Records pertaining to employment, earnings, and taxes withheld can all be questioned by the IRS and be audited if any red flags are raised. This shouldn't be a cause for concern if you keep good records and can prove whatever information was claimed on the forms. The general rule is to keep tax records for 3 years, but 5 is probably a safer number when it comes to individuals. Keep in mind that other entities may require information from tax forms including, insurance companies and credit lenders. Having the documents on hand is smarter and more convenient than hunting down and/or requesting copies from the IRS sometime in the future. On the other hand, a company should store tax records indefinitely. The digital age has made this task simpler and less space consuming.
When and if the time comes to destroy old documents, be sure that the forms are shredded with a crosscut shredder, or digital information is stored using software that is protected
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Companies and individuals with a business should store other important documents for the duration of the existence. These documents can include, but a re not limited to permits, agreements, contracts, lease and rental agreements, stock information, and mortgage documents, even if the mortgage has been paid in full. Having these documents stored safely means you can retrieve any pertinent information needed, provide proof with documentation if necessary, and have a complete record of the history of the company.
Managing Data
There are many arguments for and against any type of medium that can be implemented to store and manage data and records. Each medium has its positive characteristics and its drawbacks. The best record keepers use more than one method to store data, mainly as a backup in case of a catastrophe. This is where the old adage, "it's better to be safe than sorry" takes on a greater significance.
The Cloud vs. Paper vs. Desktop
Employees will be informed of a specific types of documents or records that are relevant, must be retained for these purposes by upper management or CFO. Unless stated, do not discard any documents or records that may be relevant without the written approval of upper management or the CFO. If in doubt, always save the document.
All businesses and organisations have to check to see that the information they have stored is accurate. For example, the money coming in and going out have to be correctly recorded otherwise it will look as if the company has not made much profit and it can affect the share prices of the company, affect the employees as the company might not be able to pay the employees and will have to cut down on staff, lenders will not agree to lend money, etc.
Collection of information is essential to support the major functions and activities of the organisation. To ascertain this it is essential to have regular reports of the organisation and to do this you need regular financial reports and audits. A true vision of the organisation will give any management a better understanding of their situation and will thus help them to make a good viable decision.
Some of the benefits of electronically storing are that you can store vast amounts of information in a very small space, you can reproduce and disseminate this information at great speed, documents are easy to modify. Documents can also be searched for easily, and it is hard for the documents to go missing.
Confidentiality is very important in preparing documents because it can involve a lot of private data. In order to protect the users and the owner, confidentiality must be observed. Data protection is also significant to assure that nobody will be able to get the data and spread it to anybody else, especially if it's about money and financial statements. The release of personal information can lead to serious consequences. This is probably one of the most important aspects of any business. It helps save the company, its values, and trust from
Storing information is essential for many reasons; these include easy access and changing readability for all reading levels, the level of detail you are able to store, the choice to have various copies of the information in case of loss and ease of transfer.
There are two types of recording information, these are manual and electronic. There are security issues with both, security of electronic data/info has to be kept up to date and passwords changed regularly to help to stop unauthorised access, this also needs to be kept up to date regularly. There should also be a back up disk which should also have the same kind of security that paperwork has. Manually recording/storage should be kept in a secure place with access only to those that need it, this may be in a locked cupboard that the manager has the key for and you have to ask and sign for the use of. This also needs to be kept up to date and legible, if people cant read what is being put then this could have serious consequences for the service user.
One of those being that information does not breach security protocols (e.g. not sending out a document you’ve produced without it first being approved by your manager). Another being storing of business documents for example filing cabinets we use being locked; only certain staff have a key to open this cabinet. Also, protecting documents, for example password protection… certain documents that contain peoples personal information or confidential data have passwords on them so you must know this password to open the document. Finally, read-only access (e.g. if a document is in use at the time, no one else can open it and edit it, they can only open a read-only
The procedures that need to be followed when retrieving information for paper based information consist of finding out whether you are allowed access to the information, finding out where the information is stored if you are allowed access to it, looking for the information, taking it from its storage place remembering how it was stored for when the information is to be put back. The procedures that need to be followed when deleting information for paper based information consist of finding out if the information is confidential or not normally something that is confidential has address or names on it, if the information is confidential then it needs to be cross-cut shredded if the information is not confidential then it can be shredded normally. The procedures that need to be followed when archiving information for electronic based information consist of checking to see if the information contains legal information or long-term business obligations, checking to see if there is more than one copy of the information, if there is more than one copy of the information check to see if the extra copies can be deleted, if the
Businesses that handle personal information, such as credit card/sales receipts, and payroll records, have a legal obligation to keep your information secure. It's the law. Disposing of private information without destroying it is against the law. Unfortuately, not all business owners take the proper steps to secure your information. Some of this information may end up in a public dumpster, becoming accessible to criminals. Dumpster Diving is NOT a crime. Anything deposited in a dumpster is readily and legally available to anyone. The safest way to control confidential information is to make sure it is securely collected and destroyed. If your company is involved with any litigation, it is important to demonstrate that your company
Paper records should be locked away and keys should be kept safe. If it is on computer than it should be password protected and passwords should only be known by staff members or key workers. All files should be out of sight of any unauthorised persons at all times. Data should not be faxed or emailed unless made anonymous first as you cannot guarantee security. When the data is no longer needed it should be destroyed in my setting all children’s records are kept in the manager’s office which makes it safe and secure and
We understand your desire to keep your company’s information safe at all times. Your company’s reputation for providing safe, secure transactions can be instantly ruined without the proper disposal techniques in place. At Chesapeake Paper Systems, we can help you dispose of important documents and paperwork through our advanced shredding system.
Without the information that is enclose in it I would probably have a difficult time trying to achieve anything. With so much fraudulent activity in the world today most company only accept the original copy of the document. If I ever had to evacuate my home, those are the most important thing to me in life today.
A database is used to store collections of information and easily retrieved at a later date. The larger the amount of information, the more organized a database needs to be. A database is created with the requirements and needs of current and future users and most importantly, with past users and their information. Out book defines database systems as “an organization of components that define and regulate the collection, storage, management, and use of data within a database environment”. (Database Systems, 2013)
This means that electronic records could give a lot of benefits to the government agencies. As stated by Arkib Negara Malaysia, electronic records management could help the government agencies to reduce its costs. The traditional records management practiced by Mahkamah Negeri Sembilan for example requires the government to actually spend more money. This is because, if we’re looking this issue from a strategic view then it is undeniable that the implementation of electronic records management could save costs. The existing system practiced by the government requires them to maintain all the equipments and also hire personnel to supervise the files room. Furthermore, it contributes to the increased usage