One or two people usually know how the office files are organized in a small business office. Those people are interrupted several times throughout the day with questions about where the paper files or digital files are in the archives. And when the person who knows how to organize office files leaves or works part-time, there can be significant disruption and reduced productivity in the office.
This isn’t just a paper problem anymore, either. Most small businesses today run on a mix of physical and digital files, and a recent industry study found that 41% of workers still rely on a hybrid mix of print and digital documents to get their jobs done; only 10% work fully digitally. So whether your files live in a cabinet, in the cloud, or both, the goal is the same: anyone on your team should be able to find what they need without interrupting you.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Topics
Key Takeaways
- People often struggle to find files in a small business office, especially when staff changes occur.
- To improve file accessibility, ask questions about new hires’ ability to locate essential documents.
- Create a floor plan to show where files are stored and label key areas for easy reference.
- Develop procedure lists to help both new and existing staff know where to find files and maintain organization.
- Regularly review and update your filing system to ensure it remains effective and user-friendly.
Questions to ask yourself
There are questions you can ask yourself to help make the process of finding files more effective. Start with these questions.
- Will the new part-timers know where everything is?
- What if there is an emergency and you need to hire a temp? Will it be easy for that person to find all the items in the office?
- Will other people who occasionally use the files and papers know where essential documents are stored, or will they struggle to work in that environment?
- If your office went fully remote tomorrow, could your staff still access the files they need?
These questions should help you think about what needs to be done in an office environment so that everyone can access the essential papers without assistance.
Now, let’s get organized with these office files
Below are tips for organizing office files, so anyone in the office will know where they go:
Draw a floor plan showing what the filing cabinets hold.
Draw out a floor plan (or Office Map) on grid paper or on the computer and include all the filing cabinets you use to file documents. It doesn’t have to look like an architect designed it. It just needs to include all the spaces where files are stored. Use squares and rectangles to represent filing cabinets and their locations in your office.
After you draw out the Office’s floor plan, make extra copies. Make the map as large as possible, and have room to show all the file area labels (affiliate) and comments. These copies are helpful for other items stored in the files.
On the first office map, label the filing cabinets drawing with statements similar to the ones below.
- File payroll paperwork here.
- File payroll reports/confirmation sheets of payment here.
- Here is where I put expenses to be invoiced.
- Outstanding invoices are filed here.
- Place the bills to pay here.
- When you need to pay your bills, you will find them here.
- File the paid bills here.
- Register client contracts here under the customer’s name.
- File client folders here.
- File conference paperwork here.
- Here is where I put my to-do files.
- Here are my current projects.
How to share where you filed papers in a filing cabinet?
On another duplicate floor plan layout paper or online, mark the following areas and indicate what is in these zones.
Then, staple them together with the original floor plan:
- Shipping – Include a statement like this: the stamps, envelopes (affiliate), and return labels (affiliate) are located here.
- Snack – Include if you know where the coffee (affiliate) maker supplies are stored. This square is where the paper products are stored. Visit our how to make an inviting breakroom post for tips on making this area organized.
- Inventory – If you carry inventory in your office, include this area. This area should have its own extensive (detailed) list of items.
- Office Supplies – List all the items in this area. You can say something like, “This is where the pens (affiliate) are stored, this is where the paper for the printer is stored, etc.“
- Conference Room area supplies – This location could include “cleaning supplies for the table are located in this cabinet.”
After you complete the office maps, pretend that you are new to the office and need something. Follow the map and see if you can find the right area of supplies you need. If not, revise your wording on the map. Then, have someone else do the same thing and see how that works for them.
Build a Digital Filing System That Mirrors Your Paper One
Once your physical files are mapped out, it’s worth doing the same exercise for your digital files. Most small businesses now store at least some documents in the cloud, and a system that only lives on paper leaves your team stuck if someone is working remotely, out sick, or needs a file after hours.
