Created: July 30, 2013 at 9:39 AM | Updated: August 28, 2020 | By Community Resource Kit
Keeping good records helps you manage your organisation effectively and efficiently, and helps you make sound decisions. Deciding how to keep and maintain records, and who has access to them, is important if an organisation is to function well.
Keeping accurate and up-to-date records:
A record is any information that's written or entered on paper, computer or other media. It includes information that you either must by law keep, or want to keep for a period.
As soon as you form your group, you should start keeping records. It is much better to keep accurate records as you go, rather than trying to work backwards at a later date. When you draw up your organisation's founding policies, create a record-keeping or document management policy.
Decide how you are going to store your records. You can use an electronic filing system on a computer or a paper-based system. Whatever the system is, it should be reliable, accurate, secure and easy to use. If it is a computer-based record system you must have secure back-up of your files, preferably off-site. It is good business practice to keep hard copies of invoices, faxes, emails, and other material that is also stored on your organisation's computer system. In some circumstances, keeping physical records is also required by law.
There is a wide variety of records that an organisation should keep you need to keep enough records to calculate your income and expenses and to confirm your accounts.
The following is a guide to suggested categories of records that you may need to keep, together with examples of each. This list can be used to form the basis of a filing system, however it isn't intended to be a complete or mandatory list what you keep in the end partly depends on the type and size of your organisation. Be aware that there are records you must keep by law (see Records you must keep by law).
Note the privacy requirements for employment records.
Community groups, as other organisations, need to have clear policies about what documents and records they should keep, and what to dispose.
Records that must be kept include:
This table sets out the records you are required to keep under certain legislation and the minimum length of time these records must be kept for (retention periods).
Records |
Retention Details |
Legislation |
|
Retain for seven years after the end of the year to which they relate Keep the records in safe custody |
Tax Administration Act 1994 Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 Companies Act 1993 |
Annual accounts and audit reports (if applicable). |
Permanently | Not specified but good practice |
Employment records: |
|
|
|
seven years |
Tax Administration Act 1994 (KiwiSaver Act 2006) |
|
six years | Employment Relations Act 2000/Minimum Wages Act 1983 |
|
six years | Holidays Act 2003 |
|
Not specified | Health & Safety in Employment Act 2015 |
Vehicle mileage records/log books | seven years | Income Tax Act 2007 |
Charitable (tax-exempt) organisations need to keep records of donations received and how the funds have been spent | seven years | Tax Administration Act 1994 |
|
Permanently | Companies Act 1993 (but this should guide other entities) |
|
seven years | Companies Act 1993 (but this should guide other entities) |
Remember that the records need to be kept:
Computers and systems can fail resulting in your organisation and cause you to lose important documents. Establish a regular maintenance programme to ensure the safe-keeping of your electronic records which must be retrievable and readable at all times.
Next page: Organising your filing system