How long should your company retain business records and information? It depends. And it's absolutely critical that someone in your company knows the answer.
Following are some common categories for businesses. If your company doesn't have a current, reliable retention schedule for these or other types of business records,
contact us.
Accounting/Financial
(Examples: Accounts Payable Invoices, Profit & Loss Statements, Employee Expense Reports, Payroll Register.)
Administrative
(Examples: General Correspondence, Telephone Records, Internal Audit Reports.)
Contract Administration
(Examples: Request for Proposals, Contracts, Specifications.)
Corporate
(Examples: Annual Reports, Stockholder Proxies, Capital Stock Ledger, Permits.)
Executive
(Examples: Correspondence, Speeches, Ideas and Notes, Policy Statements.)
Health Care
(Examples: Medical Records, Laboratory and Imaging Records, Pharmaceutical Records.)
Insurance
(Examples: Appraisals, Claims-Auto, Claims-Group Health and Life, Accident Reports.)
Legal
(Examples: Affidavits, Copyrights, Patents, Mortgages, Trademarks.)
Manufacturing
(Examples: Bills of Material, Correspondence-Engineering and Technical, Inventory Records, Production Reports.)
Personnel
(Examples: Time Cards, Paychecks, Job Descriptions, Pension Plan, Salary and Rate Changes.)
Purchasing
(Examples: Bids and Awards, Purchase Orders, Quotations, Acknowledgements.)
Sales/Marketing
(Examples: Correspondence, Presentations, Proposals, Prospect Lists, Marketing Research.)
Security
(Examples: Clearances, Fire Prevention Program, Classified Material Violations.)
Taxation
(Examples: Correspondence, Depreciation Schedules, Excise Reports, Real Estate.)
Traffic/Transportation
(Examples: Bills of Lading, Leases, Freight Claims, Household Moves, Employee Travel.)
