Paperwork-management system needed!

I'm in my 4th year of owning a similar type practice. I've found that the simplest system works best for me, and I just have 1 file per employee. I buy green hanging folders and 3-tab manilla folders. Each client gets their own green hanging folder, and I use manilla folders labelled "2002 BK & Taxes", "2002 Payroll", etc. That way, if I meet with someone 1 time, I can still file the paperwork under their name, but it's an investment of a couple cents, not dollars like binders. Also, at the 7 year mark when I want to purge, I can just pull out the appropriate year files (i.e. 2002 BK & Taxes, 2002 Payroll), etc. When a client gets too big, I create a green hanging folder named "Client A Archives" and store their past years in that folder in order to save room in my carrying case when I go to meet them. Hope it helps!

Thanks for the input ... you're right, simple is better!

I have one minor add-on to what cpamichele said. I do the same with the hanging folders but I take it one step further. A prior employer used the old(VERY OLD) color scheme for tax returns for his filing system. I use blue hanging folders for corps, red for trusts, plain(green which is generic) for 1040s, yellow for partnerships. The paper forms used to be these colors, 1120 blue, 1065 yellow, etc. Then I can more easily locate the folder for the one corp buried amongst dozens of 1040s.

I also use those colors for the threefold file folders for each year's returns. Same reason.