Every time another financial year approaches, it presents an opportunity to have a financial year clean out. Get yourself organised and sort through the collection of documents that has inevitably built up over the past year.
While the task may seem daunting, or a waste of time, being unorganised and sloppy with your documents can lead to business or personal failings as well as breaches of Australian law. A financial year clean out is the best way to keep on top of this.
A good way to start the process is by asking a very simple question:
Store or Shred?
Basically, should you store the documents, as they are still important, or should you shred them, destroying them forever? While shredding may seem a bit too much, storing documents can be insecure, take up a lot of space and overwhelm you.
Of course, blindly shredding everything is not recommended too. So here are a few more questions to further assist you in making the choice.
Do we need it?
If it is clearly a document that will definitely serve no further purpose to you, shred it. Old receipts, printouts of emails, mail, etc., can mostly be shredded. Copies of documents that are saved on a hard drive can likewise be shredded.
Does it contain personal information?
Many documents that contain another’s personal information that you no longer need are required by law to be destroyed. This is to protect the privacy and security of people and businesses. Examples of this include: Tax details, bank details, credit card numbers, etc. Even if it is your own information, keeping it away from the eyes of others is a vital step to ensuring you don’t become a victim to criminal activity.
With these three simple questions, you can protect your business, your clients, your employees and yourself.
It won’t be long before the financial year comes to a close, so prepare your financial year clean out in advance and start the new year fresh.
Contact iShred today for more information about our mobile shredding service, and stay secure!
