Organizations often hold on to files that are no longer needed. Help Net Security points out that these records take up valuable storage space and cost money that could otherwise be saved. Adhering to a retention schedule helps businesses run more efficiently to save time, money, and space.
“While it may seem easier to keep everything, this is actually a losing strategy,” Sarah Koucky, Senior Director of Security and Compliance for Cintas Document Management told the blog. “Saving unnecessary records costs both time and money. By setting retention schedules and policies, organizations will remain compliant with government regulations and can expedite the destruction of outdated records to ensure a clutter-free system.”
The author provided the following retention schedule as a general recommended guideline for certain files and documents. Consult your legal advisor for specific retention schedules for your business and records.
- Accounts payable – 7 years
- Accounts receivable – 7 years
- Audit reports – Permanent
- Bank reconciliations – 3 years
- Bank statements – 7 years
- Canceled checks – 7 years
- Electronic payment records – 7 years
- Employee files (ex-employees) – 7 years
- Employment applications – 3 years
- Employment taxes – 7 years
- Expense reports – 7 years
- Financial statements (annual) – Permanent
- Insurance policies– Permanent
- Leases/Mortgages – Permanent
- Loan payment schedules – 7 years
- Payroll/Labor records – 7 years
- Purchase orders– 7 years
- Sales records – 7 years
- Tax returns – Permanent
It is important to safely and securely dispose of all documents that are no longer needed. With identity theft and data breaches on the rise, doing so will protect confidential information from falling into the wrong hands according to the article.
Many organizations use a secure shredding service that destroys business documents on-site on a scheduled basis. The author says these companies place secure storage containers in an accessible and identifiable location to make it safe and convenient for all employees to properly shred documents.
In addition, Help Net Security indicates businesses that have a large volume of records with long retention rates but limited space can consider an off-site storage and imaging provider. This will free up space and make sure all electronic and physical records live in a secure environment. All documents can be retrieved on-demand and properly destroyed if required.
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I had a conversation with a client the other day about electronic and physical document retention. The client was blase about a policy until we started to talk about FOIA and eDiscovery and the fact that if they had the documents they would have to produce it for the courts. While I am not a lawyer, I have been told that if there is a policy in place and enforced prior a request to produce a document, the courts will recognize the fact that a document is not available.
Now if you look at what the State of Michigan requires K-12 to keep (PDF), some documents have to be kept for 30-50 years and others have to be permanently retained. This can certainly create real-estate as well as technical challenges.
Can these required documents be stored electronically? What happens when technologies change? In case you didn’t notice the floppy drive is dead. I noted its passing here. The UK’s National Archives says (PDF) that USB drives and CD-Rs are the least reliable long-term storage media. They recommend LTO, but what versions 1, 2,3, 4, 5? This locks you into a single backup server software.
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.