B. Contracts and Memorandums of Understanding
C. Corporate Records
D. Correspondence and Internal Memoranda
E. Electronic Documents
F. Legal Files and Papers
G. Miscellaneous
H. Personnel Records
I. Property Records
J. Tax Records
K. Contribution Records
A. Accounting and finance
Record Type | Retention Period |
Accounts Payable ledgers and schedules | 7 years |
Accounts Receivable ledgers and schedules | 7 years |
Annual Audit Reports and Financial Statements | Permanent |
Annual Audit Records, including work papers and other documents that relate to the audit | 7 years after completion of audit |
Annual Plans and Budgets | 2 years |
Bank Statements and Canceled Checks | 7 years |
Employee Expense Reports | 7 years |
General Ledgers | Permanent |
Interim Financial Statements | 7 years |
Notes Receivable ledgers and schedules | 7 years |
Investment Records | 7 years after sale of investment |
Internal Audit work papers and findings | 7 years after completion |
B. Contracts
Record Type | Retention Period |
Contracts and Related Correspondence (including any proposal that resulted in the contract and all other supportive documentation) | 7 years after expiration or termination |
C. Corporate Records
Record Type | Retention Period |
Corporate Records (minute books, signed minutes of the Board and all committees, corporate seals, articles of incorporation, bylaws, annual corporate reports) | Permanent |
Licenses and Permits | Permanent |
Memorandums of Understanding | Permanent |
D. Correspondence And Internal Memoranda
General Principle: Most correspondence and internal memoranda should be retained for the same period as the document they pertain to or support. For instance, a letter pertaining to a particular contract would be retained as long as the contract (7 years after expiration). It is recommended that records that support a particular project be kept with the project and take on the retention time of that particular project file.
Correspondence or memoranda that do not pertain to documents having a prescribed retention period should generally be discarded sooner. These may be divided into two general categories:
- Those pertaining to nonroutine matters or having significant lasting consequences should generally be retained permanently.
- Those pertaining to routine matters and having no significant, lasting consequences should be discarded within two years. Some examples include:
- Routine letters and notes that require no acknowledgment or followup, such as notes of appreciation, congratulations, letters of transmittal, and plans for meetings.
- Form letters that require no followup.
- Letters of general inquiry and replies that complete a cycle of correspondence.
- Letters or complaints requesting specific action that have no further value after changes are made or action taken (such as name or address change).
- Other letters of inconsequential subject matter or that definitely close correspondence to which no further reference will be necessary.
- Chronological correspondence files.
Please note that copies of interoffice correspondence and documents where a copy will be in the originating department file should be read and destroyed, unless that information provides reference to or direction to other documents and must be kept for project traceability.
E. Electronic Documents
- Electronic Mail: Not all email needs to be retained, depending on the subject matter.
- Staff will strive to keep all but an insignificant minority of their e-mail related to business issues.
- Staff will not store or transfer Ambassify related e-mail on non-work-related computers except as necessary or appropriate for Ambassify purposes.
- Staff will take care not to send confidential/proprietary Ambassify information to outside sources.
- Electronic Documents: including Microsoft Office Suite and PDF files. Retention also depends on the subject matter.
- PDF documents – The length of time that a PDF file should be retained should be based upon the content of the file and the category under the various sections of this policy. The maximum period that a PDF file should be retained is 6 years. PDF files the employee deems vital to the performance of his or her job should be printed and stored in the employee’s workspace.
- Text/formatted files - Staff will conduct annual reviews of all text/formatted files (e.g., Microsoft Word documents) and will delete all those they consider unnecessary or outdated. After five years, all text files will be deleted from the network and the staff’s desktop/laptop. Text/formatted files the staff deems vital to the performance of their job should be printed and stored in the staff’s workspace.
- Web Page Files: Internet Cookies
- All workstations: browsers should be scheduled to delete Internet cookies once per month.
Ambassify does not automatically delete electronic files beyond the dates specified in this Policy. It is the responsibility of all staff to adhere to the guidelines specified in this policy.
F. Legal Files and Papers
Record Type | Retention Period |
Legal Memoranda and Opinions (including all subject matter files) | 10 years after close of matter |
Litigation Files | 10 year after expiration of appeals or time for filing appeals |
Court Orders | Permanent |
Requests for Departure from Records Retention Plan | 10 years |
G. Miscellaneous
Record Type | Retention Period |
Consultant’s Reports | 2 years |
Material of Historical Value (including pictures, publications) | Permanent |
Policy and Procedures Manuals - Original | Current version with revisioin history |
Policy and Procedures Manuals - Copies | Retain current version only |
Annual Reports | Permanent |
H. Personnel Records
Record Type | Retention Period |
Employee Personnel Records (including individual attendance records, application forms, job or status change records, performance evaluations, termination papers, withholding information, garnishments, test results, training and qualification records) | 6 years after separation |
Employment Contracts - Individual | 7 years after separation |
I. Property Records
Record Type | Retention Period |
Correspondence, Property Deeds, Assessments, Licenses, Rights of Way | Permanent |
Original Purchase/Sale/Lease Agreement | Permanent |
Property Insurance Policies | Permanent |
J. Tax Records
General Principle: Ambassify must keep books of account or records as are sufficient to establish amount of gross income, deductions, credits, or other matters required to be shown in any such return.
These documents and records shall be kept for as long as the contents thereof may become material in the administration of federal, state, and local income, franchise, and property tax laws.
Record Type | Retention Period |
Tax-Exemption Documents and Related Correspondence | Permanent |
Excise Tax Records | 7 years |
Tax Bills, Receipts, Statements | 7 years |
Tax Returns - Income, Franchise, Property | Permanent |
Tax Workpaper Packages - Originals | 7 years |
Sales/Use Tax Records | 7 years |
Annual Information Returns - Federal and State | Permanent |
Government Audit Records | Permanent |
K. Contribution Records
Record Type | Retention Period |
Records of Contributions | Permanent |
Ambassify’s or other documents evidencing terms of gifts | Permanent |
The Directors of Ambassify adopt this statement of record retention policies.