Frank J. Albi, BIS’ CEO, gives his wisdom on records control:

Less is more. I’ve been in the records management business for over 30 years (but who’s counting, right?) During that time, I’ve learned a thing or two about best practices for business—from Cincinnati’s smallest mom-and-pop operations to Fortune 500 global corporations.

People often ask me which records they should hang on to and which records they should shred. Here’s what I tell them. Think of these as “Frank’s Rules of Thumb”:

1. Keep only what you must to achieve compliance. The definition of “compliance” may change over time, so take note of new legislation or policies that affect you. It’s smart and savvy to play by the rules and do what’s asked of your business.
2. If it’s not required or you don’t plan to actually use it in the next 12 months, throw it away. There’s no use in letting unnecessary papers pile up or e-files clog up your servers. Clear them out and let them go. It’s liberating (literally and figuratively!).
3. What you keep can produce more risk and liability than what you don’t keep. Some people think they should hold onto anything and everything “just in case”—but what if the “just in case” actually ends up hurting your business? If you don’t need something for compliance or your own purposes, you are better off getting rid of it.
4. The less you retain the easier and faster you can find what you do need. Think about your kitchen. How many times have you tried to match up a lid with the right-sized container for leftovers? All those mismatched lids and containers do you no good if you can’t put two of them together. It’s the same with your records. When you have to go through so many extras to retrieve what you really want, you’ll waste time and effort.
5. The less stuff you have, the less it costs for storage boxes and the labor to pack and label them. Believe me, we’re more than happy to keep and manage as many boxes as you’d like. But we don’t want our customers to waste money. It’s more important to us that you manage your records (and your budgets) wisely.
6. The smaller your volume of stored records, the easier it is to keep them organized and purged according to your company policy. If you’re concerned about the risk and liability of the items you keep, you want to make sure you only have them as long as you need to. If, however, you have an excess of files, it can be overwhelming to stay on top of things and limit your risk. With less to keep track of, you can be more in control.
7. These same concepts apply to computer files and other electronic records. They may not take up physical space the way paper does, but e-files can certainly weigh heavily on your computer systems. Ultimately they’re just as much of a liability and hassle. Minimize electronic records, too. You’ll be glad you did.