Take It With You Don't let business cards and important documents get lost in the shuffle.

Neil Mammen knows firsthand the benefits of digital record keeping, especially while he's on the road. In late 2006, the founder of San Jose, California, engineering design firm Tentmaker Systems received a letter from the IRS requesting itemized proof for nearly $30,000 in past business expenses. His accountant had worse news: Mammen's credit card statements would not suffice; he needed individual receipts.

So Mammen, 45, spent close to two months retracing his spending steps from almost two years earlier, collecting receipts and invoices from his own files and contacting his vendors for copies. Frustrated by the hours he wasted, Mammen made what he considers a worthwhile investment: a portable document scanner from technology company Neat Receipts.