What Should You Shred?
Anything you would not want in the hands of others.
Business – Trade secrets, personal client information, reports, payroll information, contracts, budgets, canceled checks, manuals, drawings, vendor records, supplier records, medical records, health records, employee records, safety records, product information, blue prints, advertising, inventory records, client list, etc.
Personal – Tax returns, insurance information, bank information, canceled checks, all financial statements, credit card statements, receipts containing credit card numbers or other personal information, medical records, wills, deceased information, etc.
Retention Schedule
The following is offered as a guide for sample timeframes in maintaining and storing important documents and records. Following a retention schedule ensures that you and your company are securing and destroying the right documents at the right time.
| Accident reports/claims (settled cases) | 7 years |
| Accounts payable ledgers and schedules | 7 years |
| Accounts receivable ledgers and schedules | 7 years |
| Audit reports | Permanent |
| Bank reconciliations | 2 years |
| Bank statements | 3 years |
| Capital stock and bond records, ledgers, transfer registers, stubs, etc. | Permanent |
| Cash books | Permanent |
| Charts of accounts | Permanent |
| Checks, cancelled (for important payments) taxes, purchases of property, special contracts, etc. | Permanent |
| Checks, cancelled | 7 years |
| Contracts, mortgages, notes, leases – expired | 7 years |
| Contracts, mortgages, notes, leases – active | Permanent |
| Correspondence – general | 2 years |
| Correspondence – legal and important | Permanent |
| Deeds, mortgages, bills of sale | Permanent |
| Depreciation schedules | Permanent |
| Deposit slips, duplicates | 2 years |
| Employment applications | 3 years |
| Expense analysis/expense distribution schedules | 7 years |
| Financial statements | Permanent |
| Garnishments | 7 years |
| General/private ledgers, year-end trial balance | Permanent |
| Insurance policies – expired | 3 years |
| Insurance records – current, accident reports, claims, policies | Permanent |
| Internal audit reports | 3 years |
| Internal reports – general | 3 years |
| Inventories | 7 years |
| Invoices | 7 years |
| Journals | Permanent |
| Magnetic tape and tab cards | 1 year |
| Minute books of directors, stockholders, bylaws, charter | Permanent |
| Notes receivable ledgers and schedules | 7 years |
| Option records – expired | 7 years |
| Patents and related papers | Permanent |
| Payroll records and summaries | 7 years |
| Personnel files – terminated | 7 years |
| Petty cash vouchers | 3 years |
| Physical inventory tags | 3 years |
| Plant cost ledgers | 7 years |
| Property appraisals by outside appraisers | Permanent |
| Property records (costs, depreciation reserves, year-end trial balances, blueprints, etc.) | Permanent |
| Purchase orders – except purchasing department copy | 1 year |
| Purchase orders – purchasing department copy | 7 years |
| Receiving sheets | 1 year |
| Requisitions | 1 year |
| Retirement and pension records | Permanent |
| Sales commision reports | 3 years |
| Sales records | 7 years |
| Scrap and salvage records | 7 years |
| Stenographers’ notebooks | 1 year |
| Stock and bond certificates – cancelled | 7 years |
| Subsidiary ledgers | 7 years |
| Tax returns and worksheets, revenue agents’ reports, etc. | Permanent |
| Time books/cards | 7 years |
| Trademark registrations and copyrights | Permanent |
| Training manuals | Permanent |
| Union agreements | Permanent |
| Vouchers for payments | 7 years |
| Withholding tax statements | 7 years |
GreenOffice provides all of the document shredding New Jersey businesses will need to keep your information safe, Call us today!