What Should You Do With Old Paperwork?

If your business has been on the go for quite a few years already, then there is a good chance that you have built up quite a bit of paperwork. Some of this might not be needed by you any longer, and it could be taking up a whole lot of storage space. Think it’s ok to chuck it out in the trash? Think again!

The paperwork could have a lot of sensitive information on it. This could be information about your company or your previous and current clients. Things like bank details, addresses, and contact telephone numbers might be mentioned on the documents. So, as you can see, simply throwing it out with all your other rubbish could be a problem for privacy. You never know who might get hold of this sensitive information!

So, are you wondering how to handle all of your unwanted corporate paperwork? Here are a few great tips.

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Consider Storing It

First of all, you will need to ask yourself whether you really won’t need this paperwork every now and again. If some of it is contracts that are still legally binding, it will be best to keep hold of them for the time being, for instance. If you find that you should keep most of this paperwork, then it could be worth putting it in a storage facility. That way, it isn’t taking up too much storage in your office.

Shred It

You will need to completely destroy all of the paperwork so that no one is able to read any of the information on it. The best way to do this is to shred it. You will be able to buy shredders that you just need to slot the paper into. Once you have destroyed the paperwork in this way, it can go in with your recycling and you won’t have to worry about it again as there is no way anyone will be able to gain any data from it.

Hire A Firm To Shred It For You

Shredding a lot of paperwork yourself will take up a lot of your time. Even if you get an employee to do it for you, you will still find that it takes up valuable company time. So, lots of firms use companies that offer off-site shredding services. When you outsource this to these companies, they will take all of your old paperwork and shred it at their own premise. All of these services are 100% confidential so there is no need to worry about losing any information.

Burn It

If you want to be completely sure that there is no way any of the information on your old paperwork is going to be leaked, you just need to burn the documents. It will then be gone for good. Of course, you will need a safe place in which to burn it, such as a carpark and a metal bin.

Make sure you always dispose of your old paperwork as safely as possible so that you and your clients aren’t put at risk!