MANAGING RECORDS - CONTROLLING PAPER

There is historical evidence going back for centuries of people's need to file. Wax and stone tablets have been found with lists. The lists were a way of keeping records and filing the information. How great to now file a paper in a drawer or, if you can be comfortable with modern technology, file the information in your computer.

Read what is printed here and also learn more from Paper Management 101 at the Let's Get It Together site. Control paper from the time it reaches your office. Use an "In-box" to capture paper coming through the door. Distribute it to the appropriate file as you sort it:

• Place a wastebasket near the in-box to catch most junk mail.
• Put any paper that comes into your business that can be read later into a "Reading" file.
• Do the same with bills; create a "Bills to Pay" file.

ALPHA, NUMERIC OR OTHER?

A filing cabinet is generally used for types of records, which are filed in order, either alphabetically or numerically.

Which method will you use to file?

Most people file alphabetically in drawers with dividers called guides. Each guide is assigned a letter of the alphabet and filing is done behind the appropriate guide. Example: Automobile information would be filed behind the "A" guide.

Information filed behind a guide is also filed alphabetically within the lettered section. Example: "Advertising" is filed behind "ACCI and in front of "Assumed Name."

A numerical system might be used to store information for a parts inventory. Example: A small wheel is item number 1.935B - the number is the determining code. Information would be placed behind a guide titled: 1.1-1.9.

Another filing method is geographic. When the location of businesses or customers is important, the filing can be done by geographical location. Example: a customer living in Ohio would be filed behind the guide marked "Ohio."

CROSS-REFERENCING

It can be difficult to determine where to file an item and different people will assign a different designation to the same record. For instance, a customer by the name of Mary Jones marries and her name is now Mary Smith. Her information might be filed under Mary or Jones and now Smith. The most common filing would be under her new name of Smith, so use notes behind the guide M for Mary and the guide J for Jones to tell that her information is filed under S for Smith. This might seem time consuming, but when in a hurry or when you ask an employee to retrieve Mary Jone's information (you forgot she is now married) it will save much searching.

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