Though the world may be moving more and more toward paperless offices, the reality is most businesses still operate with a lot of paperwork. While plenty of documents need to be kept, you know there are a lot that can be discarded. Some low-risk documents can potentially be thrown out or recycled, but many high-risk documents contain sensitive information that could put you and your business at risk if obtained by someone for malicious intent.

Which Documents Should I Shred?

Keeping track of the shredding and retention periods of different documents can feel like a full-time job all on its own. So which documents should you shred and when should you shred them?

While your business may vary, there are certain documents that need to be shredded for your own security. For now, we are going to stick to five kinds of documents that should be high on your list.

1. Credit Card and Utility Bills

Credit card statements and utility bills are documents that should be high on anyone’s list for shredding. Bills of that nature tend to have very sensitive information. So once payment is confirmed and you no longer need to reference that bill, make sure the document is destroyed.

As tempting as it may be to hold on to those kinds of bills even after having confirmation of payment and resolution, the best way to prevent identity theft from those documents is destroying them. That said, if these bills are relevant for your tax returns, then the shredding guidelines below for that applies.

2. Bank Statements

It is recommended to hang on to bank statements for a year and then to shred them. Same goes for pay stubs. Again, these are documents that have the kind of important financial information that identify thieves are looking for.

If you are looking into receiving your bank statements online – or bills for that matter – you will want to make certain that your business is going paperless securely.

3. I-9 Forms

The I-9 tax forms affirm the identity of an employee and need to be kept for either three years or for 1 year following the termination of an employee, whichever is the longer amount of time so generally it's going to be three years. These documents contain all the information someone would need to steal someone’s identity and must be destroyed safely and securely.

4. W-2 and W-4 Forms

You should be securely destroying W-2 and W-4 documents after holding onto them for four years. Again, these are personnel documents that contain highly sensitive information such as social security numbers and tax ID codes.

5. Tax Records

A business should hold onto tax records for three years as you can amend a tax return in that time frame. Seven years is the conventional number because if the IRS were to audit you, they would need that information before you can securely destroy these documents.

Should I Shred Statements From Closed Accounts?

Yes. Once you have confirmation the account is closed and the money has been transferred (or removed), you should destroy statements and other sensitive information related to the account. The same goes for expired credit cards and other similar documentation. However, if any of these records could be required for an audit, then the tax record rules apply and should be destroyed after that time period has elapsed.

How Do You Dispose Of Business Documents?

While some people feel safe using a home-office shredder to take care of their document destruction needs, they are not equipped for the large volume of documents many businesses have. Personal shredding can also be time consuming and they are not as secure as using a professional service. Proper destruction of documents isn’t just something to do out of the kindness of your heart either… it’s the law.

Storage Quarters Are The Experts In Handling Your Document Destruction Needs

The professionals at Storage Quarters are equipped to help you handle all of your document safety and destruction needs. We offer secure document storage to keep sensitive material offsite. We also have mobile shredding units to come right to your office, pick up your documents onsite, and destroy them right away to give you peace of mind. You can schedule our mobile shredding units regularly to keep your office secure and decluttered. Contact the information specialists at Storage Quarters today for a free quote.