How To Organize Receipts & Records for Tax Filing

With technology gaining new developments, keeping track of receipts and financial transactions for your exempt organization may have become a little easier. Often times you may be given the option to receive your receipt via email or by text message. Although this is convenient, it can become somewhat difficult to keep up with the mixture of printed and digital receipts on top of all of the other paperwork you need when preparing taxes for your organization.

Here’s a few tips on how to get all of your paperwork and that ever-growing box of receipts organized.

Take Inventory

The first step in organizing your paperwork is to assess the types of documents and receipts that you have. Paperwork can be categorized in various ways, including tax filings for previous years; bank or loan accounts or mortgage statements; pay stubs; assets sales receipts of gains/losses (residential property, vehicles, etc.); deduction/expense receipts; insurance; and interest paid/interest deductions (i.e. loan interest).

How Long Should I Keep Receipts?

Don’t you find yourself asking this question a lot? Right before you’re about throw away a receipt you think to yourself, “Hmm...should I keep this just in case?”

The length of time that you keep financial records is based on why you originally needed them. For example, annual tax returns, insurance claims, investments, etc., should be kept beyond tax season. Remember, the ultimate purpose of keeping your records is to have documentation for the IRS.

Audits of tax filings have a statute of limitations that can be extended three years after you’ve filed (or the due date of the tax return), so it is extremely important and beneficial to keep these records for at least three years.

If you do not file with the IRS or they have no reason to believe that a case of fraudulence has occurred, there is no statute of limitation. Because of this, you can keep any relevant tax documentation as long as possible.

NOTES:

• Self-Employed individuals and tax exempt organizations are more likely to be scrutinized and given longer statutes of limitations. If you are self-employed or file for an exempt organization (with employees), keep your filing records for four years.

Organize Your Records

Organization is the key to success here. It’s suggested that you sort financial records and receipts based on how soon you may need them.

Keep up with Active File documents! These include documents that you will actively need in the coming year (i.e. W-2s, expense receipts, etc.). Having these documents in multiple formats, whether it’s printed, scanned, or electronic, is always helpful.

Once you have filed or the tax year has ended, you can safely discard the following documents:

1. Pay stubs 
2. Bank Statements 
3. Receipts (once your taxes have been filed, paper receipts should be shredded)
4. Loan Interest Payments
5. Investment Statements 

Financial records that you do not need in the present moment, but may need to be accessible in an audit, should be kept in a digital format and not in a physical space. Scanned documentation can be stored on your computer or uploaded into a cloud service.

The Easiest Way to File 

Once you’ve organized all of your paperwork, utilize ExpressTaxExempt for your e-filing needs. ExpressTaxExempt eliminates the worry about missing your Form 990 filing deadline! With our simple, interview style e-filing process, you can complete your form and instantly transmit it directly to the IRS.

We offer easy e-filing for Form 990 Series returns (Form 990, Form 990-N (e-Postcard), Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF) so you can quickly file the correct 990 Form for your organization. For more information on e-filing pricing, click here.

Follow the simple step-by-step guide to create your free account, enter basic information about your organization, complete the form interview, review your information and audit report, pay for your form, and transmit it directly to the IRS. The entire process is completed in 5 simple steps!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our support team of e-file experts at 704.839.2321 for any questions or help with your e-filing experience. We’re available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. You can also reach us 24/7 via email with support@ExpressTaxExempt.com.

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Governing Body, Policies, and Disclosure Sections of Form 990

Federal tax law typically does not mandate particular management structures, operational policies, or administrative practices.

However, you are still required to report information regarding your organization's governing body and management, governance policies, and disclosure practices with IRS Form 990.

Not every policy or disclose practice may apply to your exempt organization - here are few guidelines about reporting the following sections with your 990 form:

Voting Members and Relationships
Enter the total count of your organization’s governing body members with the power to vote and the independent voting members. Indicate and describe any material differences of your governing body members if they do not have the same rights to vote.

If your organization’s current list of officers has a family or business relationship with other officers, you need to identify each person and describe their relationship.

Management Duties
Report if your organization appointed any management companies and describe all of the management duty details, if applicable. Management responsibilities include but are not limited to

• Hire, fire, or supervise personnel
• Plan executing budgets or financial operations
• Oversee exempt activities or unrelated trades or businesses

Important: The IRS doesn’t recommend reporting administrative services like payroll processing or investment management unless the filing organization conducts investment management services for others.

Significant Diversion
Report any significant changes in your organizing documents or bylaws for the filing year, if necessary. Indicate if your organization became aware during the year of a significant diversion of the organization’s assets. If so, be prepared to explain the nature of the diversion, dollar amounts and any property involved, corrective actions, and relevant circumstances - do not include the name of whoever diverted the assets.

Select whether your organization has members or stockholders and describe whether your group classifies as a stock corporation, a joint-stock company, partnership, a joint venture, or a limited liability company, if necessary.

Stockholders
If your tax-exempt organization has any members or stockholders, you need to describe the class or categories of each person, the decisions that require their approval, and the nature of their voting rights. You also are responsible for reporting any documentation of meetings and written actions of the governing body and committees with authority to act on its behalf.

Policies
Indicate if your organization controls any local chapters, branches, lodges or affiliates. Report any written policies or practices governing the activities of those subordinate groups to ensure their operations are consistent with the organization's tax-exempt purposes, if applicable.

Written Policy
Specify if your organization has a written conflict of interest policy, a written whistleblower policy, and a document retention and destruction policy. You should also have the information necessary to describe the process for determining the compensation of the officers and key employees.

Disclosures
List all the appropriate states which require a copy of your 990 form to fulfill state exempt organization or charitable solicitation reporting requirements. Indicate and explain whether or not your organization’s governing documents are available to the general public during the tax year.

Organization’s Books
Provide the details of the person who possesses the organization's books and records including their name, address, and phone number.

Our U.S. - based customer support can assist you with any technical issues regarding the governing body, policies, and disclosure sections so you can transmit an error-free 990 form. Contact us at 704.839.2321, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. Or you can submit a request with support@ExpressTaxExempt.com.

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