Technology & Social Media Going paperless - tackling filing

Discussion in 'Living Room' started by Property Twins, 24th Dec, 2015.

Join Australia's most dynamic and respected property investment community
  1. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    15th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    11,654
    Location:
    Newcastle
    I couldn't see if you had mentioned iPhone or android. I'm guessing android as I'd have about a 60% chance of being right.
     
    Property Twins likes this.
  2. Investig8

    Investig8 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    113
    Location:
    Central Coast
    Yes it is.
     
    Property Twins likes this.
  3. melbournian

    melbournian Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    2nd Sep, 2015
    Posts:
    3,038
    Location:
    melbourne
    yeah i use scan bot - it's very good app for document and receipt management seamless into the cloud storage (dropbox etc) and integration onto your PC from cloud weekly or monthly as required. you can also categorize similar to XML or hastag it so you can do searches on documents.
     
  4. wombat777

    wombat777 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    3,565
    Location:
    On a Capital and Income Growth Safari
    I have and highly-recommend the Epson DS-560. Fast, compact and only takes up a small amount of desk space.

    WorkForce DS-560 - Epson Australia

    I was lucky and scored a factory refurb unit for around $399 from memory. RRP $599.
     
    Property Twins likes this.
  5. mja

    mja Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    204
    Location:
    Sydney
    Use Evernote.

    You can keep a local copy on your laptop/desktop and it syncs with the cloud and all your mobile devices. You can tag each document with multiple tags, and the premium version ($57/year) can search through scanned documents for words/phrases you search for. It automatically detects documents when you 'scan' them using your phone (by taking a photo).

    I was at the bank and they wanted the latest lease for one of my properties. I opened Evernote on my phone, searched for 'lease' and the property address and emailed it to them on the spot.

    The trick is to tag everything.
     
  6. melbournian

    melbournian Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    2nd Sep, 2015
    Posts:
    3,038
    Location:
    melbourne
    yeah but an app is only $1.99 and if you're on the go or in banks or in cafes, you can search docs etc as mja suggests you can pull up docs. Nearly everyone goes to the cloud to get their data now.
     
  7. SouthBoy

    SouthBoy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    20th Aug, 2015
    Posts:
    255
    Location:
    Ozland
    I for one, do not use the cloud for storage. But I have often wondered what would happen if my laptop and my USB drive which has backed up copies of personal docs gets stolen or burn to the ground? Can someone suggest a cheap and easy to use cloud service, where personal docs can be accessed by yourself or partner from anywhere in the world?
     
  8. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    41,667
    Location:
    Australia wide
    Google docs
     
    SouthBoy likes this.
  9. Ouga

    Ouga Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,100
    Location:
    "Trying is the first step towards failure" Homer
    Indeed google docs is an easy one. Got heaps of storage too.
    Just make sure you have strong unique passwords and 2 steps verifications on your google account, as if someone has access to it, then they can access all your documents.
    You could also encrypt all your stuff in a single "folder" and upload that folder to google doc.

    But you could also have another offline storage, be it another hard drive or usb. Ideally keep it in a different location, so that if you house burn down or something you have another copy elsewhere (like your lockable drawer at work).
     
    SouthBoy likes this.
  10. SouthBoy

    SouthBoy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    20th Aug, 2015
    Posts:
    255
    Location:
    Ozland
    I do try and keep soft copies of receipts/invoices/tax statements in different locations (home, work). But this doubles your workload in terms of backing up. For example when you are at work and you receive an invoice you tend to backup it up in a device or PC at work. But when you are at home you save these files onto you laptop/USB at home. I often forget to copy these files to the other node, so the copies aren't replicated. Also as I use my scanner at work to convert hard copies to soft copies, I tend to have most of the crucial docs in my work PC. It'll be a nightmare to get this back if I was tapped on the shoulder and walked out of the job one day.
     
  11. Ouga

    Ouga Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,100
    Location:
    "Trying is the first step towards failure" Homer
    Ah yeah I see what you mean!
    Perhaps you could consider carrying a usb on your keys or something?
     

PFI can assist you with your investment strategies for your SMSF, Life Cover for your members and assistance with compliance. We provide the research to ensure your investment selections achieve the goals. This is the value of advice