Business Records Retention Schedule – Guidelines for A Well Managed System
To operate in the corporate world means to live by its rules. Whether you are a small scale, localized enterprise or a full-fledged company or even a non-profit organization, there are certain guidelines and regulations that you will have to adhere to, for the betterment and smooth operations of your organization. These may be the government mandated rules or the best practices recommended for prudent business management – either ways sticking to these standards will help you steer clear of various kinds of troubles.
Business record retention happens to be one such aspect that any enterprise needs to look at closely. Retaining too much data will be an unnecessary waste of the business’ time and resources. And retaining too little of these records can lead you into trouble if you ever were to face legal issues in the future. There are many types of business records that you are legally obligated to retain, including bank statements, real estate and equipment leases, invoices, tax returns and W-2 forms.
Creating and sticking to a business records retention schedule is one of the hardest aspects to manage in an organization. Everyday operations generate a ton of data which can come in handy during various stages of an enterprise’s existence. For example, you may need to access prior billing information of a particular vendor or customer; you may need Income Tax data for government reporting purposes; you may even need to maintain employee records to save yourself from various pitfalls that might come your way as you move ahead from one day to the next. Formulating a business records retention schedule is a matter that must be handled by experts, to ensure that all legal aspects are covered and prudent data storage practices are followed with respect to each and every operation that is carried out within an organization.
While creating policies is one side of the coin, implementing them effectively is another major issue. A common mistake related to business record retention schedule is assuming that an individual or group within your company is retaining certain records when in fact, they're not. This problem becomes more prevalent in large organizations with multiple business units and/or locations. Another problem that might arise is the assumption that records are being maintained by third parties like the vendors themselves. A third common mistake is to keep all records in one location that is susceptible to any kind of loss, including fire damage, water damage or theft. Simply keeping all critical business records in a file cabinet in the main office is not a good idea. These are pitfalls that will eventually prove costly to you as an organization.
In the end, business record retention scheduling is a task that should be managed with utmost care and responsibility. There is a lot of data available on this topic online and you can take optimum advantage of the same for formulating your strategies.
To know more about business record retention requirements, visit IRCH.com.