For each shop that I do, I staple my receipt to a sheet of paper with the job details on it. Once I get paid for that shop, I store the paperwork in an accordion file by month paid. When is it ok to throw this paperwork out? I have an Excel spreadsheet with all of my information on each shop for tax purposes.

AnneAshley, I staple the receipts to the paperwork and notes too. I file them by month and when the calendar year is over, Jan - Dec files are bound together with the excel sheet. I keep them a minimum of three years, the time that I have to re-file any income tax return. Here is a link to the IRS page that answers that question for you too: [www.irs.gov]

If I've scanned and uploaded them, I toss them as soon as I'm paid. They're backed up on my computer and external drive if I ever needed to print them out. Can't see filling filing cabinet after filing cabinet with receipts that can fit on a stick.

I clear out each folder the following year. So in January, all receipts will be shredded and new ones will go into the file. I still have them saved on my computer as well.

Only one MSC has asked for a receipt months later and it made zero sense to me. The report itself asked for a copy of the receipt. But they wanted me to upload it twice, once for their system and once for the report. This MSC would allow shoppers to occasionally forgo uploading receipts altogether but my shop was flagged since it was done a few states away from my home base. They threatened to deactivate me had I not FAXED it over to them. In 2014! It was a strange request, but I was thankful I still had the hard copy (and that it was legible!). So many stores seem to use disappearing ink on their receipts that are no longer legible after a few months.

My file folders are 12 files in a box. Very small and portable. Works for me, but do as you please. I would definitely hold onto them at least six months though for piece of mind. Some MSCs list that as their expected timeframe to be able to get back to you about the shop.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2017 06:13PM by ShopSouthTexas.

Pictures of receipts and other required photos go into a quarterly folder on my desk top. (i.e, Q1 = Jan-March, etc.). Once a folder is 6 months out of date (End of Sept for Q1 folder), I dump that folder's contents.

Business expenses are all accounted for on credit card statements or my EZ Pass (road/bridge/tunnel tolls) year end statement., both of which the IRS recognizes as receipts for tax purposes. In case of any dispute (e.g. about tolls for a certain day) my mileage log supports my travel route for the day.

It is not disappearing ink, it is the thermal paper.

btw, except for hotel shops (which go on credit cards) I do so few reimbursement shops that require cash that I do not try to claim those expenses as a "wash" on my Schedule C. Since none of the MSCs that I do reimbursement shops for lump those into their 1099s, this works for me. YMMV, especially if you work for MSCs that screw up 1099s by including reimbursement amounts in their reports to the IRS.

@LisaSTL wrote:

It is not disappearing ink, it is the thermal paper.

Haha, I know it’s not truly disappearing. But if exposed to air and light, I believe it does disappear!!

I staple receipts to the printed report form. I clear out both my accordion file and my hard drive 6 months after the shop dates.

I remember the days of printing out guidelines and report forms. I don't miss the expense and time spent filing at all. Having my records in the cloud means no cluttering up the hard drive so no need to spend time cleaning it out either.

I clear out my computer files of saved receipts whenever it looks too clogged to find what I need which is probably no more often than 6 months. I have a separate folder for each msc. I do keep a representative receipt for any client I might shop again if it is a reimbursed situation. That way even if the last time I shopped that client was a year ago I can easily refresh my memory of what fit under the reimbursement. It helps to look up things like wine and dessert prices since those are not always listed on the websites and also helps to refresh my memory that a particular client had nothing cheap to buy and I ended up spending too much of my flat fee at that place. If I spent on something I actually wanted and spent more I will remember that purchase in my head as the one I went over on purpose.

I scan or take a photo of the receipt and save it to my computer.

I scan whatever I have from the assignment, upload the pics and download the completed report or the screenshots of the completed reports onto my computer, filing them under Company, Year, Client, Shop Date with Street name. Once an assignment is paid I change the Shop Date name and put a capital P in front of it. Once every three months I do a "search" on my computer for all file names under "Companies" that do not have a P in front of it and it returns shops that have not been paid. I toss all paper and try not to generate any myself.

I keep everything on my computer. Each assignment has its own folder: photos from the shop, photos of the receipts, notes, my narratives written in a word doc.

I do everything digitally. I keep guidelines and receipts in the specific MSC folder. No reason to have hard copies of anything.

One company was annoyed with me because I did not send an actual receipt. I uploaded two different images of the receipt. The actual receipt was packed for storage, and I did not want to unpack it and undo a lot of work. My back balked at that. We had other things to do, and incurring pain was not one of them. We learned that when an MSC says that they might want an actual receipt, they mean it!

Interesting. I can't imagine any company wanting the actual receipt. I mean, in no time the burn that makes the information visible is gone on most receipts.

Here you go Shop-et-al: A great reason NOT to keep those thermal receipts. You're welcome.

Don't Touch That Cash Register Receipt—It's Toxic
Nearly all paper receipts are coated in BPA, and a new study finds that the carcinogenic chemical quickly contaminates the blood of anyone who handles one.

