Document archiving means putting information you no longer use regularly into secure storage for extended periods of time.
It’s a complex process to get right, and doing it wrong risks leaving yourself open to security breaches. Document archiving companies can manage your documents for you, reducing risks of mistakes and helping to improve your data protection.
When your business produces a lot of paperwork, needs frequent access to past data or is more likely to be audited (financial firms etc.) digital document archiving can save the business money, and space.
Do you want to begin archiving your business documents online? This blog highlights the first steps for document archiving you need to think about when beginning this process.
Document archiving – key questions for your organisation
1. Which document does your organisation trade electronically and would benefit from extended access?
Your business should archive documents that you need to retain for legal, regulatory, or auditing purposes.
2. Do you send invoices and need to store them for an extended period for tax purposes? And do you trade in multiple locations which have different retention rules?
For example, in Germany, an invoice must be held for 10 years. In the UK, documents have to be archived for six years. Archiving also ensures business rule validation can be applied based on preceding documents. This is imperative for tax reporting purposes where invoices are involved.
3. Are you using a B2BE solution such as Accounts Payable, where some documents need to be archived for longer periods to allow their use in the application?
When using an accounts payable software for example, you may be able to track the flow of each order from the shipping notice all the way to the invoice payment. This means documents will need to be kept longer to ensure this tracking process.
4. Would it help different functions in the business when dealing with customers or suppliers to have extended access to documents and data to be able to respond to queries faster?
Archiving documents within the cloud would allow access to different business functions rather than paper being stored in one location.
5. Or, would it simply be easier to keep the documents longer so your trading partners can access historic information?
Document archiving can help build relationships with trading partners having access to historic information.
6. Is it important for your business processes to store data longer to maintain audit trails?
Record keeping should be kept in line with the regulations depending on the country the business operates in for audit trails. The time period changes depending on the rules of the country. Records must be kept for 10 years from the end of the year in which the transaction was made. This applies regardless of whether the taxable business has stopped using the scheme or not.
7. Where a document is part of a transactions set, and linked to other documents, is it better to keep the full transaction set available for extended times?
Where a document forms part of a transaction it can be linked together with its corresponding documents. This ensures the full transaction history is available in an instant. Great for cross-functional documents where different departments may need to access the documents and transaction.
8. Where PDF documents are received or sent using one of B2BE’s Document Management service does your organisation need to have these available for extended periods of time in the case where they may be required?
Documents can be exported from the archiving environment with all their linked documents with an easy to use index. If you ultimately want to keep copies locally or simply want to keep documents after the archive time frame this is easy to manage.
9. Does your organisation need flexibility to change archiving periods by document types or specific trading relationships throughout the life of the document?
As regulations change, or businesses begin operating in new locations archiving periods may need to be extended or decreased depending on the document type. Your business may wish to hold specific documents for longer with business relationships that are longer-term.
These questions will have allowed you to understand the need for document archiving within your business, and the benefits and ease it can bring with it. You can download these questions for free to share with your business here or contact us to discuss how you can implement document archiving.
About B2BE
B2BE delivers electronic supply chain solutions globally, helping organisations to better manage their supply chain processes, providing greater levels of visibility, auditability and control. We’re driven by a passion for what we do, inspired by innovation, and underpinned by a wealth of knowledge. With over 20+ years of experience, the B2BE teams operate worldwide.
For more information, visit www.b2be.com.