Paperwork Filing and Shredding Schedule

Who this is for

The paper round, sorted once and written down. Each kind of document gets a line saying where it is filed, how long you have decided to keep it and what happens to it then — filed, scanned, recycled or shredded.

Households drowning in a drawer of statements, anyone setting up a filing system for the first time, and people clearing a parent's paperwork.

What this helps you track

• Which kinds of paper the household actually receives
• Where each kind is filed, so the next one has somewhere to go
• How long you have decided to keep each — your figure, written down
• What happens when that time is up: shred, recycle, scan or keep
• When each kind was last sorted through

How to use it

1. Write the household, the year, where the files are kept and how you dispose of paper at the top.
2. Go down the printed rows, cross out anything you do not receive and add your own on the blank lines.
3. Write where each kind is filed — the folder, the box, the drawer — in words the next person would understand.
4. Fill in your own keep-until in the keep column. The sheet supplies no period for anything: how long a document is worth keeping depends on what it is and on the rules where you are, so check before you decide.
5. Choose the action for each kind and tick it off when the sort is done. Anything with a name, an account number or a signature on it is worth shredding rather than recycling.
6. Date the last-sorted column each time you work through a row, and keep the sheet at the front of the file.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How long should I keep bank statements and bills?

The sheet gives no period for anything, because it differs by document, by country and by whether something is being claimed against. Ask whoever handles your tax or accounts, check the rules where you are, and write your own answer in the keep column.

What should be shredded rather than recycled?

As a rule of thumb, anything carrying a name, an address, an account number or a signature. The sheet has a shred action for exactly that, and what your household treats as sensitive is yours to decide.

Can scanned copies replace the paper?

Sometimes, and sometimes not — some documents are only accepted as originals. The scan action is there for the ones you choose to keep digitally; where it matters, check before you shred the paper.

Where do the originals live?

Wherever you say in the filed column, and the important ones usually deserve somewhere safer than a ring binder. The important documents register is the sheet that records where each original is kept.