General requirements The procedure and terms of storage of electronic documents are similar to the procedure and terms of storage of paper documents. If an organization stores documents in electronic form, then it is necessary to ensure a storage mode that prevents loss, destruction or distortion of information. In addition, in the process of storing documents, it is necessary to rewrite them onto new media as the old ones become obsolete. This is stated in paragraph 2.32 of the Rules, approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526. It is advisable to create a Regulation on the electronic document flow of the organization.

Where to store documents electronically

If your organization is a small business or the number of documents generated does not exceed 100 per month, organize an archive on physical media. A DVD disc can hold more than 1000 documents, and HDD drives can also be used for these purposes. Text electronic documents for storage in the organization’s archive should be submitted in PDF/A format.

If the shelf life of documents is 50–75 years, then recording them on DVD is impractical - such media are designed for 20–30 years. Therefore, it is better to create your own electronic archive for such documents. Own electronic archive – a folder on one of the computers. The system administrator must set up special access for the folder. This way of organizing an archive is simple, but the folder is vulnerable from a security point of view. A solution to the problem can be an electronic archive created on the basis of electronic document management systems (EDMS). These are commercial products that, in exchange for a one-time or subscription fee, offer a wide range of functionality for storing, managing and securing documents. It is convenient to upload documents into such electronic archives. As a rule, EDMS themselves monitor storage periods. Searching for a particular storage unit in the database does not cause any problems.

Another way is to use cloud storage for documents. Service providers are systematically increasing the amount of disk space available to users, thereby reducing the cost per unit of information storage. At the same time, you can access your archive from any device with Internet access.

Advice: At least once every five years, check the condition of the electronic document carriers and whether the documents themselves can be reproduced. These are the requirements of paragraphs 2.31 and 2.32 of the Rules, approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526.

Electronic digital signature

Electronic documents must be certified with an electronic digital signature. The requirements for the execution of an electronic digital signature are established in the Law of April 6, 2011 No. 63-FZ “On Electronic Digital Signature”.

The electronic signature key can be obtained from the certification center. Certification centers are divided into accredited and non-accredited. Accreditation is voluntary, it is carried out by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia. However, in order to pass tax reporting in electronic form, the key must be obtained only from an accredited certification center. Check that the certification center has the appropriate state accreditation.

Attention: at the request of regulatory authorities, the organization is obliged to print electronic documents.

An organization has the right to store accounting (tax) documents in electronic form. According to the legislation on accounting, primary and summary accounting documents can be compiled on paper or in electronic form (Part 5, Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ). Registers tax accounting can also be maintained on paper, electronically and (or) on any machine media (Article 314 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Finally tax returns(calculations) can, and in some cases must be, submitted electronically (Article 80 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). However, at the request of regulatory agencies, including tax office, copies of electronic documents will have to be printed and certified in person before being submitted for verification (clause 1 of article 252, clause 1 of article 93 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This conclusion is based on the provisions of Part 6 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, Articles 313 and 314 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Today the whole world is switching to electronic means of communication and business communication. An inevitable consequence of the universal dominance of electronic digital technologies is new way data storage and processing - storing documents in electronic form, in other words, creating digital archives.

Reasons for switching to electronic storage

Another reason for switching to electronic storage can be cited as the accelerating pace of life - everything needs to be done quickly and clearly, and rummaging through a huge warehouse of folders with paper documents to find the two or three pages you need is, you see, a time-consuming activity. Almost big problem represents the creation huge amount copies of one document to ensure that different employees can access it at the same time.

All these difficulties will be resolved by the creation of a digital archive for storing documents in electronic form in a specialized archival center.

Archive of electronic documents

Storage of documents in electronic form - an archive of electronic documents - are technologies that provide the entire cycle of document storage, including examination of value, accounting, description, storage and use. Despite the fact that business has been actively using electronic document management for several decades, and recently courts and many other government agencies have switched to this type, there is still no clearly developed technology for storing documents in electronic form.

