Document archiving is something that all companies need to get right. And if you do, you remain organised, compliant, and ready for anything. Get it wrong, however, and you’re rummaging through sheets of paper or aimlessly scrolling through files – not to mention the risks associated with non-compliance.
Archiving means securely keeping documents that you no longer refer to on a day-to-day basis but might need someday, such as contracts, invoices, reports, employee records, and the like. These accounts are generally retained for business, regulatory, or legal purposes, and how you maintain them matters.
Whether you’re dealing with a few filing cabinets or a long-running records backlog, the goal of archiving is the same: keep what matters, protect it properly, and make it easy to retrieve when you need it. This guide breaks down what to archive, how to organise paper and digital records, and how to build secure, compliant processes – plus where Restore Information Management can support with storage, scanning, and digital access when you want a joined-up approach.
What are the most important documents to archive?
If you’re deciding what to retain, prioritise records that document important decisions, approvals, and obligations – anything you may need to demonstrate compliance, support an audit trail, or defend your position later. In most organisations, the most important documents to archive fall into a few predictable buckets:
Finance and tax records
Invoices, receipts, purchase orders, expense claims, VAT evidence, bank statements, annual accounts and supporting schedules. These support statutory reporting, enable accurate financial audits, and provide evidence for HMRC enquiries.
Company and legal records
Incorporation documents, board minutes, resolutions, statutory registers, shareholder documents, deeds, leases and licences. These show corporate governance and legal rights/obligations, helping you meet statutory record-keeping duties.
Contracts and commercial documents
Client/supplier contracts, statements of work, SLAs, tender submissions, NDAs and termination letters. These define the agreed terms and are essential for managing obligations, resolving disputes, and defending claims.
HR and people records
Employment contracts, right-to-work checks, payroll summaries, pension-related records and disciplinary documentation (retention depends on purpose and legal basis). These demonstrate lawful employment practices and provide evidence for queries, disputes, and statutory checks.
Compliance and governance records
Policies and procedure documents, training records, risk assessments, audit reports, and regulatory correspondence. These show how you manage risk and meet regulatory expectations, backed by an auditable record of decisions and actions.
Health and safety documentation
Incident records, equipment maintenance logs, inspection certificates. These show duty of care, support investigations, and help demonstrate compliance with health and safety requirements.
A useful rule of thumb is to archive documents that either
Help you meet a legal or regulatory requirement
Protect you in a dispute
Preserve business‑critical knowledge
Everything else should be reviewed against a retention schedule so you don’t end up keeping data “just in case” (which can create compliance risk).
If you need a structured way to control access, streamline retrieval, and reduce admin overhead, our document management services can help support consistent governance over records throughout their lifecycle.
What are the main features of a document archive?
The ability to locate and retrieve a specific document quickly – ideally through a secure portal or tracked request process.
Rules that define how long records are kept, plus secure destruction when retention expires (and logs to prove it happened).
Role‑based permissions and documented chain of custody, particularly for sensitive records.
Secure storage conditions, resilient digital hosting, and backups so an incident doesn’t wipe out your evidence base.
Especially if you rely on scanned or born‑digital records as the primary version.
Physical vs. digital methods: what is the best way to archive paper documents?
Physical archiving is storing hard copies of documents, often off-site with a document storage provider.
In comparison, digital archiving (archiving documents electronically) is the digital transformation of files (e.g., PDFs) and securely storing them on a cloud system or server – enabling instant access.
The best way to archive paper documents is rarely “paper only” or “digital only”. For most organisations, it’s a blended approach – phygital: keep the originals where you must and digitise what you should. However you choose to manage your document inventory, Restore Information Management can advise on how to save time and costs while ensuring compliance.For organisations that need a controlled and trackable approach to physical record storage, secure document storage services offer a practical route to reducing risk while keeping retrieval straightforward.
Digital archiving: speed, search, and control
Digital archiving makes retrieval dramatically easier, supports hybrid working and facilitates quicker decision-making through documents being accessible 24/7 and in real time.
This usually starts with scanning documents for archiving, then storing them in a system that supports indexing, permissions, and fast search. Using a specialist provider also helps reduce the risk introduced by ad‑hoc scanning and saving to local drives.
If you’re scaling beyond basic office scanning, document scanning services can help you digitise securely and consistently, with sensible indexing so documents can actually be found later.
Why “phygital” is often the most realistic option
A phygital approach means you can archive documents digitally for day‑to‑day access while still retaining physical originals where required. Rather than arguing “paper vs digital”, the smarter question is: which documents should exist in which format, for how long, and who needs access?
What are the legal requirements for archiving documents?
Compliance is perhaps the most overlooked factor in archiving. Requirements vary depending on your industry, document type, and where you operate, but a few common UK examples are worth keeping front‑of‑mind:
- Personal data should not be stored for longer than needed under GDPR.
- The Companies Act 2006 sets out requirements for company record retention.
- Tax records need to be kept for at least six years by HMRC.
Not complying with these regulations can lead to penalties, audits, or legal action. That’s why it’s important to document archiving procedures to create a reliable audit trail and demonstrate diligence if your processes are ever challenged.
At Restore Information Management, compliance is built into everything we do. Our solutions are designed to help you meet legal and regulatory requirements with confidence – whether it’s GDPR, HMRC expectations, or sector‑specific standards. You can find out more about our accreditations here Accreditations & Certifications – Restore Information Management
Secure document archiving is about more than locks and passwords. It’s about ensuring accountability through a clear chain of custody and a reliable audit trail, so you can evidence who accessed what, when, and why.
