Proper archiving of business documents continues to be a problem in the management of many companies. While the accountant files the company car repair bill under “V” as Volkswagen, the secretary files under “A” as Autohaus Mayer, and the apprentice files under “R” as repair.
Not surprisingly, prestigious management consultants estimate the cost of searching for a single paper document in a small and medium-sized European company at €25. Therefore, we recommend a full-text searchable electronic document archive for the last 10 years. We know from our own experience how much faster you are producing results, if you are finding instead of searching.
Today we want to dedicate ourselves to the legal requirements for the retention of commercial documents. And to put it directly: paper is no longer the preferred medium here. So in Germany, if you have received an e-invoice as a PDF file, you must store the e-invoice electronically to prove the authenticity of the invoice. And better yet, it also stores mail, which can contain an electronic signature.
At this time, most of our clients, in addition to the electronic file, which is used for daily work, carry out the paper file of business documents. Paper documents are used only to have appropriate evidence in the form of a genuine paper document in the case of a demanding auditor. This is handled this way mainly due to uncertainty in electronic signature solutions. For those who intend to get rid of all paper documents, the authenticity of electronic documents must be proven through the use of an electronic signature in case of dispute with the authorities. While there are many solutions on the market, standards have not yet emerged such that anyone can tell which system will still be fully functional in 10 years.
Therefore, I am advocating at the moment for a software-independent document archive, e.g. as in PDF format. The use of self-explanatory file names and directory names is, of course, the order of the day. Most likely, if not sure, PDF files will be readable even in 10 years. As a location, I recommend a qualified and secure cloud provider, if an optical drive is needed in internal IT. These will keep the data with high probability ready to be read for the next 10 years. I doubt your own CDs, DVDs, tapes, or servers will really work reliably in 10 years.
Even if the electronic signature is still not consistently verified in practice, whoever wants to get rid of paper completely, is doing better to take care of an electronic signature of documents today.
If you have comments or questions, we look forward to hearing from you!