Main electronic storage locations:

• servers third party organization;
• various electronic media;
• storage on our own servers.

Options for storing documents in electronic form

Storage of documents in electronic form is most often carried out in two options - storage on the company server or on a remote server on the Internet. Both options have both pros and cons. The Internet is dangerous due to the possibility of losing confidential data; input for storage on a server must be carried out with the utmost care. Most large enterprises are switching to electronic document storage technology.

The process of creating an archive of electronic documents

Usually only the most important ones juristic documents exist in material form, while the rest are created and stored in electronic form in the form of digital archives. The process of creating an archive of electronic documents, including all its technical operations, as well as the development of an access and storage system, is quite labor-intensive and complex. Documentation created before the digital age is converted into electronic documents by scanning.

Specialized archival centers

Often, difficulties force many companies to abandon the idea of ​​​​electronic archiving. To cope with this task - to transfer all company documentation to electronic tracks - the easiest way is to contact specialized archival centers engaged in digitizing documents and creating electronic archives. If you have enough time, the right professionals and special equipment, you can, of course, do it on your own, but specialized centers guarantee you speed and quality.

Our company has extensive experience in organizing the storage of documents in electronic form and provides a full range of services for converting documents into electronic form.

Every year the popularity of electronic document management is growing, including among our company’s clients who order the creation of electronic archives from us. Statistics show: every three years the volume of corporate documentation submitted in electronic form doubles! Some managers, analyzing this trend and comparing the organization's electronic and paper document flow, conclude that the latter is unnecessary. We hasten to warn against hasty conclusions. We invite you to weigh all the arguments and see the true state of affairs!

The undeniable advantages of electronic document management

The growing interest in electronic archives, the creation of which our specialists are professionally engaged in, is understandable. Translating documentation into electronic form allows you to:

significantly simplify and speed up working with it (in particular, due to the almost instantaneous search for the required document using any of its details);

organize the exchange of documentation between departments, divisions, and branches of the company using modern telecommunications means;

free office space from piles of papers;

provide different employees with different access rights to documentation and ensure an appropriate degree of confidentiality;

finally, give the information contained in the documents, reliable protection from distortion or loss (both due to force majeure and due to illegal actions).

It would seem that in the battle between electronic and paper document flow of an organization, the first, taking into account all its advantages, wins a landslide victory. So, can you completely eliminate the need to store paper copies? Looking ahead, we will give the correct answer: no!

Indispensability of paper copies of documents

Modern legislation gives some electronic documents used in some situations legal force– the same as paper originals. In particular, we are talking about:

invoices, employment contracts and other formalized documents (that is, those whose form requirements are regulated by law), certified by CEP (qualified electronic signature);

powers of attorney, contracts and some other informal documents certified by electronic signature (simple electronic signature).

As we can see, in all of these cases an electronic signature is mentioned. It will give documents legal force if one more mandatory condition is met: an agreement on the mutual recognition of such a signature must be signed between the participants in the electronic document flow. This agreement, as experience shows, is not always signed. If it is not there, no authority, including the court, will accept the electronic document for consideration, since it will not have legal force. The advantages of an electronic archive, which are very valuable in themselves, will fade into the background in such a situation: you will have to look for the original paper document!

As a conclusion

So, when comparing the electronic and paper document flow of an organization, we come to the conclusion: both play an important role these days, and in no case is it necessary to completely abandon paper documents. Correct algorithm Taking into account all the above it looks like this:

you need to take advantage of all the advantages of electronic document management, thereby making the organization’s work as efficient as possible;

paper documents on the basis of which the electronic archive was created must be treated with the utmost care.

Is it possible to ensure long-term storage of electronic documents?

Electronic documents entered our lives relatively recently, so talking about the possibility of preserving them for 50 years or more is only possible in theory. However, it is possible to guarantee the preservation of documentation for 10-20 years by complying with all rules and legal regulations.