For physical archives, security typically includes:
- Controlled building access and monitored storage areas
- Clear chain of custody during collection and delivery
- Environmental controls to reduce deterioration risk
- Tracked retrieval and return processes
For digital archives, security usually includes:
- Encryption and secure transfer
- Role‑based access controls and multi‑factor authentication
- Audit logs (who accessed what, when)
- Backups and resilient storage to support business continuity
To keep archived content accessible without compromising control,digital workflows can help standardise how documents are captured, routed, approved, and stored—so archiving remains as consistent and efficient as possible.
What are some of the risks associated with document archiving?
Compliance risk: keeping personal data for too long or destroying records too early.
Data breach or unauthorised access: especially when archives sit in unmanaged locations or shared drives with weak permissions.
Loss and deterioration: paper is vulnerable to flood, fire, mould, and mishandling.
Retrieval failure: the record exists, but nobody can find it quickly enough for an audit, SAR or legal request.
Duplicate “truths”: multiple versions stored across inboxes, desktops, and folders.
Obsolescence: files stored in outdated formats or on legacy media become hard to open over time.
Steps within the document archiving process
If you’re unsure where to start, Restore Information Management offers expert guidance at every step, from document audits and scanning to secure storage and compliance support.
So, how do you transition from messy filing to clean, compliant archives? Let’s review the general document archiving process:
- Identify which documents are no longer actively used but need to be preserved.
- Sort and label them with metadata (e.g. document type, date, department).
- Consider which documents should be digitised, either by scanning documents for archiving or a scan on demand service.
- Securely store either off-site in boxes, in a digital archive or a combination of both methods.
- Index files so they’re readily accessible later.
- Check archives from time to time to purge items that are beyond their retention period.
This creates an organised, legally defensible archive that’s simple to manage over time.
Key archiving documents best practices
Set the period for which various documents are to be kept and ensure that this is conveyed to staff. This avoids hoarding as well as minimising the risk of accidental erasures.
Everyone should understand the archival procedure relevant to their role. This includes knowing what to keep, where to store it, and how to retrieve it.
Whether you’re archiving paper documents or going digital, metadata is your best friend. Properly tagged files are far easier to search and retrieve.
Security is important. Consider locked cabinets or encrypted cloud storage – or even better, offsite storage or secure document management systems to keep your archives safe from theft, damage, or unauthorised access.
Put a calendar reminder to regularly review your archives. This ensures you are on top of retention schedules and prevents unnecessary accumulation.
Though it would be handy to keep all documents in one place, life will be simpler for everyone if day-to-day documents and archives are separated.
If your archives were lost in an emergency, would you be able to recover them? Backups and redundancy planning are a must, especially when archiving documents electronically.
Common errors to avoid
Keeping everything indefinitely: This jams your system, increases storage costs, and potentially leads to non-compliance.
Storing files without indexing: If no one can find a file, it might as well not exist.
Not backing up digital archives: Cloud providers can fail, too. Always keep a backup.
Not securing physical documents: Sensitive files in an open drawer are asking for trouble.
Relying on outdated formats: Does anyone recall floppy disks? File formats and storage media become obsolete. Make sure that your digital archives get updated now and then.
Guidance for creating a document archiving policy
A document archiving policy turns good intentions into repeatable practice. It clarifies what to archive, how to store it, who can access it, and when it should be destroyed. A practical policy usually covers:
Purpose and scope: which departments and record types are included.
Definitions: what counts as “archived”, “active”, “record copy”, and “working draft”.
Roles and responsibilities: who owns retention decisions, who approves destruction, who handles retrieval.
Classification and indexing rules: mandatory metadata fields, naming conventions, box labelling/barcoding standards.
Approved storage methods: physical storage standards, acceptable digital repositories, and when to use phygital.
Digitisation standards: file formats, quality checks, and indexing expectations.
Security requirements: access controls, audit trails, and handling sensitive categories (HR, legal, financial).
Retention schedule: retention triggers (e.g., end of employment, end of contract, financial year end) plus review cycles.
Legal holds and exceptions: what happens when records must not be destroyed due to litigation or investigation.
Disposal and destruction: secure destruction process and evidence logs.Review cadence: a regular review date to keep the policy aligned with changing regulations and business needs.
How long should you keep archived documents for?
Retention depends on the document type, its purpose, and what rules apply. As a general guide, many UK organisations use these principles:
Company and accounting records
Often retained for around six years (subject to specific circumstances and requirements).
Self‑employed tax records
Often retained for a number of years after the relevant submission deadline.
Personal data (UK GDPR)
No fixed time limits—keep only as long as necessary for the purpose.
Commercial disputes
Many contract‑related claims are subject to a six‑year limitation period, which often informs retention.
Choosing the right document archiving partner
Sometimes, the simplest solution is to team up with a trusted organisation that specialises in document storage and archiving. In choosing your partner, look for:
- Proven security procedures (for physical and electronic storage)
- Previous experience handling your type of documents
- Accreditation (e.g., ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials)
- Scanning and electronic access facilities
- Retention and retrieval policies that are open
- Supportive customer services that work with you to resolve your issues
Let us help simplify your archives
Regardless of whether you’re working with employee files, patient records, contracts, or something in between, getting your archive organised isn’t box-ticking. It protects your business, saves space, and helps your staff to work more effectively.
Restore Information Management is here to help. From document scanning and secure off-site storage solutions to digital archiving, we have smart processes in place that make information management easy.
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