Keeping records is an essential part of doing business, but it can also be confusing and even burdensome to small businesses, who are already trying to juggle demanding workloads. Although you can’t skip your records keeping responsibilities as a business owner, you can find effective ways to manage them. Here is what you need to know about business record retention in NYC for your small company.

Retain the Source Documents

Ideally, the records you keep should be the original, source documents, rather than copies. For financial records, this means keeping canceled checks, cash register tapes, credit card slips, and financial statements from your bank. Corporate documents, such as meeting minutes, property mortgages and leases, charters, licenses, and copyrights, should also be original documents. If you need to produce this information for tax purposes or a legal case, having the originals can be very important.

Know How Long to Keep Records

Some documents, such as those that are related to establishing your business, should be kept indefinitely. Records retention for tax purposes is different. Generally, you should hold on to tax records for as long as the IRS could request them. Employee records should be kept for four years. Keep records of taxes owed for at least three years. The IRS has different rules for a variety of different business documents, which can be found on their website . Your business accountant can also help you determine how long record retention is necessary for financial documents.

Use Off-Site Storage

Not only does retaining records off-site make sense from a space perspective, but it is also safer and more secure. An off-site records retention facility will provide your important documents with greater security from fire, flood, theft, humidity, and other issues. Your records will also stay organized so that they are easy to access when you need them, and tracking software will let you know when the records were accessed and who accessed them, adding an extra layer of security.

Your business needs to hold onto certain kinds of records in their physical forms. Business record retention in New York City is partially governed by federal law, so there’s certain patient and client information that your company might be legally required to retain. This might be tricky if you don’t have a lot of space to work with, and a cluttered office could also make it difficult to keep your documents safe. The record retention professionals can help you store your physical records, and they can help you destroy them when you’re done as well. Read on as we look at why you should use professional record retention and storage services.

Save Office Space

The proportion of paperwork your company generates to the size of your office space might not be favorable, which means you won’t have the physical capacity to store your records and important documents. You also don’t want to be tripping over boxes of files while you’re trying to conduct your daily business. You can save space in your office by working with professional record retention and storage services. The professionals can help you uphold your retention policy without taking up too much of your valuable office space.

Keep Your Documents Safe

Saving your important documents is a useless practice if you don’t keep them in decent condition. Physical documents are susceptible to threats that their digital copies are not, and these hazards are important to consider. Paper products can become damaged when they’re stored in the wrong conditions. Business record retention and storage professionals will be able to keep your records in perfect shape, so they’ll be ready and waiting for you when you need them.

Destroy Your Archive

Most records only need to be kept for a certain amount of time. Unless the documents are still useful to you or your clients after this period expires, you can destroy them. This frees up more space and makes sure that sensitive information doesn’t get picked up by the wrong people. Professional business record retention and storage companies can help you dispose of your records once you no longer need them.

Corporate relocation in New York City is exciting when it means moving to a bigger office and expanding your business. You might not be thinking about the furniture that you don’t need and how to dispose of it, but your lease might claim that you are responsible for getting everything out of the space at the end of your term. If much of your furniture won’t be coming to your new location, ask UMC Moving about our liquidation services.

You’ll need a company that specializes in corporate location in order to safely and efficiently relocate your business. When you choose a moving company to help you, choose one that offers office furniture liquidation services, like UMC Moving. Most leases require that the space is left in a “broom swept” condition when you move out, and we can help you satisfy this condition. Once we’ve moved everything you need from your original office to your new one, we’ll go back and see what’s left to be dealt with. We can get rid of your cubicles, file cabinets, and other office furniture so you don’t get stuck with premium charges from your landlord.

Offices have a lot of stuff to move, and professional movers need to know how to get the job done without injuring themselves. Even the most fit people can suffer injuries if they don’t follow the right techniques, and this can slow down the move in addition to sidelining an employee. Watch this video on rules to help your moving team avoid lifting injuries when preparing for relocation in New York City.

No matter how strong you are, you should use the right methods when lifting heavy objects. Always keep your back straight and use your knees and hips to lower yourself, rather than bending over the load with your back. Stay close to the object and use a wide stance for leverage. If an object appears to be heavier than 40 pounds, find a partner to help you move it, even if you think you can handle it yourself.