MyCo liquidated Sept' 2018 - when can I shred the paperwork?

[hobnob]

Do people routinely destroy company records after 6 years even when still contracting?

I use FreeAgent for my company accounts, and I've attached pdfs (for invoices) and photos (for train tickets) to various transactions. I don't know whether it's possible to delete data from previous years, but I'm not planning to do it.

This fits in with my general attitude of "keep everything just in case". However, thinking about data protection, there should be a retention schedule for any PII (which includes storing it in specific locations). So, some information should be deleted on a regular basis.

[ladymuck]

I had records going back to my first gig in 2005 which I was keeping 'just in case'. I ended up buying an earlier version of one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ScanSnap-iX.../dp/B08QDBY4QN

Very fast, and means I can just dump everything in an S3 bucket or whatever. Chances are you won't ever need them, but like the cable I chucked away a few months ago and then needed the next week, it'll be a PITA if you do.

I have a ScanSnap S510 that I bought when XP was shiny new. It's still going strong and just seems to work. Replaced the brushes on it once as it started to pick up multiple sheets but otherwise a really good, compact bit of kit.

In answer to the OP, when I used to keep paper copies of everything, I would shred them at 7 years rather than six but I have a load of boxes in storage that are far older than that.

Nowadays, everything is electronic - I scan receipts and then bin them - and it's stored in OneDrive and backed up to my Synology NAS that has a OneDrive connector to directly pull updates overnight.

[Snooky]

I had records going back to my first gig in 2005 which I was keeping 'just in case'. I ended up buying an earlier version of one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ScanSnap-iX.../dp/B08QDBY4QN

Very fast, and means I can just dump everything in an S3 bucket or whatever. Chances are you won't ever need them, but like the cable I chucked away a few months ago and then needed the next week, it'll be a PITA if you do.

Or for the more parsimonious among us, a portable handheld scanner is a fraction of the price. Nowhere near as fast or accurate, for sure, so no good if you have 25 years of paperwork to scan, but good enough for ongoing scanning.

I'm even more of a skinflint - I've never scanned of my company paper documents, they're all in files and boxes!

[b0redom]

I had records going back to my first gig in 2005 which I was keeping 'just in case'. I ended up buying an earlier version of one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ScanSnap-iX.../dp/B08QDBY4QN

Very fast, and means I can just dump everything in an S3 bucket or whatever. Chances are you won't ever need them, but like the cable I chucked away a few months ago and then needed the next week, it'll be a PITA if you do.

[Ketto]

It's the HMRC resurrecting things from the dead scenario which gives me the nagging feeling to keep hold of it. My GCSE Geography school work won't help much, but my contracts from 2008 'might' be of some use. But agree that i'm probably being over cautious.

[ChimpMaster]

I'm guessing you guys also hang on your primary and high school notebooks "just in case" you need them one day

To the OP: I doubt you'll ever need the paperwork again but if HMRC ever get involved they will be able to resurrect anything from the dead anyway.

[gregNoWorries]

Back in the day my uncle used to box up his annual files and drop in a bottle of wine. Then each year he would select the box containing records from 6 years ago, he would set fire to it, and watch it burn drinking a well aged bottle of wine.

[Ketto]

I can’t shake this feeling that i may need it one day. Doesn’t take up too much space, pretty much everything post 2015 is in electronic format with a back up.

[northernladuk]

Do people routinely destroy company records after 6 years even when still contracting? I’ve got files going back to 2005. On my third limited, one dissolved in 2011, another dissolved in 2016. Current running since 2019.

Not me. Got everything ever still on my PC. Hard files i have a cupboard with current folder/box. One upstairs with the older stuff and when that's full it goes in the loft which has close to everything I have. But I only do that because I have the space and saves me a job shredding it all, not for any business reason particularly.

[Ketto]

Do people routinely destroy company records after 6 years even when still contracting? I’ve got files going back to 2005. On my third limited, one dissolved in 2011, another dissolved in 2016. Current running since 2019.

[gregNoWorries]

Its 6 years from the end of your last accounting period. So, if your final accounts were for the period to 30 Sep 2018, then after 30 Sep 2024 you can bin the paperwork. It also ties in quite nicely with Companies House - a dissolved company cannot generally be restored after 6 years (though in this case its from the date of dissolution).

[mangled]

Hi,

Question as title: MyCo was liquidated in Sept' 2018 and I want to know what date it is safe to shred and bin all the paperwork ? Ditched the accountant around the same time so not able to talk to him about it...

Thanks,