(Photo: Getty Images)

OCT 29, 2014· 2 MIN READ Melanie Haiken is a San Francisco Bay Area–based health, science, and travel writer who contributes regularly to Forbes.com and numerous national magazines.
Bio

If there’s one thing you probably touch every day, over and over again, it’s cash register receipts. Quick—check your wallet, your pocket, or the bottom of your purse: There they are.

Now researchers have found that those innocent-seeming pieces of paper contain high levels of bisphenol A, the same chemical recently banned from plastic water bottles because of the serious long-term health risks it poses.
ADVERTISEMENT


According to a study published this week in the journal PLOS ONE, people's blood levels of BPA spiked after they touched cash receipts—particularly if they had lotion, sanitizer, or another skin care product on their hands.

“BPA has been proven to cause reproductive defects in fetuses, infants, children, and adults as well as cancer, metabolic, and immune problems in rodents,” said study author Frederick vom Saal, a professor of biology at the University of Missouri.

”Our research found BPA levels from receipts much higher than exposures from food packaging or plastic,” added vom Saal. “And BPA from thermal papers will be absorbed into your blood rapidly. At those levels, many diseases such as diabetes and disorders such as obesity increase as well.”

A report issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in January found that 94 percent of receipts contain BPA.

A hormone disruptor that mimics and interferes with estrogen and testosterone, BPA is used as a heat-activated ink developer in the production of thermal receipts, such as those dispensed from cash registers, gas pumps, and ATMs. The process is even used to print airline tickets. Because the BPA sits on the surface of slick, plastic-coated paper, it absorbs easily into the skin, the study found.

Our devotion to lotion isn’t helping. Sunscreen, hand sanitizers, and other personal care products contain chemicals that help pierce the skin ("dermal penetration enhancers," to use industry-speak). Think about how often you use hand products and how often you touch food immediately after touching a receipt, and it's easy to see how they provide BPA a direct route into the body.

RELATED

Paper Waste Is Being Turned Into a Safer BPA Alternative
Consider these scenarios, all of which were observed by the researchers in a study conducted in restaurants and food courts in a Columbia, Missouri, shopping mall. In one, you pay for your food and receive a receipt, which you touch before taking your food. In a second scenario, common in many fast-food restaurants, there is a dispenser of hand sanitizer on the counter, which you use before taking the receipt and your food. In a third scenario, common in take-out restaurants, the receipt is stapled to the folded top of the bag, right where your hand rests as you carry it.

All three scenarios provide a direct route for BPA into your fingertips.
ADVERTISEMENT


Sure enough, when the researchers tested blood levels of BPA after study participants cleaned their hands with sanitizer, then held receipts, they found an immediate spike in BPA levels. Add the third step of eating greasy food (in this case, french fries), and BPA levels soared.

Error loading playlist: Playlist load error: File not found
It’s not the first study to find large amounts of BPA in thermal receipts; a 2010 study published in Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews found high levels of BPA in the surface coating of thermal paper. But vom Saal and his team were the first to go a significant step further, taking blood samples and measuring BPA blood levels after research subjects had touched receipt paper.

So how do we avoid touching BPA-tainted receipts?

There's no simple solution, vom Saal said. "Virtually all store receipts, ATM receipts, etc., are thermal paper, and no safe chemical-free alternative exists, making it difficult for manufacturers to reformulate the ink used in receipts."

Sure enough, the EPA study on BPA in receipts concluded that no safer alternative to the chemical exists.

So how to protect yourself?

Decline receipts when you don't need them, as they often end up in the trash anyway. Also, you probably used a debit or credit card and will have record of the transaction if a dispute arises.
When available, request an emailed receipt in place of a paper one.
Avoid using hand sanitizer or lotion just before purchasing food.
Wash your hands in between touching receipts and eating.
Wash your hands before eating no matter what. You already knew that, right?

So now mystery shopping is hazardous to our health. Perhaps there should be a warning to that effect on the main page of the forum

I think the receipts only really affect you if you lick them.

Damn, another hobby I have to quit.

I've never had any company ask for a receipt after the initial upload. Very helpful info

@ShopSouthTexas wrote:

I clear out each folder the following year. So in January, all receipts will be shredded and new ones will go into the file. I still have them saved on my computer as well.

Only one MSC has asked for a receipt months later and it made zero sense to me. The report itself asked for a copy of the receipt. But they wanted me to upload it twice, once for their system and once for the report. This MSC would allow shoppers to occasionally forgo uploading receipts altogether but my shop was flagged since it was done a few states away from my home base. They threatened to deactivate me had I not FAXED it over to them. In 2014! It was a strange request, but I was thankful I still had the hard copy (and that it was legible!). So many stores seem to use disappearing ink on their receipts that are no longer legible after a few months.

My file folders are 12 files in a box. Very small and portable. Works for me, but do as you please. I would definitely hold onto them at least six months though for piece of mind. Some MSCs list that as their expected timeframe to be able to get back to you about the shop.

I'll let you know the side affects after my next shop! Haha.

@spicy1 wrote:

I think the receipts only really affect you if you lick them.

I scan and upload to Google Drive so I can access them from anywhere.

I keep all of my receipts with the paper job form for about 6 months. I have never needed any of the information. I do keep a ledger with all of the shops and payment for tax purposes.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2018 04:41PM by shopper8.