File Naming - Cataldo Images

A major goal of organization is making your information easier to find and access. Part of making the information easier to access is naming the scanned files in a logical manner. When you view the filename you want the related files to be grouped. Dated material should be store by date and category. Here are some suggestions for storing various types of documents (yyyy = year, mm = month, dd = day, {extension} = file extension):

Statements

Scan old statements (bank, credit card, etc.) and download recent from your online accounts. You can combine the statements for an entire year into a single file or store each statement individually. Use online statement files when possible. Examples:

accountName_yyyy.{extension}
accounttName_yyyy-mm.{extension}

Receipts

Normally receipts are stores by date. Each item on a receipt should also be entered into your accounting software so that you can cross-reference the receipt with the accounting notes. Example:

yyyy-mm-dd_source.{extension}

Tax Forms

Tax forms are normally stored by date and form type. The dates can be year only, year with quarter, or complete date. Example:

yyyy-Q1_ExciseTax.{extension}
yyyy-01-26_IrsLetter.{extension}
yyyy-1040_ScheduleC.{extension}

Checks

Copies of checks can be stored by year and check number. You may want to limit the number of checks per file when scanning checks individually. Example:

yyyy_checks_1234-1350.{extension}

A sample file folder created using these guidelines might look something like:

	2010-02-03.Walmart.pdf 2010-03-05.HomeDepot.pdf 2010-04-06.Lowes.pdf	Dated receipts are displayed in date order and store name can make the data easier to find
	2010_1040.pdf 2010_1040-ScheduleC.pdf	Tax documents are sorted by year and tax form.
	Amex_2010-01.pdf Amex_2010-02.pdf Amex_2010-03.pdf ChaseVisa_2010-01.pdf ChaseVisa_2010-02.pdf ChaseVisa.2010-03.pdf	Statements are sorted by company name and then by date.

ALL dated files should include the year so that filenames will be unique. If you copied files from different years into a single directory (for an insurance claim, for example) then you would not have duplicate filenames.