Selecting Records To Put Into Storage No Title

SELECTING RECORDS TO PUT INTO STORAGE

Companies have to put records into a storage unit at times because each business has to meet certain legal requirements for the records that they keep. Likewise, many households have to retain tax documents and financial files for a set amount of time. Since these records may have to be accessed in the future, they have to be organized before they are placed in storage units. For extra information, the US Government has detailed lists of records that have to be kept. These lists also include the amount of time that records have to be stored before they can be destroyed.

Files and Household Records

Before records can be placed in storage space, households should gather all of their important files and records. These documents should be placed into three sections. One section should be for active documents, another for basic storage and another for records that need to be shred. The active documents should be a list of files or financial information that must be accessed on a regular basis. Many of these documents will be easier to access if they remain at home or in the office. Typically, active files include receipts from bills, bank statements, work records, vaccination histories, warranties, education records, credit card data, insurance policies, tax receipts and loan statements.

Dead storage is for any records that are older than three years old. If it is used frequently, the document should remain in the active file. Any items that are not going to be stored can be discarded. Expired warranties, cancelled checks, pay stubs from former years or old manuals can be shredded.

Designing a Filing System

Once the documents are organized, they should be placed into a filing system. Important documents like a passport or birth certificate should probably be stored in a safe deposit box or waterproof safe. Other files can be securely placed within a storage unit in Lexington KY. The filing system should be regularly followed and a paperwork schedule should be created. This schedule will indicate how long documents must be kept and when they can be safely thrown away. By creating a schedule, it prevents the filing system from becoming overburdened by old documents.

To ensure that important documents are kept secure, they can be scanned and backed up electronically. This ensures that the files can still be accessed after a fire or in the event that they are lost. It also makes it easy to reference items from home after they are put in storage. When necessary, they can be emailed or printed out within a couple of minutes.

Companies have to deal with many legal requirements for financial statements. At the very least, the Internal Revenue Service requires some tax documents and receipts to be kept for up to seven years. In order to ensure compliance, these records have to be organized and filed away. Our Climate-controlled storage units in Lexington, KY are suited for this task. 

[caption id="attachment_670" align="alignnone" width="200"] Lexington Mini Storage offers a variety of storage unit sizes[/caption]