Clear out your file cabinet. Get rid of outdated shop notes, printouts of reports and guidelines, and other clutter. In general, you should keep shop notes ad report copies for at least 90 days, although some mystery shopping companies may recommend keeping them longer.

Go paperless. OK, going completely paperless is probably not realistic for most people. However, you may be able to reduce the amount of paper that flows through your office. Instead of printing copies of the reports you submit, save them to your computer as PDFs. Scan papers you would normally keep and get rid of the papers. (Before getting rid of things such as receipts, make sure that there is no chance the mystery shopping company will ask you to produce the original.)

Clear out your computer files. If you are already saving many of your reports and other documents as files and not paper, clear them out from time to time. Don’t forget photo files. When you do reports requiring digital photos, you can end up with a large section of your hard drive filled with photo files. You may also have lots of photos or scans of receipts and other documents. You may want to keep receipts for several years (to have them just in case you face a tax audit) but other documents can generally be deleted after 90 days or so.

Set up a work area. If you do not have a space dedicated to your mystery shopping business, set one up. Keep files, reference materials, equipment (such as digital recorders, thermometers, stopwatches, etc.) and supplies (pens, batteries, memory cards, etc.) in one handy place. Get a comfortable chair and make sure your computer or laptop is at a good height.

Establish a good record keeping system. Keep a notebook in your car for writing down mileage and recording small expenses, such as tolls or money you put in a parking meter. Keep envelopes in your car so you can keep receipts and other documentation together. Set up a calendar, spreadsheet or other system for tracking your shops, expenses, and payments due from mystery shopping companies. Keeping good records makes you more profitable because you will not forget shops and you will remember to deduct all of your expenses.

Once you have your organization in place, you can work on being more profitable.

Apply to more mystery shopping companies. The more companies you apply to, the more mystery shopper jobs you will be offered. Take a few minutes to set up all of the information you need to fill out applications, then make it a habit to apply to at least one or two companies every few days.

Educate yourself. Develop the skills that will make you a better and more sought-after mystery shopper. Take a grammar class to improve your writing skills. Get a mystery shopper certification.

Use technology. Although you may not want to invest much money in technology for mystery shopping if you are only doing it part time or spare time, there is no reason not to use technology you already own. Do you have a digital camera, digital voice recorder, navigation system or other device that could make your life as a mystery shopper easier? Use it! And learn the power user tricks that can make those devices work even better for you.

Take a chance. If you play it safe, only doing shops with which you are “comfortable,” you are holding yourself back. Try a different kind of shop, work with new companies and be open to new opportunities. If you decide you do not like doing some types of mystery shops, or the schedulers for a company are unpleasant to work with, dump ‘em. But be open to trying new things.

Here’s to making 2011 the best year ever!

Here are some tips to get—and stay—organized.

Set up a calendar for your secret shopping assignments. When you are awarded a mystery shopper job, immediately put it on your calendar. This can be a paper calendar, or a calendar on your computer or smart phone.

Consult your calendar before accepting assignments. Does this assignment fit with others you have accepted? Are you scheduled to complete other shops in the same area that can be grouped with this new shop? Are you already overbooked for the date of this shop?

Immediately download and print the requirements for the mystery shop assignment. Read them now, and highlight any special requirements that require attention. Are their activities beyond the shop visit that must be entered on your calendar (e.g., a purchase and return shop, calling ahead for an appointment or reservation)?

Set up a filing system for pending and completed assignments. Keep all of the shop forms and guidelines for upcoming shops together by date. When a report is complete, keep the notes, receipt and other documentation on file. One way to do this is to have a set of hanging files and groups of folders numbered 1 – 31. Keep two months of files for the shops scheduled in the current and upcoming month, and three to six months of files containing completed shops.

Make it easy to log expenses. Keep a small notebook in your car to track milage. Or use a note feature or app on your phone to keep track. Put an envelope in the glove box or console and put all of your receipts and other documentation into the envelope immediately after the shop so nothing gets lost.

Save completed reports as PDFs or screen shots instead of printing them. You will save money on paper and ink, and not be buried in piles of paper.

Don’t forget to keep your computer files organized. Give the PDFs or screenshots of your completed reports meaningful names so you can easily find them if needed. Store all of the files in their own directory, separate from your other documents.

Get mystery shopper email under control. If you are not using a separate email address for mystery shopping, this could be a good time to start. Set up an email address that is only used for mystery shopping, then notify the companies with which you work of your new address. If you are MSPA certified, you need to get a new certification code as it will change with your new email address. Making a change to your email address can be time-consuming if you are registered with lots of companies, but it will make it much easier to manage your shopper email in the future.

Taking a little time now to organize your mystery shopping workflow can save you time and money.

Get rid of old paperwork. Shop guidelines and report forms, receipts, and other paper accumulates quickly. This is a good time to discard old papers. Most companies ask that you keep shop notes and other records for at least 90 days after the shop date. To be safe, you may keep them six months.

You may want to keep receipts as long as you keep other tax records (typically at least three years after filing your tax return). However, you do not have to keep the hard copies. Consider scanning the receipts and discarding the originals to free up space in your filing cabinet. Scanning can take time, though. You may not want to take the time to scan old records, but just start scanning new ones as you get them. Hint: Scanning is a good task to delegate to the kids.