Long-term storage problems

Long-term storage of electronic documents on physical media is not possible: they quickly become outdated. Suffice it to recall floppy disks, which everyone actively used for another 10 years, but today there is nowhere to open them on modern computers. CDs are also becoming a thing of the past. And we can assume that flash drives will soon become a rarity.

It is not enough to preserve the documentation; it is also important to be able to adequately reproduce the stored information after many years. And the formats of electronic documents are also changing at considerable speed (until recently, Word files had the extension .doc, but today it is .docx). New editors are being offered, cloud storage is gaining popularity, and it is difficult to predict how compatible modern formats will be with future technologies.

Methods for storing electronic documentation

And yet, what ways exist today to preserve important documentation for a long time?

Local archive. All documents are simply placed in one folder on the computer. This can also be a separate network folder in which employees can “put” documents different directions By local network. The main disadvantages of this option are the low level of security and reliability, difficulty in searching and providing access to a specific document if the archive has already grown to such a scale that it is no longer possible to manually find the required file.

Special electronic archive. It allows you to provide quick access to each file, preserve connections between them, makes it possible to manage access rights and guarantee security, as well as timely translate files into new formats. Everything is in the electronic archive important documents combined into one system where nothing will get lost and where you can quickly find the file you need at any time thanks to a clear and understandable directory structure.

What does the law say about storing electronic documents?

Although Law No. 125-FZ “On Archival Affairs” Russian Federation» was adopted even before the active development of electronic document management began, it is still relevant: they are guided precisely by its provisions. As for the rest, it does not matter to the state how certain documents are stored, the main thing is that the requirements of the Federal Law are met: electronic archives do not contradict them.

Automatic document management systems

Information as such has over time turned into a full-fledged production resource. Today, its quality largely determines the efficiency of management, and for this purpose, automatic systems are being actively introduced at enterprises.

Automated control

For a modern enterprise as a whole, this is the most important function, without which it is almost impossible to conduct purposeful activities. If we take automatic document management systems (ADMS), then their main purpose is the preparation, coordination and processing of organizational documents, and the result of implementation is the release of employees from some routine operations and, as a result, the acceleration of all production processes and increased competitiveness.

Using an automatic system, you can process incoming, outgoing, organizational, administrative and archival documents.

The main functions performed by the ASUD:

automatic data entry and reduction due to this amount possible errors;

registration of incoming and outgoing correspondence and its subsequent redirection to the required department;

implementation of multi-level control over the execution of documents, tracking deadlines;

search and selection of documents, saving search queries, generating reports;

analysis of the organization’s document flow in order to optimize it and reduce the costs of its maintenance, generation of statistical reports.

Automated document management systems can be used for two purposes. On the one hand, they provide the usual (traditional) document flow procedure, but at a new, high-quality level. On the other hand, they help to gradually move from paper to paperless information processing technology.

In any case, the implementation of automated control systems brings certain benefits to the enterprise. According to some studies, automatic document processing leads to improved and faster customer service, increased departmental efficiency and a significant reduction in inventory levels.

Which ASUD to choose for your organization

There are many programs to automate document management. The choice of one or the other depends on the volume of document flow, the scale of activity, as well as financial capabilities.

Office automation systems (CAD) are applicable in organizations with a small document flow. They are intended for internal use, so they are developed for a specific user.

Electronic document management systems (EDMS) simultaneously automate office work and work with various types documents, including legally significant ones. Covers stages from creation and receipt to movement and copying. EDMS is being implemented at enterprises with a large volume of document flow.

Corporate office management systems (ACMS) are universal, but at the same time more complex systems in technical and organizational terms. Work with all types of documents. Intended for use by all structures of the institution.

Development of electronic archive regulations

When creating an electronic archive, an obligatory step is the formation of its regulations. It involves the creation of a number of requirements in accordance with which documents are stored in the archive, their storage period, rules for the transfer and processing of documents, and so on. The electronic archive regulations are a kind of “foundation” on which all subsequent work is based.

