You may not have liked cleaning up as a kid, but whether you like it as an adult or not, cleaning out files is necessary. You may have an annual cleanout schedule, you might be moving, or maybe you have just filed your taxes. Depending on how many years of records you have kept, you may have a little or a lot to get rid of. We can help at one of our local shredding events or even arrange a pick-up for businesses from Delaware to New Jersey as well as in and around the Greater Philadelphia / Bucks County area.
Are Your Personal Papers Worth Keeping?
With personal papers, unless there are financial, tax, or sentimental reasons for keeping something, you might not need to retain it.
- Did you buy something and expect to be repaid by your employer, friend, or family member? Give them the receipt and get your money. Get rid of that piece of paper by taking a photo or scanning it and turning it into a PDF if you’re still waiting for payment.
- Keep your receipts organized if you have a business, high medical bills, or some other reason to itemize your tax deductions. Given the digitization of tax records, scan or photograph these receipts, then shred them.
Most of us have limited space. Don’t fill it with things you don’t want or need.
Businesses Require More Documents. Must They Be on Paper?
The general rule of thumb for keeping business records is seven years. Depending on the industry, you may have more or less paper. As a taxpayer, you should hold onto documents related to them.
The IRS has these suggestions for keeping tax-related records.
You should also maintain:
- Accounting records
- Bank statements
- Business loans
- Legal documents
- Ownership records
- Permits and licenses
- Insurance documents
- Personnel files
To prevent endless headaches, screen out documents that are not important or duplicated. You can organize these documents and safely and securely store them. You could also digitize them as long as the files are correctly indexed and documents are labeled. Digitizing documents won’t help you if you can’t find a particular one in the future.
Digital files should also be securely stored in multiple places (like the cloud and external hard drives). This way you will have a backup if there’s a problem with one format.
Get the Security and Service You Need from a Company You Can Trust
Whether you’re thinning out paper files or completely going digital when you clean out, the discarded paper files should never be thrown in the trash. Moreover, if your cleanout includes old PCs or laptops, we can destroy their hard drives and memory devices too, so that data cannot get into the wrong hands.
Protect yourself, your firm, and your current and past clients by having a system in place to destroy documents and hire TITAN Mobile Shredding to get the job done. If you have any questions about shredding paper records and computer hard drives, call us at (866) 848-2699. We can discuss your needs and how we can meet them.
