The purpose of this policy is to ensure that necessary records and documents are adequately protected and maintained and to ensure that records that are no longer needed or of no value are destroyed at the appropriate time.
Records include essentially all documents retained by employees, whether paper or electronic. A record may be as obvious as a memorandum, an email, or a contract, or something not as obvious, such as a computerized desk calendar, an appointment book, or an instant message. The library’s collection is not covered by this policy.
The law requires ACFL&MH to maintain certain types of records, usually for a specified period of time. Failure to retain those records for those minimum periods could subject ACFL&MH and its employees to penalties and fines, cause the loss of rights, obstruct justice, compromise potential evidence in a lawsuit, place ACFL&MH in contempt of court, or seriously disadvantage ACFL&MH in litigation.
The retention and disposition of the organization’s records pursuant to this policy is overseen by the Executive Director.
The following table provides the organization’s record retention requirements.
| Type of Document | Requirement |
| Audit reports | Permanently |
| Checks (for important payments and purchases) | Permanently |
| Contracts (still in effect) | Permanently |
| Correspondence (legal and important matters) | Permanently |
| Deeds, mortgages, and bills of sale | Permanently |
| Depreciation Schedules | Permanently |
| Year End Financial Statements | Permanently |
| Insurance records, current accident reports, claims, policies, etc. | Permanently |
| Minute books, bylaws and charter | Permanently |
| Patents and related Papers | Permanently |
| Retirement and pension records | Permanently |
| Tax returns and worksheets | Permanently |
| Trademark registrations and copyrights | Permanently |
| —– | |
| Accounts payable ledgers and schedules | 7 years |
| Contracts, mortgages, notes and leases (expired) | 7 years |
| Expense Analyses/expense distribution schedules | 7 years |
| Inventories of products, materials, and supplies | 7 years |
| Invoices (to customers, from vendors) | 7 years |
| Payroll records and summaries | 7 years |
| Personnel files (terminated employees) | 7 years |
| Timesheets | 7 years |
| Withholding tax statements | 7 years |
| —– | |
| Bank Reconciliations | 3 years |
| Bank statements | 3 years |
| Correspondence (with customers and vendors) | 3 years |
| Duplicate deposit slips | 3 years |
| Employment applications | 3 years |
| Insurance Policies (expired) | 3 years |
| Internal audit reports | 3 years |
| —– | |
| All other correspondence, documents, emails, computer files | No longer than 1 year after they are no longer active |
