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At this time of the year some of us have sleepless nights, because we never paid attention to papers that come into our lives.Does your purse look like a recycling bag with slips stuffed into it for the past couple of months, because you just don’t know what to do with them?  Do you keep everything in a box to be handed to your poor accountant or bookkeeper to sort?

A till slip is a receipt for purchases made. It shows import information like the name of the store, description of the item, date and time of purchase, as well as the last date for refunds (normally 6months after the purchase date). It must be presented for returns of unsuitable or faulty goods.

Let’s clear the physical and mental clutter once and for all.

Five categories of till slips and receipts

1. Trash till slips of consumables as these are not tax deductable, unless the items are used for business purposes.

2. By law you should keep all business related papers for tax purposes.

  • At the check-out, write a note on the back of the slip for reference of the purchase.
  • File the till slip, the newest one at the back, in a wallet or monthly envelope. They will now be in date order and make it a breeze when reconciling your bank statement at the end of the month.
  • Clip the month’s purchases together and put them into your tax folder to hand them to your accountant.

3. Keep slips for clothing items (until refund date) in a clip. 

Check your clip once a month, then shred the slips of the clothing you are happy with.

Return the clothes you haven’t worn, don’t fit or you don’t like, then shred these slips too.

(Clips available from Neat Freak Online Shop)

4. Big items – keep the slip for the life time of the item, e.g. appliances. 

  • Make a copy of the original slip. Scan it into your computer or save an image on flash disk. The ink tends to fade and when you need to return or claim for warranty or unsuitable or faulty goods, the slip might turn out to be blank, leaving you with no proof of purchase! OR
  • Take a photo. Sync the images and transfer them to suitable folders like, Warranties/ receipts on your computer. You can even take photos of the model numbers/product codes and store these with the digital image of the till slips of the items. Keep the originals in your physical filing system with the instruction leaflets for the life of the items.

5.  Keep receipts for doctors and medication for tax purposes.

Should you have any further questions about what papers to retain and which you can let go of,  please contact Cloud 9 organised for assistance. Still looking for papers to complete your tax return? I will assist you to sort through your paper piles giving you time for the things that really matter!

Heidi Meyer

Professional Organiser