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After knowing what records you must keep and how long you must keep them for, it is crucial you organize your records consistently. Using a standardized method of organizing files is especially important when records are managed and accessed by several employees. This page provides some tips and resources to help you create an organization system for your business records.
File Naming Conventions & Organization Principles
A File Naming Convention is a set of practices generally followed when naming a file. This creates consistency and allows for efficient access and retrieval of your records. Similar to creating a designated physical organization of files in a file cabinet, a file naming convention stores digital files in an organized manner so that you know where and how to find them when you need them.
A good digital file naming convention is both human and machine-readable. Each file name should be sufficiently descriptive enough to be understandable by you or your employees and formatted in a way that is sortable by a computer.
Some common tips provided by UBC to ensure the readability of your files include:
- Using an underscore instead of spaces between words
- Using YYYYMMDD or YYMMDD date format
- Using concise, but descriptive language to summarize the file contents
- Organizing subfiles within simple, logical file hierarchies
File Hierarchies
File hierarchies or sort individual files into stacked/larger categories to simplify the number of records you look at at one time. For example, if you track your total sales every day, it would be overwhelming to look at 365 days worth of sales at once. You may instead choose to group each day into a singular month, each month into a quarter, and four quarters into a singular year folder. This can be especially helpful if records are repeated cyclically, such as tax documents.
Some potential categories include:
- Date, Year, or Quarter
- Department
- Client or Product
If you are naming a file within a file hierarchy, it is best practice to not repeat information that can be found earlier in the file pathway. Continuing with the daily sales example, when creating an efficient file pathway, it may look like:
- C:\User\Docs\Sales\2025\Q1\January\05.xlsx
Instead of
- C:\User\Docs\Sales\2025\2025_Q1\January\20250105_Total_Sales.xlsx
Both of these file pathways supply the same information and would open an Excel spreadsheet recording the sales of January 5th, 2025, but the first example does so without any repeated information. This makes file naming and retrieval more streamlined, with less chance for error.
Digital Records Resources
Having a firm grasp on digital records management is growing increasingly important as more and more business documents are created, stored, and shared on computers and over the web. The following free resources can help you gain a firm grasp on the basics of digital recordkeeping and ways to set your small business up for success:
Basic File Management | This page by Vancouver Public Library is an excellent starting point for learning about the basics of digital files, folders, and computer directories.
Digital Preservation for Small Businesses: An Introductory Guide | The Digital Preservation Coalition specializes in the long-term retention of digital records. This guide created specifically for small business owners goes over the maintenance of digital records, emails, and more.
Privacy Guidelines for Managing Emails | Cyber security best practices for managing email (ITSAP.60.002) | Together, these two sources provide practical guidance on managing emails and address the security aspects of email management—both of which are essential components of effective digital records management.
Managing Chat and Text Records | As business communications evolve (instant messaging, chat platforms, AI-tool outputs), it’s vital to have a strategy. A helpful guide by UFV covers how chat and text records may be treated, including lifecycle and disposition.
Roles & Responsibilities
Once records have been organized, they still need to be looked after. Without care, files can get misplaced, corrupted, or become outdated and useless. Deciding who will care for documents is an important aspect of creating a records management plan.
As a new business owner, you may be responsible for the maintenance of all records, whereas larger companies may have entire departments dedicated to meeting regulatory and internal records management needs. Certain record keeping tasks, such as accounting, can be contracted out while others, like employee records, are maintained in-house. Sometimes specific departments will oversee records related to their business function — for instance, the Human Resources department may store and oversee access to all employee onboarding forms in order to protect sensitive information.
That being said, it may be prudent to consider engaging records management consulting services. Such consultants typically offer expertise in conducting records management reviews, developing tailored programs, and managing records classification, retention, disposal, compliance, as well as schedule creation and maintenance. The scope of services varies among firms, and the suitability of these options depends on the specific needs of your business, including regulatory requirements and your financial and developmental objectives.
Common Professional Titles:
Accountants & Bookkeepers:
Accounts and bookkeepers work specifically with financial records. Bookkeepers tend to focus on detailed, day-to-day recording of transactions whereas an accountant prepares bigger-picture financial statements, reports, or analyses.
Work BC Career Profiles
Trade Associations
- Chartered Professional Accountants BC (CPA BC) | The CPA BC is the training, governing, and regulatory body for over 40,000 CPAs. They maintain a member directory of accountants who can help with managing your financial records.
- Canadian Bookkeepers Association | The CBA promotes responsible and accurate bookkeeping practices across Canada. You can find their British Columbia member directory here.
- Certified Professional Bookkeepers Canada (CPB) | The largest and fastest-growing association for Canadian Bookkeepers.
Records Managers:
Records managers oversee the creation, implementation, and upkeep of records management systems, including retention schedules, file naming conventions, and regulatory compliance. They deal with records throughout their life cycle up until the record is disposed of or transferred to the company archives.
Work BC Career Profiles
Trade Associations
- ARMA International | ARMA provides education, guidance, and valuable tools for the information governance and records management communities. Learn more about their Vancouver chapter here.
Archivists:
While records managers deal with active records, archivists manage documents that have long-term value to a business’ history and memory that justifies permanent maintenance.
Work BC Career Profiles
Trade Associations
- Archives Association of British Columbia | The AABC is a non-profit organization that supports archives, archivists, records professionals and all those with an interest in documentary heritage in British Columbia through education and advisory services.
- Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) | The federal trade association for archivists in Canada, primarily focused on academic scholarship and advancement of the archival field.
Series Conclusion: This post concludes our series on Records Management. We hope this guide has provided a clear roadmap for your organization’s compliance and organization needs.
References
Greg Depersio, “Bookkeeping vs. Accounting: What’s the Difference?” Investopedia, August 26, 2024, https://www.investopedia.com/articles/professionals/091715/career-advice-accounting-vs-bookkeeping.asp.
“Convention,” Dictionary of Archives Terminology, Society of American Archivists, accessed August 6, 2025, https://dictionary.archivists.org/entry/convention.html
“File name,” Dictionary of Archives Terminology, Society of American Archivists, accessed August 6, 2025, https://dictionary.archivists.org/entry/file-name.html.
“Introduction to the UBC Retention and Disposition Schedules (RDS),” University Records Management Office, accessed August 6, 2025. https://recordsmanagement.ubc.ca/schedules/about-records-retention-schedules/.
“Organize,” Research Data Management, UBC Library, accessed August 6, 2025, https://researchdata.library.ubc.ca/plan/organize-your-data/.