Office Records: To Keep or Not to Keep

Many or our clients find that they are afraid to dispose of any of their records in fear that they may, for some reason, need to refer to them in the future. Because of this fear, none of the records are disposed of and the storage of these records becomes burdensome both in space utilization and cost.

Others, however, take a different approach and annually dispose of most or all of their records even though some may be important to retain for future reference. Neither of these two approaches adequately addresses the problem of recordkeeping. Either there is too much information retained or not enough. To assist you in this recordkeeping, we have provided a Records Retention Schedule published by The Practicing CPA, a publication of the AICPA, as a guide. Note that this is only a guide and that various regulations and statutory requirements, as well as specific needs, should be considered before a records retention program is put into effect.

Take a look at your office storage room and decide whether you need to establish a records retention program. The initial time and expense incurred in setting up a suitable schedule can pay dividends in increased efficiency and reduced costs. There is no time like the present to purge your files.