File management for accounting and financial advisory offices

What file issues do accounting and tax advisory offices face?

1. "All employees see all customers’ documentsWhen customer folders reside in a single shared folder, everyone can access every customer’s invoices and payslips. Both privacy and compliance are weakened simultaneously.
2. "The same invoice is being saved twice Documents from the customer are saved by two people under different names. At the end of the period, it is debated which one was processed.
3. "Necessary folder deleted during period cleanupDuring intense closing weeks, drafts are cleaned up, but so are genuine reconciliation folders. A backup is needed to restore them.
4. "A customer query searches the mailbox for documentsInvoices and receipts arrive via email and stay there. When a customer asks for a document, several mailboxes are scanned.

Why do documents get scattered in accounting offices?

An accounting firm manages documents for dozens, sometimes hundreds, of customers simultaneously. Invoices, bank statements, payroll documents, tax return approvals, and customer reconciliations recur every month. Some documents arrive via email, some as scanned paper, and some as files taken from the customer's own system.

As customer folders multiply in a single shared folder, every employee gains access to all customers' documents. During peak periods, common errors include saving the same document twice, placing it in the wrong customer folder or deleting it during cleanup.

How is customer documentation organised?

A separate area for each customer, with year and period folders underneath, and finally folders by document type (Invoices, Bank, Payroll, Declarations) is a structure sufficient for most offices. Ensuring that no one other than the customer’s portfolio manager and assistant can access this area protects both confidentiality and order.

The document status is indicated by tags rather than folders: 'awaiting from customer', 'processed', 'reconciled'. This allows anyone viewing a period folder to see which documents have been processed without opening the files.

How do document retention periods affect file organisation?

Article 253 of the Turkish Code of Procedure on Taxation requires that books and documents be kept for five years from the beginning of the calendar year following the year to which they relate. Article 82 of the Turkish Commercial Code, however, defines a ten-year period for commercial books, inventories, financial statements, and certain documents. These periods are the customer's obligation, but arranging records according to these timeframes also facilitates office management for customers who keep documents in-house.

Period folders are therefore important: a year whose retention period has expired is reviewed as a whole and separated according to the decision made together with the customer. This section is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice.

How are customer email attachments managed?

Customers usually send their invoices and receipts by email. Downloading these attachments one by one and copying them to the customer folder takes time and leads to duplication of copies. Saving the attachment directly from the mailbox to the file area moves the document to the correct location in one step.

The same logic applies in reverse: when sending a reconciliation or declaration approval to a customer, instead of downloading and re-attaching, sending directly from the file area keeps a record of which document went to whom.

How to collect documents from customers and how to list invoices in a table?

At the start of the period, the same documents are requested from every customer: invoices, bank statements, payroll summaries. Receiving these documents piecemeal by email complicates tracking and requires moving attachments individually into customer folders. Providing a separate upload link for each customer's period folder allows customers to drop documents directly into the correct folder without creating an account.

Instead of manually entering invoice numbers, dates, suppliers, VAT, and totals into a table, this information can be read directly from the documents. e-Invoice and e-Archive invoices already carry these details in their XML files; for PDFs and photos, the extracted values must be verified before saving.

What are common file errors at the end of the period?

• Saving the same invoice twice under different names.
• The document being placed in the wrong customer's folder.
• Confusion between draft declaration accounts and finalised ones.
• Deleting a necessary folder during period cleanup.
• Searching for documents in mailboxes when a customer query arrives.

How does SmartFiles solve this?

In SmartFiles, a separate storage area is opened for each customer, and permission is granted only to the team working with that customer; other employees do not see that area at all. Each area has its own colored and icon-tagged labels; multiple files can be selected and tagged together.

A document uploaded with the same name to the same folder becomes a new version; uploading the same invoice again does not create a separate copy. Deleted files and folders remain in the recycle bin for the duration specified by the administrator (up to 30 days) and can be restored.

To collect documents from the customer, a upload link is created in the period folder; the customer uploads files only to that folder without opening an account, cannot see inside the folder, and each incoming file is saved with the sender's name. Invoices in the folder are collected in a single table via Invoice list (Excel): e-Invoice and e-Archive XML files are read directly, while PDFs and receipt photos are read using AI and misread fields can be corrected.

Attachments from customers are uploaded via drag-and-drop to the relevant period; when used with SmartMail, a document in SmartFiles is sent via SmartMail without being downloaded. Uploaded documents are summarised by AI; questions such as 'Are there any invoices this month with different VAT rates?' can be asked of a period folder.

Department-based file areasTagging filesRestoring a file from the TrashRequesting a document from outside (upload link)Export invoices to Excel (invoice data extraction)

Frequently asked questions

Can only the relevant employee see each customer's correspondence?

Yes. In SmartFiles, a separate area is opened for each customer, and permission is granted only to employees working in that customer's portfolio. Employees without permission do not see the area in the sidebar.

What happens if the same invoice is uploaded twice?

A file uploaded to the same folder with the same name becomes a new version in SmartFiles; no separate copy is created. If uploaded with a different name, it is saved as a separate file, so naming conventions are important.

Does accidentally deleted folders return during period cleanup?

Yes. Deleted folders wait in the trash and return to their original location with all subfolders and files when restored.

Can scanned invoices be read using AI?

Yes. SmartFiles reads the first ten pages of scanned PDFs and visual files using image analysis; the invoice is summarized and its content is found in search. PDF, Word, and Excel files are read through their text.

Can I export customer invoices to an Excel spreadsheet?

Yes. Invoices in a folder are downloaded as CSV in a single table with document number, date, vendor, VAT/TIN, base amount, VAT, and total. e-Invoice and e-Archive XML files are read directly; PDFs and photos are read via AI.