Stop Losing Documents: The 10-Second Naming Convention Every Business Owner Needs

You scanned the receipt. You filed it somewhere on your hard drive. Three months later, you need it — and it's gone. Not really gone, of course. It's buried in a folder called "Scans" or "Documents" or "New Folder (3)" with a name like IMG_20250114_093241.pdf.

Sound familiar?

After nearly half a century of building and running businesses, I've watched this problem get worse, not better. We're scanning more than ever — receipts, contracts, tax documents, insurance policies, medical records. We receive digital invoices, payment confirmations, and statements that all need to be stored somewhere. The volume keeps growing, but most of us are still dumping everything into a digital junk drawer.

Here's the thing: organizing documents doesn't require fancy software or expensive document management systems. It requires a naming convention — a simple, repeatable formula you apply every time you save a file.

The Formula

Every document gets named using four elements, separated by underscores:

That's it. Date first, then a short category code, a brief description, and the source. A few real examples:

• 2025-02-14_RCT_Office-Supplies_Staples
• 2025-01-31_BNK_Monthly-Statement_Chase
• 2024-12-15_TAX_1099-NEC_ClientName
• 2025-01-10_CTR_Service-Agreement_Acme

Why This Works

Date first means automatic sorting. The YYYY-MM-DD format ensures that every folder sorts chronologically — no dragging, no renaming, no extra clicks. January comes before February comes before March, every time.

Category codes give you instant recognition. When you glance at a folder full of files, RCT tells you it's a receipt, TAX tells you it's tax-related, CTR is a contract. You don't need to open a single file to know what you're looking at.

Descriptions keep it human-readable. The short description bridges the gap between code and context. Office-Supplies is enough. You don't need Office-Supplies-Purchased-At-Staples-For-The-Printer-In-The-Back-Room.

Vendor names make searching effortless. Need every document from Chase? Search "Chase." Need all your Geico correspondence? Search "Geico." Your operating system's built-in search becomes incredibly powerful when your file names are consistent.

The Category Codes

You don't need dozens of these. Here are the essentials that cover both business and personal life:

Pair these codes with a simple folder structure — Financial, Tax, Legal, Insurance, Medical, Business, Personal — and you've got a complete system.

The AI Advantage

Here's where it gets interesting for those of us leveraging AI in our businesses.

A structured naming convention isn't just for you anymore. It's for your AI assistant too. When your documents follow a consistent, predictable pattern, AI tools can help you file, retrieve, and even analyze them. Tell your AI assistant to "file this furnace repair receipt from ABC Heating," and a well-built system knows exactly what to name it and where to put it.

We're entering an era where the people and businesses who structure their information well will get exponentially more value from AI. The ones who don't will keep searching through New Folder (3).

You either leverage AI in your business, or AI will leverage your business.

Organizing your document storage is one of the easiest first steps you can take — and it pays dividends immediately, whether you're using AI today or not.

Start Today

You don't need to go back and rename every file you've ever saved. Start with today's scan. Use the formula. Be consistent going forward. Within a few weeks, you'll wonder how you ever operated without it.

The best systems aren't complicated. They're simple, repeatable, and built to scale.