In addition, the creation of regulations is necessary within the framework of compliance with current legislation and relevant rules. This is necessary, among other things, to ensure integration and interaction of the archive with existing information systems. Both internal (within the enterprise) and external (existing in other enterprises and bodies).

The process of creating electronic archive regulations is divided into several stages. Among them:

analysis of the structure of the future archive;

direct development of regulations and procedures for working with the archive (at the same time Special attention takes into account the requirements of current legislation and relevant rules and regulations);

development of standards and rules for document storage and archive management;

development of archive implementation in the company.

Each of the listed stages is divided into the implementation of smaller tasks. In particular, the analysis involves determining:

databases and documents to be stored;

structures of stored documents;

scenarios according to which further work with documents is expected;

developers and consumers of documentation.

Further development of regulations involves the creation of algorithms:

archiving documents in accordance with their type and purpose;

life cycle(from creation to destruction of documentation);

working with the archive (not only directly with documents, but also with other systems);

accumulation and use of the database;

protection and creation of information security.

When developing electronic archive regulations, it is necessary to take into account:

documentation storage formats;

archive structure;

standards for document processing and execution;

creation of a schedule and regulations regarding basic work with documents;

reporting templates for assessing key performance indicators;

access strategies and security scenarios.

Deadlines for document destruction: what, when and how?

Upon expiration of the mandatory storage period, documents of the organization - both commercial and state/municipal - are subject to destruction. The only exception to the rules will be documents whose storage period is not limited - the so-called. permanent storage documents (for example, annual financial statements or personal files of employees). Electronic documents are also subject to destruction, and the procedure and procedure for destruction, storage periods are exactly the same as for documents on paper.

How to determine the storage and destruction periods of documents

Basic regulations governing the storage periods of securities:

Federal Law 125-FZ “On Archival Affairs”;

List of standard management documents...indicating the storage period (approved by Rosarkhiv on 10/06/2000);

• Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation dated August 25, 2010 On approval of the List of standard management documents...indicating the storage period.

Important! The storage periods and, accordingly, the destruction periods for documents of any type must be determined with the utmost care. The fact is that the lists in the List of 2000 (approved by Rosarkhiv) and the List of 2010 (approved by the Ministry of Culture) differ significantly. At the same time, documents dated before 2010 are stored and destroyed (handed over to the archive) in accordance with the List of the Federal Archive, while those dated later - in accordance with the List from the Order of the Ministry of Culture.

How to destroy documents: stages of the procedure

As such, the procedure for destroying documents is regulated only indirectly in regulations. The organization's procedure should be approximately as follows:

formation of an expert commission (by appropriate order for the organization);

conducting an examination (frequency – once a year);

compiling a list of documents to be destroyed;

destruction and drawing up a report on it indicating a list of documents.

Examination, a key stage in the document destruction procedure, involves not only determining whether the document’s storage period has expired, but also its value in terms of information security. In addition, during the study of cases, duplicate documents are also searched for, copies that were filed with the cases - these are also destroyed.

When to destroy documents

In accordance with current legislation, in particular, the lists approved by the Federal Archive and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the period for destruction of documents that are no longer subject to storage is not limited. The recommended frequency of convening the expert commission is once a year (over the course of a year, as a rule, accounting documents, and a number of others whose shelf life is expiring.

As for physical destruction itself, the laws do not provide any clarification. For large volumes of documents, outsourcing destruction is more profitable - in this case there will be no problems with registration. Small volumes are destroyed on site - using a shredder, for example. To delete electronic documents, it also makes sense to involve specialists, if only because destruction also involves erasing hidden and accidental copies.

According to the law, if documents such as individual personal accounting information can be stored in the archive in electronic form, do they also need to be submitted to the archive on paper?

Can only be stored electronically. There is no need to print on paper and store documents in this form (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated August 22, 2012 No. 03-02-07/1-202). Also in Law No. 212 Federal Law of July 24, 2009. There are no provisions obliging an organization to store documents compiled in electronic format on paper.

Sergei Razgulin, actual state councilor of the Russian Federation, 3rd class

Is it possible to archive electronic documents?

