Small Office Organisation - Top tips

beautifylife

Hi, I've researched the threads and can't see much info on SOO, so thought I'd ask here.

Ok so I work from home, I mainly use the internet, phone, skype, as it's a service based business. Very little face to face contact with clients.

Over the last few weeks I have moved house which I rent from 3 bed to 1 bed flat/apartment. It's been quite a challenge to downsize although needed to for various reasons.

Now I have my office in my living room which is small. I have a lot of reading material and books for my business, however the books and paperwork really are taking over at the moment.

I have 2 bookshelves which are full!

Question 1 : I'm looking at getting organised so my office space feels calm and efficient and organised - any suggestions about how I can do this? Websites ideas, book suggestions (!), storage units which help save space, purging strategies that worked for you, ways of storing books efficiently?

I've taken a look at some ideas on youtube which helped in terms of getting organised. I have a little loft space but it's tricky getting them up there as books are so heavy and I have limited space. I was considering selling some on amazon but that looks time consuming and tricky. I have given a load away to charity already though.

Question 2 - this relates to creating systems in my business for efficiency. Mainly IT systems. I'm looking at getting some easy to use accounting systems and wondered what people recommend? I currently use Excell spreadsheets.

Question 3 - Paperwork. Am I the only person with paperwork that seems to multiply in the night?! I currently have a 3 drawer cabinet and set up my files for both personal and business. That's getting full despite having a purge.

What systems work best for you in your business and why?

One of the things I am missing is somewhere to store office supplies too.

Any help gratefully received.

thanks:)

pitkin2020

The only tip I can give is to deal with things as they come in. For example don't open your letters and put them to one side to respond to them later, respond to them as soon as you open them and file them away. Move as much as you can onto a computer system (with a proper back up system in place) then file away the paper copies. I do all my accounts daily on to a speadsheet, i.e all purchases as the invoice comes in, I pay it, record it and file it away, takes all of 30 secs rather than 5 mins at the end of the day/week finding the receiprt, remembering what its for etc etc.

As for furniture you can only decide what will fit and if you like the look of it. Personally I would go for floor to ceiling type shelving/cubes so you have plenty of space for stuff with a smaller footprint.

Keeping on top of everything can be the easiest way of reducing clutter though. Not an easy task.

beautifylife

Thanks Pitkin2020 can you say more about the system you use, ie is it an excell spreadsheet or an accounting system if the latter what do you use? How about managing sales?

" I do all my accounts daily on to a speadsheet, i.e all purchases as the invoice comes in, I pay it, record it and file it away, takes all of 30 secs rather than 5 mins at the end of the day/week finding the receiprt, "

When you mention shelving cubes, where do you get those from? Ikea? I've only ever bought stand alone book case or shelving.

beautifylife

If there are any professional organisers lerking would love to hear your suggestions and ideas. Thanks.

beautifylife

Here is a good thread for anyone looking to get on top of their paperwork that I found on my travels! https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/564939 see #5

Horace

All my stuff is neatly filed away - I have cheap metal shelving units that I bought from a DIY shop rather than spend hundreds on expensive shelving and I have books as well as paperwork stored on it - I use boxes and magazine holders for papers. In one corner of the room I have a bookcase combined with a filing cabinet which stores more paperwork and I keep my ink cartridges on the shelves amongst other things - this cost me £20 from a charity shop. Thankfully for me I have a small spare room to use although when I do move to a house then I won't have that luxury.

There are tons of places where you can buy pre-loved office furniture including charity shops - do a google search.

I am very good with my business books and only have a few of them and I have made sure that they are most relevant to my business - these are stored on the metal shelf unit.

Accounts wise I use an accounting book and note down sales and purchases in that and Keep a folder containing punched pockets which are marked January through to December and my receipts go in there - I keep a separate file for invoices I send out and a separate file again for bank statements.

pitkin2020

beautifylife wrote: »

Thanks Pitkin2020 can you say more about the system you use, ie is it an excell spreadsheet or an accounting system if the latter what do you use? How about managing sales?

" I do all my accounts daily on to a speadsheet, i.e all purchases as the invoice comes in, I pay it, record it and file it away, takes all of 30 secs rather than 5 mins at the end of the day/week finding the receiprt, "

When you mention shelving cubes, where do you get those from? Ikea? I've only ever bought stand alone book case or shelving.

TBH I actually use a database in MS access that a friend built. I just type in the details for each type of thing I want to record. End of year press print and hand it to the accountant lol.

As for sales virtually everything is bespoke so I have to record everything by hand on site, I do make a hard copy though by scanning and saving as a PDF for future reference. I have to type the job out as part of the contract for the custy to sign so again it gets recorded there, once signed file away.