Going Paperless - Any Suggestions???

[Hamacher]

I've been toying with the idea of going paperless for a couple years. I think I may "pull the trigger" this year.

Anyone gone paperless? What is involved? We currently use CCH Prosystem FX for our tax prep. I think they offer a filing cabinet program but wasn't sure if I should use theirs or if there is a "generic" program that would be better. I assume I will need to buy a scanner. Any recommendations? What documentation do you still keep in paper form, if any? What do you do regarding backups? That is my biggest fear that we will have some computer problems and lose everything. Should I scan my current tax files and destroy the paper copies? Do you maintain all of your clients info. (i.e. source documents, Excel documents, Word documents, and tax returns) in the same file?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[AZ-Tax]

I have been semi paperless this year...

I purchased Acrobat Adobe Pro 8 version and I scan quite a few documents then shred those that are sensitive. Reduces my time back and forth to the filing cabinet. I am strongly considering those readers for tax documents like W-2, 1099-R etc.

[Uncle]

We currently use CCH Prosystem FX for our tax prep. I think they offer a filing cabinet program but wasn't sure if I should use theirs or if there is a "generic" program that would be better. I assume I will need to buy a scanner. Any recommendations? What documentation do you still keep in paper form, if any? What do you do regarding backups? That is my biggest fear that we will have some computer problems and lose everything. Should I scan my current tax files and destroy the paper copies? Do you maintain all of your clients info. (i.e. source documents, Excel documents, Word documents, and tax returns) in the same file?

Thanks in advance for your help!

We do not use any special filing program. Our data file has 26 sub-directories labeled A, B, C..., inside of each of them are sub-directories labeled Smith, John, etc. Inside of Smith, John are sub-directories labeled Smith, John 2000, Smith, John 2001, etc. All tax returns, supporting documents, work-papers, signed forms etc. are scanned to pdf files and stored in the correct sub-directory. This system has worked very well and is easy to use.

Any scanner will be fine as long as it has an automatic feeder option. These come in handy. We use PaperPort software.

We keep nothing on paper.

Backups: Data is stored on our central server on two cloned encrypted drives with 128 bit encryption. A daily copy is also backed up to a drive at the office of our IT fella. A weekly copy of this backup is also backed up to another drive at a third location. Four drives would have to fail simultaneously to wipe us out.

We scanned all paper files five years ago and have never kept paper since. I am glad we took this course, paper files are expensive to create, maintain, and use.

YMMV. Hope this helps.

[erchess]

Backups

Paperless or not everyone has some records on their computer. Even if you DO have a paper copy of every shred of data on the computer it would be inconvenient to permanently lose the electronic files. Therefore it makes sense to back up your files. Backup solutions broadly speaking come in two flavors: onsite and remote. I personally think it makes sense to have two independent backups for anything you would seriously regret losing. You have options with both onsite and remote.

For onsite storage, forget floppies because they belong to the past. They are the least stable option and besides it may already be impossible to buy a drive that reads them. I think I would forget CDs because relative to DVDs CDs hold much less data in the same space. On the other hand recordable DVDs and CDs probably are going to last at most three or four years. Of course if you get a commercial grade DVD maker costing a huge sum you can crank out very stable disks indeed but this is clearly expensive. Thumb Drives and regular old Hard Drives cost less money and are depending on who you ask, a little less stable than, as stable as, or more stable than professionally made DVDs and CDs.

For remote backup there are a variety of services and I really don't know much about them. I don't have fast internet in my home office so I really can't make use of them. Maybe someone else can tell you more about remote backups. Remote offers the advantage that it won't be bothered if a disaster destroys your office and the disadvantage that if the company goes under your data is lost. It also has the disadvantage of being unusable for those of us without fast internet.

[Lion]

CCH User Conference

I also use ProSystem fx and have been meaning to go paperless. I'm in MD at the CCH User Conference and learning alot, including about going paperless. I imagine that you will be able to get a great deal of information shortly on the CCH web site or the new CCH Community. Today at the Vendor section, I saw the very tiny, very powerful ScanSnap that feeds 50 pages of all sizes and shapes and includes the full version of Adobe. Just within PS fx, you can "print" to a PDF at any time as well as to your printer so the tax return is taken care of. I've done that for clients that I need to email and will start doing it for all returns. Probably all the courses we're taking this week will show up on the CCH site as tutorials. Call your salesperson.

