What is record retention process?
When established, a record retention schedule helps to ensure that important and valuable documents evidencing an organization’s activities, and that have legal, fiscal, administrative, or historical value, are protected, stored, and accessible, while documents that are not as important or are useless are …
What is record retention control?
A records retention schedule is the cornerstone of an effective records management program. A company implements a records retention schedule in order to ensure that its records are kept as long as legally and operationally required and that obsolete records are disposed of in a systematic and controlled manner.
What is a record retention schedule used for?
A retention schedule sets out the amount of time that the University needs to keep certain types of records. It applies to records in all formats, including paper and electronic information. Retention schedules should identify and describe record collections, series or systems, not individual records.
How do I create a record retention schedule?
Six Key Steps to Developing a Record Retention Policy
- STEP 1: Identify Types of Records & Media.
- STEP 2: Identify Business Needs for Records & Appropriate Retention Periods.
- STEP 3: Addressing Creation, Distribution, Storage & Retrieval of Documents.
- STEP 4: Destruction of Documents.
- STEP 5: Documentation & Implementation.
Why is record retention important?
Benefits of Having a Record Retention Schedule Improve their overall utilization of resources. Control the growth of records volume. Demonstrate compliance with regulatory recordkeeping requirements. Enforce the consistent implementation of record keeping policies.
How long should a business retain records?
seven years
If you own a small business, you need to keep business records, whether in digital or hard copies. The IRS recommends saving financial records for up to seven years, although some documents should be saved longer than others. These are necessary for annual tax filings and potential audits.
