includes emails from that period it could help prevent a prolonged and stressful investigation. How - Whilst it's obviously important to define how the documents should be filed, you also need to consider the format they should be stored in. For example, if a document has been created in a word processor, it may be wise to store this in a format such as Adobe's PDF to ensure that it cannot easily be edited in the future. You may also find that you can strive towards an 'electronic by default' policy. For example, depending on your business you may benefit from the use of electronic signatures on contracts. As you should only be filing 'finished' documents, it's important to consider ways in which you can reduce the likelihood of tampering or at least make said tampering easier to detect. Certain documents may need to remain read/write but many may benefit from a read-only format. Retention Period - As important as it is to retain these documents, it's also very important to set a limit on how long they are retained for. This not only prevents the unnecessary build up of files, but also helps reduce the likelihood of someone deleting a document because they don't think it's needed any more. A well specified retention period ensures that documents should be available for the period in which they may be required, as well as providing adequate explanation should a file be required once it has been deleted. Try to keep retention