Mother Nature seems to be increasingly punishing – more hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes and natural disasters are in the news more often than ever. Man-made fires and catastrophes are adding to the mix. Planning what to in case of a disaster has now become an important individual and business taxpayer responsibility. Here are some steps you can take to protect your financial records.
Paperless Recordkeeping – Take advantage of e-mailed bank statements and other financial documents. Scan important tax records such as W-2s, tax returns, insurance policies, receipts and other paper documents. Back up your electronic files on a memory stick or burn a CD copy. Make duplicates and keep them in separate locations. Don’t make convenience to your home or office the primary consideration. A disaster is just as likely to strike nearby places at the same time, making record recovery difficult or impossible.
Document Business Equipment and Assets – This will be valuable for insurance claims as well as tax deductions for casualty loss. You can prepare an itemized list with description, original cost and current market value. It also makes sense to photograph or videotape the items, especially those of greater value. Documentation can be saved to disk and stored in a remote location, or e-mailed to someone who could easily retrieve if needed, or digitally stored online.
Bonds for Payroll Services – Employers who use a payroll service want to make sure their provider has a fiduciary bond in place. The bond could protect you should that payroll service provider suffer its own disaster and/or defaults.
Business Preparedness Planning – There are plans in common for all hazards and disasters. Back up your computer systems regularly. Decide how you will communicate with customers and suppliers should the disaster affect operations for an extended period of time.
Above all, develop an emergency plan for your employees. Keep a disaster supply kit and portable generator at your office. Learn evacuation routes and where to seek shelter from all types of peril. Communicate emergency plans to all employees and review periodically.
These simple steps can help you have less to worry about in the event a disaster. Call Gary Kaplan to discuss what documents you should keep safe, and how to either implement or update an effective business emergency plan.
