Document management

I would like to minimise the amount of historic documents held in storage.

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Hi all,

I would like to minimise the amount of historic documentation I have in storage. What would your thoughts be on:

Purchase invoices (I'm thinking I'll hold 2 years and request copies for all I will bin off in the case of an inspection), sales orders (I have electronic copies of sales invoices), vat documentation (I'm thinking retain 6 years), expenses (I'm thinking 6 years), other (non compliance - bin off)?

Regards,

RA

Replies (6)

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By tracey2412
08th Mar 2018 10:51

does this answer your question: https://www.gov.uk/running-a-limited-company/company-and-accounting-records
if space is a problem for paper copies, if you have a lot, then maybe consider a local document scanning company?

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By pauljohnston
08th Mar 2018 11:08

You can also acquire DMS (Document Management Software) we use docusoft.

You will find that after using for sometime you wondered why you did not take up the idea before. As tracey2412 has indicated there are companies who will scan for you. What we did was employ a lad from our local 6th Form to come in once a week after school and scan the documents. Because of the money her earned over the two years he was able to take a year off before going to uni to have a gap year.

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By Gilly
08th Mar 2018 11:52

I don't keep any paper docs, with the occasional exception for some original government/official things. Scan, save, shred, and have a robust back-up strategy. Only for my own stuff though, clients manage their own.

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By Sam Beedle
08th Mar 2018 12:24

I would be a little wary of getting rid of anything after 2 years.

A recent VAT inspection shows they will go back 4 years as routine, and I'm not sure how successful you would be going back to several suppliers and asking for copy invoices from 4 years ago.

As the others have suggested I would look into keeping electronic records instead, and make sure you keep everything you need for the minimum 7 years, and sometimes longer with certain H&S and HR records.

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By elaynam
08th Mar 2018 14:07

I would also check you insurance and/or professional body requirements. In certain professions you are required to hold paperwork for years longer than you would expect. Scanning may be the answer if you have to keep for 20 years.

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By Sharma
09th May 2018 14:52

IF you are looking for document management, check out Doc-It, they work specifically with Accountancy firms and also have workflow and portal and scan and a PDF Editor.
www.doc-it.com

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