier to go back to if need be. I've never (knock on wood) had a problem.

 

[DebbieJ]

I (try to) shred sales receipts from shows every 6 months.

 

[mrshamel3808]

Yeah, my deposits go into my Microsoft Money register and I put the names of everyone who paid in the memo line. I guess then I could just throw away the receipts. I just don't want to throw stuff away and then it come back to bite me in the butt!

 

[Sheila]

I was not keeping a record, until I had a check bounce & had a hard time getting the bank to tell me WHICH customer bounced the check. I started keeping the customer's name, check # and amount of the check in an excel spreadsheet for quick reference. If it happens again, I can skim down to the bottom through the most recent checks & see who's was returned by the amount on my on-line statement. No more calling the bank & being on hold for forever!I remove & shred the section of the receipt with Credit Card numbers, but I've been keeping the actual receipts in a file storage box. I think now that I've been a consultant over a year, I can start shredding the older ones. I don't see why anyone would come back after a year questioning a sale.

 

[DebbieJ]

I was not keeping a record, until I had a check bounce & had a hard time getting the bank to tell me WHICH customer bounced the check.

My bank returns the check, or a copy of it, to me, so I never encounter this problem.

 

[Sheila]

I didn't want to wait until I received the copy in the mail. That takes a couple of weeks when you are on a military base in Japan! LOL I saw it online & wanted to start trying to get the issue resolved immediately.

 

[chefcaroline]

Being the daughter of a retired Army officer, I use USAA for my bank accounts and use their "Deposit at Home" so that I am depositing each check individually, and I record the checks in Quicken with the name of who wrote the check. I also record the check numbers in P3 when I mark the payment on the customer order on the show.

 

[mrshamel3808]

I was not keeping a record, until I had a check bounce & had a hard time getting the bank to tell me WHICH customer bounced the check. I started keeping the customer's name, check # and amount of the check in an excel spreadsheet for quick reference. If it happens again, I can skim down to the bottom through the most recent checks & see who's was returned by the amount on my on-line statement. No more calling the bank & being on hold for forever!

I remove & shred the section of the receipt with Credit Card numbers, but I've been keeping the actual receipts in a file storage box. I think now that I've been a consultant over a year, I can start shredding the older ones. I don't see why anyone would come back after a year questioning a sale.

Sheila, all that information is kept in P3 (name of customer, type of payment, and then you can put in the check #, it already has the amount). Did you find a need to keep a separate record?