Don’t forget to clean up your hard drive. Keeping your hard drive too full can actually slow down your computer. Plus, having a bunch of unneeded files makes it harder to find what you do need. Delete those old files, or archive them to an external drive. External drives are cheaper than ever, and they are easy to use–just plug and play. And did you know that you can back up computer files to your iPod?

Clean out your car. We spend a lot of time in our cars, and it is easy to let stuff accumulate in the car. Throw away the trash, and bring anything that isn’t trash into the house. Only keep what you need in the car. (That includes your shopper emergency kit.)

Spring cleaning time is also a good time to make sure all of your shopper profiles are up to date. Do you have a list of all of the companies to which you have applied? If not, start compiling it. Add a few companies to the list every day. When you do, check your profiles on those sites to make sure all of the information is current. Is all of your contact information right? Did you enter your MSPA certification status? What about other elements of your profile—does your profile reflect your current status? Keeping everything up to date means you will not miss out on mystery shopper jobs.

Whew! Spring cleaning can be a bit of work, but doesn’t it feel good to have everything in order?

How? Well, as a CPA friend of mine says, “It’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep.” Here are some suggestions to help you keep more of what you make as a secret shopper.

Maximize tax deductions. You can deduct reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the process of running your business. These may include:

• Computer and Internet expenses;
• Office supplies (including paper, ink, toner, etc.);
• Cell phone service;
• Mileage or automobile expenses;
• Training and education;
• Voice recorders, digital cameras and other technology;
• Batteries and supplies for technology;
• A home office; and
• Other costs.

You may not be able to deduct 100% of these expenses. In general, you may deduct the percentage used in your business. For example, if you use your Internet connection for business 35% of the time, you may deduct 35% of the cost. Document usage to substantiate the deduction.

Keep good records of expenses so you do not miss any deductions. Put a notebook and envelope in your car (the map pocket is a good place). Record mileage and expenses as they are incurred, and drop receipts in the envelope. And do not forget to deduct the cost of the notebook and envelope.

Look for ways to reduce expenses. It is not a smart or profitable move to incur an expense just because it is deductible. For every dollar of expense you incur, you get a tax benefit of about 15 to 50 cents (depending on your tax bracket). If you believe it is a good deal to spend $1 to get 15¢, please see me. I will give you a full 25¢ for every dollar you give me. What a deal!

Reduce expenses by:

• Eliminating unnecessary expenditures. Do you really need a new digital camera or will your current one do?
• Looking for ways to reduce costs and fees. Can you get a better deal on Internet or phone service?
• Grouping trips to save car expenses.
• Seeking cost-effective solutions. Consider the costs of maintenance and supplies when buying equipment. An ink jet printer may cost a little less up front, but the cost of ink may make using it much more costly than a laser printer. For example, when I had to replace my fax machine, I chose a laser instead of an ink jet or thermal fax. It cost a little more to buy the laser fax, but I have saved hundreds of dollars on ink cartridges over the last few years.

What do you need to keep, and for how long? When is it safe to dispose of your mystery shop paperwork?

Most mystery shopping companies recommend that you keep all documentation from your shops for at least 90 days. Some suggest six months or longer. Some shoppers maintain files for one year or more.

Here are my recommendations to make sure you have what you need, without drowning in paper.

Do not print out things you do not need to print. For example, I do not print copies of my submitted reports. You may be able to save the screen as an HTML or PDF file, and keep the file on your computer.

It is a good idea to keep copies of emails regarding shop assignments, especially any conversations with schedulers. However, you do not need to keep hard copies of these emails. Set up a folder in your email program and archive the emails
there.

Make sure you back up all of your computer files regularly. You can do so locally to an external hard drive or DVD, or use an online service such as Carbonite. You can keep these electronic files indefinitely, as they take up litte space.

Paper from a shop should be kept three to six months. Clients may come up with questions long after the shop was submitted, so hold on your notes and other documentation. Organize the paper so you can find what you need. Set up a filing system by date, mystery shopping company or client so you can quickly locate anything you need.

If your filing system is by date, you can easily toss papers more than six months old (or whatever period of time you choose to keep them).

You may wish to keep receipts longer, perhaps three years or more for tax purposes. Many CPAs and tax preparers advise keeping tax records for at least the last three tax years, and some suggest keeping up to seven years’ of records. (Keep all of your tax returns forever, but you do not need to save every bit of documentation that you have for more than three to seven years.)

Receipts and other documentation you plan to keep for a long time may be digitized. There are scanners that allow you to feed documents automatically, so it is faster and easier to scan a large volume of paper. If you decide to do this, you might want to get your kids to help. (Tax tip: Paying your kids to work in your business is tax deductible for you, and because they probably do not have enough income to pay taxes can save on the family’s tax bill. Consult your tax professional for more details.)

It is important to keep proper records, in case of a question from the mystery shopping company, their client or the IRS. However, you do not need to keep everything forever. Come up with a system that works for you to reduce the amount of paper you use, and purge documents you no longer need.