Records Retention and Destruction Policy
The purpose of this Policy is to ensure that necessary records and documents of are adequately protected and maintained and to ensure that records that are no longer needed by Gospelink or are of no value are discarded at the proper time. This Policy is also for the purpose of aiding employees of Gospelink in understanding their obligations in retaining electronic documents – including e-mail, Web files, text files, sound and movie files, PDF documents, and all Microsoft Office or other formatted files.
Document Destruction
The Document Retention and Destruction Policy identifies the record retention responsibilities of staff, volunteers, members of the board of directors, and outsiders for maintaining and documenting the storage and destruction of the organization’s documents and records.
The organization’s staff, volunteers, members of the board of directors, committee members and outsiders (independent contractors via agreements with them) are required to honor the following rules:
Paper or electronic documents indicated under the terms for retention in the following section will be transferred and maintained by (fill in the blank based on the organization’s practices);
All other paper documents will be destroyed after three years;
All other electronic documents will be deleted from all individual computers, data bases, networks, and back-up storage after one year;
No paper or electronic documents will be destroyed or deleted if pertinent to any ongoing or anticipated government investigation or proceeding or private litigation (check with legal counsel or the human resources department for any current or foreseen litigation if employees have not been notified); and
No paper or electronic documents will be destroyed or deleted as required to comply with government auditing standards (Single Audit Act).
Record Retention
The following table indicates the minimum requirements that Gospelink places on record retention.
| Type of Document | Minimum Requirement |
|---|---|
| Accounts payable ledgers and schedules | 7 years |
| Audit reports | Permanently |
| Bank reconciliations | 2 years |
| Bank statements | 3 years |
| Checks (for important payments and purchases) | Permanently |
| Contracts, mortgages, notes, and leases (expired) | 7 years |
| Contracts (still in effect) | Contract period |
| Correspondence (general) | 2 years |
| Correspondence (legal and important matters) | Permanently |
| Correspondence (with customers and vendors) | 2 years |
| Deeds, mortgages, and bills of sale | Permanently |
| Depreciations schedules | Permanently |
| Duplicate deposit slips | 2 years |
| Employment applications | 3 years |
| Expense analysis / expense distribution schedules | 7 years |
| Year-end financial statements | Permanently |
| Insurance records, current accident reports, claims, policies, and so on (active and expired) | Permanently |
| Internal audit reports | 3 years |
| Inventory records for products, materials, and supplies | 3 years |
| Invoices (to customers, from vendors) | 7 years |
| Minute books, bylaws, and charter | Permanently |
| Patents and related papers | Permanently |
| Payroll records and summaries | 7 years |
| Personnel files (terminated employees) | 7 years |
| Retirement and pension records | Permanently |
| Tax returns and worksheets | Permanently |
| Timesheets | 7 years |
| Trademark registrations and copyrights | Permanently |
| Withholding tax statements | 7 years |
GL-POL-00009 Revision 2.0 3/19/2022