technology
How long are we keeping it?
VARnews
by seth fineberg
Firms weigh in on document retention policies
tually you don’t have to worry about it.”
COST AND LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
He also claims that there are other considerations outside of physical storage space when
using document management systems.
“[Digital] storage area networks aren’t
cheap either; you have to factor in the cost
of the hard drive space as well as physical
space,” said Davis. “Firms need to have a
policy around litigation holds [preserving all
relevant information in anticipation of litiga-
tion] as well; if you get put on notice and there
is a potential legal action, you have to have a
way to secure those documents so they can’t
be modified or deleted.”
Sarasota, Fla.-based Kerkering Barberio &
Co., which has over 100 staff, has been using
document management systems for nearly
five years and currently is evaluating others.
Chief operating officer John Nicholas believes
that regardless of what system a firm has, or
how many they use, they need to set reten-
tion policies themselves and stick to them.
“Honestly, I’m surprised how many firms
our size and larger don’t even have a docu-
ment retention policy,” he said. “I talk to our
legal counsel and they say if you have one you
darn well better follow it, because then you
are worse than if you don’t have one. In the
end, the document management system and
retention conversation are balled into one.”
Nicholas claimed that there are three main
drivers behind his firm’s retention policies:
legal liability, the cost of keeping documents
on a network or in a physical storage space,
and even potential revenue generation. “We
are asked by some clients to keep their doc-
uments indefinitely, and we have not up to
now charged them, but since banks with safe
deposit boxes charge customers, why can’t
we?” he asked. “It’s something we are just
really discussing now.”
Many smaller firms face similar document
retention issues and, in some cases, have only
just begun to scan in and store older paper
files in their systems to finally relieve them-
selves of the cost of file storage.
SAGE ENDS SIMPLY
ACCOUNTING VAR PROGRAM
After two years of trying to establish a
reseller network for Sage Simply Accounting, Sage North America discontinued support of the program on October
1, with support for existing solution
providers extending until Sept. 30, 2012.
Partners were officially informed via a
notice from Sage’s vice president of partner programs and channel sales, Jennifer
Warawa, though many were also called
prior to the notice, she said.
ISM ACQUIRES SAGE ERP
PARTNER IN D.C. AREA
PORTLAND, ORE. — Portland-base Sage
partner ISM has acquired Planning and
Services Corp., formerly Accounting
Technology — Manassas (Va.), effectively
expanding its footprint into the East
Coast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern
U.S. markets. Their business software
portfolio now includes Sage MAS 90, 200
and 500, X3, Accpac, FAS, and CRM.
As more of the profession moves towards managing and reducing paper usage, accountants are finding that while their document retention policies may vary, it’s one of the more important
considerations to make when adopting any document management solution.
Outside of the federal- and state-mandat-ed timelines to retain specific documents
— which range anywhere from three to seven
years, depending on the document — firms
of all sizes that are engaged in one or more
document management systems have found
that setting their own policies can save time
and money, and reduce frustration in dealing
with what can be years’ worth of paper files.
For those practices that have decided on a
document management system, each faces
the issue of deciding from what year to begin placing documents in their system and
how long to keep them, both physically and
electronically. Most systems today have the
ability to set a timeline to purge files from
the database, but the larger issue comes with
storing the physical documents themselves.
Salina, Kan.-based Kennedy and Coe, with
roughly 200 staff members, began its paper-
less journey around seven years ago. The firm
initially stored files in its client engagement
system, but eventually moved towards storing
documents in a formal document manage-
ment system — in its case, iChannel from Co-
narc. Principal and director of I T Greg Davis
said that his firm has moved within two years
of completely eliminating paper files from
storage, and claims that his firm’s retention
policies, in addition to the systems it uses,
have played a large role in this task.
SBS BUYS GRACE-HUNT
MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — SBS Group New
England, the Boston-area division of
major Microsoft Dynamics reseller SBS
Group, has acquired Hudson, Mass.-based Dynamics VAR Grace-Hunt,
expanding its presence in the region and
adding to its Dynamics ERP line. While
terms of the deal were not disclosed,
SBS adds two offices and 30 employees,
including general manager Kevin Comer-ford. The purchase also adds a Dynamics
NAV business to SBS’s ERP offerings,
which include Dynamics GP, SL and AX,
as well as Sage MAS 500 and Acumatica.
WINNOWING AWAY THE PAPER
Having nearly a decade’s worth of documents
See RETENTION on
25
UHY ADVISORS PARTNERS
WITH BLACKLINE SYSTEMS
LOS ANGELES — UHY Advisors has partnered with financial software provider
BlackLine Systems to bring BlackLine’s
account reconciliation and financial close
software to UHY’s midsized and Fortune
500 client base. UHY is among a number
of large firms with personnel who have
completed a comprehensive training
course to learn how to implement the
BlackLine Financial Close Software Suite.
For more, visit www.blackline.com.
