If you’re running a business, you’ll be used to handling plenty of documents. From paperwork, to cloud-based files it’s useful to know which documents are important to keep close at hand. We’re running through what business documents you should be securely storing to keep your operations compliant and running smoothly.
Financial Documents
Invoices, bills, and monthly financial reports are all vital financial documents that need to be kept for accurate tax filing and creating business performance reports.
Any documents that are required for filling out accurate tax reports should be sufficiently stored.
Part of keeping business operations running smoothly is having easy access to your business’s bookkeeping and accounting records. Whenever you need to follow up on an outstanding invoice, you should know exactly where it is and be able to access it fairly quickly.
You may have a lot of your financial records kept on a cloud-based platform, but if you still work with paper documents you should file them away securely and ensure it’s easy to locate should you need to access it.
Human Resource Documents
From employee contact information to past payrolls and sick forms, it’s important to make sure you have a sufficient system to store your essential human resource documents. Your employee information is sensitive, and it’s important that you keep these records well organised and away from prying eyes.
Client Case Matter or Customer Information
If you have any sensitive information about a client or customer on your premises you will need to make sure it is stored in a way that is GDPR compliant.
While more and more documents are being stored digitally, there are some businesses that prefer to keep paper copies or where having physical copies are essential. For instance, a law firm needs to store case matter in order to comply with regulations. If you operate a law firm it’s vital that you keep client case matters for a certain number of years or even indefinitely to meet regulations and to be prepared for any future disputes or related matters.
Leases and Contracts
Any essential contract related to a facility that your business operates from should be securely stored and easily accessible should you need to make an enquiry. So, any paperwork or documents relating to your lease, utility bills or outsourced services should be kept close at hand to ensure smooth business operations.
Remember for that extra peace of mind it can be worth having back-ups of some physical documents and storing them in a separate secure location. If your company is looking for secure archive storage in Peterborough, 1st Access is a leading storage provider for companies across Cambridgeshire.
