On Wed, 6 Nov 2024 11:29:32 -0500 Tom Balazs <tom123onl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> How do you store all the paperwork related to your bookkeeping? Sorry > if this is a bit off topic. How do I do it??? Hmm... Well... Scan all documents on receipt, file paper away in a 1-year round-robin system, shred when they cycle round again. Save each doc in it's own directory, with OCR, index, etc., and make searchable. Keep tax and legal paper docs for not less than 10 years, which is the same rule as for corporate legal and tax records. Mark your scanned docs immediately so that you know that they have been scanned. Burn RW optical discs and archive, make at least 2 copies, copy to new discs at their 5 year anniversary, or sooner, to reduce risk of bitrot. (Erase the old discs, then reuse for other purposes, or even for the secondary backup copies.) Don't append to already burnt discs but use new ones for more data and whenever there is an error or omission, to reduce risk of data loss. RW discs are metal media. Archival R discs are available with dye-sub media, that claim a minimum 50 year lifetime in storage. They are expensive. RW discs are often more affordable. (just be sure to avoid the cheap ones.) Always verify writes. It helps to have on-disc checksums. If using directory-per-file, file checksums can also be kept in each doc's directory. It also helps to write a procedure for the process. The procedure can be changed at any time as practices, etc., improve. Be sure to version changes so that you know where you're at. > I try to avoid all the go-green, switch to digital statement appeals > because I get so much junk in my email that it's hard to find the > relevant/important stuff. I like getting statements etc. as paper > mail. It is for their convenience, not yours. Eventually, they will stop producing paper, and if you want paper you must produce it yourself. > I could scan documents, but I would be hesitant to throw out my paper > documents, because of the risk of digital data loss (computer failure, > etc). Keep your paper for a time in case of catastrophic loss, make multiple copies, backups, of your data. and index, index, index, so that it is easier to find. Also, audit your data from time to time to ensure that nothing has been lost, misplaced, et cetera. Just do whatever you think is best for your recordskeeping. The above is certainly not gospel. It merely works for me. Good luck! -- dj _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
