Do you have a secure and dependable records management system at your accounting firm?
An accounting firm needs a comprehensive records management plan including a timeline for document retention. Documents kept longer than necessary put the business and clients at serious danger of identity theft. The chance of your clients’ information being stolen is considerably decreased by maintaining a retention schedule, scanning records and/or storing them properly.
When the records’ retention period is up, they should be placed in a lockable box for pickup by Infoshred. Your documents will be securely destroyed, and you get a certificate of destruction. We also destroy digital media, such as Hard Drives, USB sticks, CDs, and DVDs.
Records Administration
If you maintain a comprehensive records management system, you will easily find your documents when you need them. You will have access to the files almost immediately, whether copies are required for in-house use or for your client. It’s even simpler to access the documents if you scan them.
Paper Organizing
A retention date should be included on every paper document. You should transfer them from the file system to a lockable shred box once they have passed the retention date. You’ll keep your filing cabinets cleaner, have more room for more customer files, and lower the chance that someone will steal your clients’ private information. If the documents are in our Records Storage facility, you can have them shredded when they reach the final, required retention date.
Filing Electronically
Electronic files may be backed up for a longer period of time than paper files must be kept. However, depending on the client, you should have a filing system that starts with the client’s name, followed by a file for every year, quarter, or month. When someone asks you for a file or a certain document, it will be simpler for you to find it this way. You can also easily identify and delete items you no longer need.
Time Retention
Each document’s retention period is determined by a number of elements, including industry and/or state legislation, the type of document, and whether the client is a business or a person. If a client is a company, the retention period could be determined by the client’s industry standards.
Establishing a Successful Records Management System
A records management system requires more than just a reliable method for scanning and storing documents. You must have a safe mechanism to dispose of documents once they have served their purpose for retention. Using a professional shredding service will save valuable company time and ensure the material is shredded on a pre-determined schedule. A carefully planned Record retention plan will protect the expired documents prior to your scheduled shredding.
Infoshred supplies locked shred boxes that are picked up on a scheduled basis. Simply put the document or file through the slot in the locked shredding box. We’ll come out and empty the shredding boxes into the shredder at the appointed hour. For larger clean out purge projects, we arrange bulk pick ups. The documents are then baled together with other documents and sent to a safe paper recycling facility.
Request an estimate on our website or by calling 860-627-5800 to learn more. Our experts will ask you a few questions to better understand your requirements, after which they will tell you exactly what to expect from start to finish, including the cost.
