Sorting scattered prior-year folders without losing context

Historical reconstruction fails when sorting becomes a dump into one giant folder. Context — which year, which entity, which schedule — disappears.

Work one period at a time

Choose a single filing year and entity. Gather everything that might belong, then sort into source types: sales, expenses, banking, payroll, notices. Only then map to schedules.

Keep a gap list beside the index

An honest gap list is part of a usable trail. “Could not locate Q3 withholding slips after contacting prior bookkeeper on 12 March” is more useful than pretending the pack is complete.

Resist rewriting history

Do not alter dates or invent invoices. Reconstruction is about finding and indexing what exists, then stating what does not.

When folders are too scattered to tackle alone, historical trail reconstruction is the engagement we use for that work.