Revenues view on digital documents

[decworld]

Hi,

Building up a large collection of invoices, receipts and general letters.

Anyone see any problem with scanning them all in and destroying the originals.

Thanks
Dec

[sanjiv]

Yes. What happens if you lose the files.

I know someone doing the same thing and it is much more efficient now however the documents have been put away in storage. I think documents need to be stored for 6 years then can be destroyed however it is just best to keep them as long as possible incase revenue have proof of you doing something and you can't show them an explanation or whatever.

There are companies that give you boxes which you can fill up and they will store for you.

[Page]

You could create a google account and if worried another 1 or 2 or 3 or 100 accounts with other providers and send copies to them.

Going back to paper shows out of date thinking - IMHO.

I would bet that a google email is statistically more secure and liable to be there when needed than your carefully scanned and stored paper copy.

[elainec100@cheapaccounting]

For limited co have a read here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ct/managing/record-keeping.htm

Just an extract but read it all:

You don't need to keep the vast majority of your records in their original form. If you prefer, you can keep a copy of most of them in an alternative format. For example:


scanned PDF
files saved on a CD-ROM
files saved on an optical imaging system

Whatever alternative format you choose, your records must be legible and you must be able to produce them in a readable format if you need to.
But there are certain records that you must keep in their original form. These include:


dividend vouchers
bank interest certificates
Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) vouchers - (these vouchers were used before the current scheme was introduced in April 2007)

[David Griffiths]

We have been scanning for ten years. Many outgoing documents have never existed in paper format - we just keep the pdfs.

Incoming documents are scanned and the originals are shredded within a couple of weeks. The scanned documents get dropped into a box and that's emptied regularly, when we are sure that the scanned versions are safely backed up. Absolutely no need to keep the paper originals. I don't keep original copies of bank certificates, dividend vouchers or CIS paperwork either, particularly now that with CIS there is no "official" paperwork

I've had a VAT inspection in that period and there was no problem whatsoever, or with an Institute Practice Assurance visit. I just handed over a CD with all of the relevant documents.

Scanning is actually more secure than keeping paper, because you can have multiple copies in different locations, and search and find things much more quickly.

I have all accounts, working papers, correspondence and tax going back to about 1996 and I have one 4 drawer cabinet, which is half empty. That's going out next year! :p

[decworld]

Thats great,

Thanks.