A few ways to keep digital and paper filing in sync:
- Mirror your folder names to your cabinet labels (affiliate). If your filing cabinet (affiliate) has a folder for “Client Contracts,” your Google Drive, NAS server, or Dropbox folder should use that exact same name. This way, staff can find things the same way whether they’re standing at the cabinet or searching from home.
- Scan key paper documents as backups. You don’t need to scan everything, but payroll records, signed contracts, and anything hard to replace are worth digitizing. A phone scanning app or a dedicated document scanner (affiliate) both work well for small offices, and turn stacks of paper into searchable PDFs in minutes.
- Set folder permissions. Not every staff member needs access to payroll or financial files. Set up view/edit permissions in your cloud storage the same way you’d decide who gets a key to the filing cabinet (affiliate).
- Keep one “master” procedure doc that lists where everything lives — both physical and digital. This becomes the single reference point for training new hires or temporary staff.
Going fully paperless isn’t the goal here — it’s having a system where paper and digital work together instead of creating two separate messes.
Visit my other posts to help you organize digital files.
How to Easily Spring Clean Small Business Digital Files
Ways to Dispose of Physical and Digital Files
How to Make a Well-Organized Business Digital Receipt Organizer
Create Procedure Lists for Your Small Business.
You are not done. The next step is to create procedure lists to help both new and existing staff know where their procedure files are located. If you want to know why you need to do this, check out our posts:The Pros of Creating Procedure Lists and How to Start Yours Today and The Pros for Using Templates and Checklists.
How to make procedure lists?
Make procedure lists for your organized office files as thoroughly as possible. Let’s start by listing every task in your office and where to file the paper for each task. You need to review those areas at least once a year to ensure they are up to date. This will help transition new employees more smoothly.
Feel free to visit my Small Business Process Improvement Service page and reach out; we can set up time so I can help you and your business!
Filing Cabinets Should Always Have Systems in Place.
Keep in mind that your filing cabinet (affiliate) should not just be a dumping ground. It should always have a system. Make sure your filing cabinets align with your industry and business model. I’m a fan of horizontal filing cabinets. They are easy to use and low-profile. Plus, it gives you plenty of space for all your paper files.
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Hanging folders (affiliate) may be cumbersome, but they will help you remember where the content needs to go by labeling them with the same or broader title as the manila folder (affiliate). A no-brainer, right? Not really. Many people fail to know the difference between specific and broad topics.
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Visit our post about 8 tips for keeping effective filing systems.
Before creating the filing system, review your existing files, list the topics you think you want to use on paper, and then check them against your actual files. Then pretend you are a new person who knows nothing about the system. Review the system. Does it work? If it doesn’t work, identify the steps you are missing and implement the entire system in your filing cabinets.
Visit these posts for more information on organizing office files effectively.
These steps will help you and your staff (temporary, remote, or full time) work more productively in the office. Keep these items in a safe (affiliate) place and give a copy to everyone needing them, like your office manager, spouse, and employees.
What office file organization system works for you? Please leave a comment below.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the document type. Tax and payroll records are generally kept for several years per IRS guidance, while routine correspondence can often be shredded sooner.
When in doubt, check with your accountant or industry regulations before shredding anything. Check out our post: How to Shred Important Small Business and Personal Papers
For most small businesses, a hybrid approach works best. Digitize anything that’s hard to replace (contracts, payroll, tax records) as a backup, but you don’t need to scan every piece of paper; focus on what would actually hurt your business to lose.
Use the same folder names and categories as your physical filing cabinet labels. If a client folder is labeled “Smith Contracts” in the cabinet, name the digital folder the same thing so staff isn’t guessing.
A labeled floor plan plus a written procedure list (covering both paper and digital locations) is the fastest way. Have the new hire try to find a file using only the map and procedure list, then adjust the wording based on where they get stuck.
Feel free to visit the link below from other experts regarding how to make a functional filing cabinet.
6 Steps to Create an ADHD-Friendly Filing System
