In a world where digital transactions and communication dominate our daily lives, having an efficient method for managing contracts and documents is essential. You may have already read about digital storage and email organization in one of my previous blog posts, but today I want to delve deeper into the importance of this topic, particularly regarding the storage and management of contracts.
More and more contracts are being concluded digitally and end up directly in your email inbox
Often, it’s difficult to discern which contracts are truly important, as they tend to blend in with other emails such as newsletters and notifications. But when you suddenly have a warranty claim for your order or need the booking number for a hotel you booked months ago, searching through your email inbox can be frustrating, especially if your email inbox lacks good search filters or if your mobile email client has deleted old emails and you need to log into your cloud inbox to search for the confirmation.
This is why separate saving and filing is also important for emails
You may have also experienced situations where your email provider deletes old messages to save space, or your mailbox becomes cluttered, causing important emails to disappear into the digital abyss. In such cases, dedicated cloud storage is essential. Therefore, keep all order confirmations, travel bookings, online invoices, and other important documents securely in your cloud storage. Particularly important documents should also be physically filed. Similarly, there are documents that you must retain for a specific period, such as receipts for your tax return, salary statements for your pension insurance, insurance policies, and valid contracts for utilities or telecommunications. Handyman invoices must be kept for at least two years, as well as bank statements, which are often only available online for a limited time. These deadlines apply primarily to individuals. For businesses, careful archiving of emails and coordination with tax advisors and lawyers is essential.
How should I integrate my analogue contractual documents into this system?
In addition to digital communication, there is also postal correspondence, which in some cases should be digitized to have both a digital copy and the physical document. As a rule, digital documents are much easier to research than documents in analog folders because you can search by time periods or keywords. The decision of whether you prefer to receive your contract documents by mail or not is often also a question of cost. It is often cheaper to receive all documents in digital form. However, you may prefer to receive the documents by mail, e.g., from insurance companies, to be reminded whether you still need them or whether you would prefer to look for a cheaper and more suitable offer.
Take your e-mail inbox seriously as a channel for receiving contractual information!
In any case, it is important that you take your email inbox seriously as a medium for receiving contracts and save all contract-related emails separately (in your cloud storage) to avoid stress and frustration when you need them later. Proper organization and storage of your digital documents can save you a lot of time and effort and ensure that you can access important information at any time.
Checklist
- Determine an email account that you want to use for contract-related communication.
- Ensure that this account offers sufficient storage space (at least 5 GB); perhaps it’s worth not using a free account for this purpose, as you’ll have more control over the service agreements.
- If you don’t have digital (cloud) storage yet, set one up; here are some tips on how to proceed.
- File every email marked as a confirmation email, contract, or invoice in your digital filing system.
- Pro-tip: Use your email provider’s archiving service; for most documents received there, 5 years of archiving time should not be a problem.