How to organize business expenses without losing receipts

Pick a single moment to capture every expense: the second you pay. Paper receipt? Photograph it into one folder. Card charge? It waits for your weekly review. Cash? One line in a notebook or tracker before you walk away.

The rule is not 'perfect records'. The rule is 'nothing waits longer than a week'.

Six to ten categories cover most small businesses: supplies, travel, meals, software, marketing, professional fees, equipment, and a gentle 'other'. More categories means more decisions per receipt — and decisions are where systems break.

Use the categories your tax form or accountant already expects. If you're unsure, start broad and split later.

Once a week, open your tracker and your card statement side by side. Log anything missing, categorize, and you're done. Five minutes weekly beats two miserable days in tax season.

Put it next to an existing habit — Friday afternoon coffee works well.

Download the free NeaMea Business Expense Tracker and log this week's expenses — nothing older. When that feels easy, the Monthly Bookkeeping Checklist shows how the weekly habit rolls into a calm month-end.