[AuditorTurnedGood]

I'm doing it too this year

I'm using whatever Drake included with the software - seems easy enough. I've heard rave reviews about the Fujitsu ScanSnap line of scanners - they cost around $500 for the entry level. There are different interfaces between scanners and software, so be sure whatever you buy for a scanner is compatible with your software package.

I use SOS Online Backup. I think it runs me $18.00/mo for 10GB of storage (which I have filled). It only backs up the data files, not the applications themselves. After the first few backups, it only backs up files which have changed since the last backup run. It sends me e-mails to let me know the backup was completed. They use triple redundant storage, and a triple-tiered SSL encryption system. They also have an UltraSafe option, with which no one but you can view the data stored on the servers. I like it.

ATG

[taxmandan]

We've been paperless for 5 years, but I do keep the paper copy of any forms the client signs such as the 8879, 8867. Don't use on-line backup, had one once but as someone else said, the company went out of business and that was that. I backup on a thumb drive, rotate 3 of them daily. Once a week backup to a DVD. At the end of the year I'll do a new DVD backup of the year's data for long term storage. Three or four years is long enough for me, so DVD is sufficient, I've never understood the desire to keep records for 10 or 15 years.

[Gretel]

I started the process last year. Got dual monitors, scanner, which I can't live without anymore, not just for tax prep. I decided against filing system through my tax software program. It's too expensive and I don't want to be dependent on them.

Before you buy a scanner you need to decide if you want to have W-2's etc. directly transferred into your software. I didn't after hearing horror stories but I guess they improve every year. My Canon DR-2050C is working great.

I created a filing tree in MyDocs like this: 1040 Clients, Name of Client, Tax year.

I won't bother with scanning prior year tax returns. They will phase out themselves. I also keep a printed copy of the 1040 form and the 8879 with the withholding documents. For a quick questions of a client of mine it's much easier for me to just pull the paper file and look at the 1040.

I also keep those client documents in my paper file, which I know I will need to look back to next filing season. Makes the interview easier. After that I will toss them.

Backup was one of my issues not to go paperless sooner. I developed a nice working system for myself using - among others - a SC card for my rotating, automatic backups. I can carry them in my wallet and they even survive the washing machine - much longer lasting then a lot of the other devices. Disadvantage is that the backup takes too long if the backup is too big. I am actually surprised that all the PDF files don't take up that much space after all.

Every day I back up on this card, plus one backup on an external harddrive, plus one backup on the same external harddrive for the whole system, plus an online backup. I am paranoid about loosing anything.

This is also the reason why I hesitated to totally switch over to my Gmail account.

[Hamacher]

Workflow

We do not use any special filing program. Our data file has 26 sub-directories labeled A, B, C..., inside of each of them are sub-directories labeled Smith, John, etc. Inside of Smith, John are sub-directories labeled Smith, John 2000, Smith, John 2001, etc. All tax returns, supporting documents, work-papers, signed forms etc. are scanned to pdf files and stored in the correct sub-directory. This system has worked very well and is easy to use.

Any scanner will be fine as long as it has an automatic feeder option. These come in handy. We use PaperPort software.

We keep nothing on paper.

Backups: Data is stored on our central server on two cloned encrypted drives with 128 bit encryption. A daily copy is also backed up to a drive at the office of our IT fella. A weekly copy of this backup is also backed up to another drive at a third location. Four drives would have to fail simultaneously to wipe us out.

We scanned all paper files five years ago and have never kept paper since. I am glad we took this course, paper files are expensive to create, maintain, and use.

YMMV. Hope this helps.

Regarding the source documents... do you have a system in place for scanning the documents? Meaning do you always scan W2s first, then 1099s, K1s, etc.? I am just trying to figure out how the work will flow through the office.

I'm leaning towards setting up a system like yours vs buying a DMS (data management system). They seem costly with little benefit.

Any thoughts on how to set up the two monitors? I currently have a "standard" executive desk and cant figure out how I can set up the monitors without obstructing the view of my guests. It would be nice to have the ability to turn one of the monitors towards my guests so we can both be viewing the same thing on my computer.

Thanks!

[Uncle]

Regarding the source documents... do you have a system in place for scanning the documents? Meaning do you always scan W2s first, then 1099s, K1s, etc.? I am just trying to figure out how the work will flow through the office.

I'm leaning towards setting up a system like yours vs buying a DMS (data management system). They seem costly with little benefit.

Any thoughts on how to set up the two monitors? I currently have a "standard" executive desk and cant figure out how I can set up the monitors without obstructing the view of my guests. It would be nice to have the ability to turn one of the monitors towards my guests so we can both be viewing the same thing on my computer.

Thanks!

The tax return is completed first. Sometimes the client is present, sometimes not. The completed tax return is printed to a pdf printer and saved to the correct (current) folder. If a hand signature is required, that paper is printed out and signed. Scanning can take place immediately so the client can take away their documents with their copy, or they can come back for them, or the documents can be mailed. We shred all paper not going to client as soon as scanning is complete. A lot depends upon the workload - if clients are backed up waiting, we tend to rush the system and save scanning for later - if things are slow, we tend to finish everything at once. We do not use dual monitors, although they would be very handy when the client emails us their documents in pdf format.

We input documents usually in the order they appear on the 1040. When we are done with a document, we turn it over onto the stack of input documents. When we are done, we turn the stack upright and scan the entire stack. This usually puts W-2s and other income documents at the front of the scanned document. Usually the little donation bits of paper are near the end. When we finish, a typical sub-directory would contain the documents labeled "Tax return", "Intake documents", "8879", "check" (if paid by check).

Beware the sub-directory that contains those files plus "CP-2000", "Letter to IRS", "2848", "Wage and Income Transcript", "Ltr to Client", "1040X", "State Amendment", "Notes", etc.

Hope this helps.

[erchess]

Mutltiplle Monitors

The usual reason for multiple monitors is to increase what you can see at a glance without minimizing something else. For example you might have more than one return (multiple years for the same client or multiple people in the event of MFS or in the event you are doing returns for dependents of clients or returns for a client and his corporations) or you might open research tools of various sorts. I have always used one monitor. With my first company it was set up where the client could see the screen and with the second company it was definitely set where the client could not see the screen. Now that I am on my own I do returns in the homes and offices of the clients and whether they can see the screen depends on the setup of the workspace they provide me and where they choose to sit. I have some clients who don't even stay in the room the entire time although they do stay in earshot.

[Lion]

Back up and stuff

I have external backup each night automatically to VMS in Caribou, ME, the old tech support for ATX. But, if you go to the SAS next generation of ProSystem fx, you'll have your program and data files on the CCH server. If you scan with their software, you insert up to 50 pages in any order, but it's converted to tax return order for storage and imported into the tax return. I'm seriously considering that, if not this season, then within a year.

[DMICPA]

Scanner questions

OK, I have bought a Muratec 2550 MFX scanner and started scanning the older files and cleaning out the storage area.

I have trouble scanning the old files. Each paper has the standard two hole punch in it and the scanner jams. I have had to photocopy the old papers and then feed them into the scanner and it works fine.

BUT this uses reams of paper. I end up shredding the original and the photocopy.

Is my scanner too sensitive or is there any other way to do this. I have resorted to feeding the paper bottom first but the scanned product comes out upside down.

[outwest]

Similar problem, different scanner.

But we finally bit the bullet and bought business class scanners. Fujitsu FI-6130.

this is a rock solid, fast feeder and takes pretty much anything we throw at it without a fuss.

Got some other 2 year old scanners for sale cheap.

Doug

[joanmcq]

My Scansnap 1500 was delivered two days ago but is still in the box. I want to clean up my office and get organized before I start scanning. I'm going to start getting rid of the paper files of clients that are no longer my clients and work my way up from there. I still like the look and feel of paper, even though I do have a dual monitor system. I also like the fact that I have multiple redundancy between paper and digital files.

I use iDrive online backup. I initially backed up nearly my entire harddrive, which took about two days. The incremental backup takes place each night, and if my computer is turned off, it takes about a minute once it's turned back on. I don't have ultrafast internet either, just a normal DSL connection.

I also use My Docs for a filing system, and always have. Folder 'Clients' with subfolders for each, and if necessary, a tax year for each. Of course more will have subfolders with the year as I start converting the paper files.