Yes, you can.

The organization’s archive can also be created on electronic media. Therefore, if you store documents in electronic form, then create an electronic archive. The procedure for submitting electronic documents to the archive is given in paragraphs 2.30–2.35 of the Rules, approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated March 31, 2015 No. 526.

Electronic documents of organizations are archived only after they are no longer used in operational work. To select documents on electronic media, create an expert commission. When selecting electronic documents that are transferred for archival storage, the expert commission is guided by the following criteria:

• significance, completeness (completeness) of documents;
• authenticity (completeness and reliability) of documents;
• no duplication of information in documents.

New rules for storing electronic documents

We will tell you what has changed in the work of an accountant.

What documents should be kept for how long?

In the process of company activity, a lot of documents are drawn up. They must be stored within the established periods (Part 1, Article 17 of the Federal Law of October 22, 2004 No. 125-FZ).

But it happens that different regulations indicate different storage periods for the same documents. For example, regulations require storing calculations in the form RSV-1 Pension Fund:

• - for 6 years - clause 6 of part 2 of article 28 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 212-FZ);
• - 75 years (in terms of individual information) - the List approved by order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia dated August 25, 2010 No. 558 (hereinafter referred to as the List).

For your convenience, we have prepared a table (see below). It contains a list of documents most often encountered in the work of an accountant and the maximum periods for their storage.

Table Retention periods for some company documents

What happens if you don’t comply with the storage deadlines for documents?

The storage of documents must be organized by the head of the company (clause 2 of the information of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. PZ-13/2015). He has the right to appoint a company employee responsible for storing documents.

For violation of the rules and terms of storage of documents, a fine for officials is provided in the amount of 300 to 500 rubles. (Article 13.20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

The amount of the administrative fine will be greater if, as a result of such a violation:

• - the amounts of accrued taxes and fees were underestimated by at least 10% due to distortion of accounting data;
• - in the financial statements, any article (line) of the form is distorted by at least 10%.

In this case, the fine for the official will be from 2000 to 3000 rubles. (Article 15.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Store documents in paper or electronic form

If documents are compiled electronically, they can be stored electronically. There is no need to print on paper and store documents in this form (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated August 22, 2012 No. 03-02-07/1-202).

Whatever method you choose, you need to be guided by the new Document Storage Rules.

Where to store documents

How documents are stored depends on deadline storage

Based on retention periods, there are three types of documents:

• - temporary storage period (up to 10 years inclusive);
• - temporary storage period (over 10 years);
• - permanent shelf life.

Documents of the first type are stored in the accounting department (clauses 2.3 and 4.2 of the Document Storage Rules).

To ensure the safety of documents of the second and third types, the company has the right:

• - create your own archive (part 2 of article 13 of the Federal Law of October 22, 2004 No. 125-FZ, clause 1.4 of the Rules for storing documents);
• - use the services of a professional archive.

The company decides independently which method is preferable.

How to store electronic documents

Let's consider the procedure for storing electronic documents if the company has its own archive.

Under what conditions should electronic documents be stored?

Unlike paper documents, storage of electronic documents must comply with three conditions (clause 2.30 of the Document Storage Rules).

Two copies. Electronic documents must be stored in duplicate. One is the main one, the second is the worker. They need to be stored on different physical devices.

The accountant must deposit at least two copies of the electronic document on different media.

Availability of technical base. The company archive must have technical and software tools for reproducing and copying electronic documents. In addition, such tools are needed to rewrite them and monitor their physical and technical condition.

Safety guarantee. The archive must have a storage mode that ensures the safety of electronic documents. We must not allow them to be lost or end up in unauthorized mailings. Electronic documents must be stored so that they are not destroyed or the information on them is distorted.

In what form to transfer an electronic document to the archive?

Scheme Algorithm of actions for transferring an electronic document to the archive

How to control the storage of an electronic document

If the company changes technology, software etc., they must be synchronously replaced in the company’s archive.

With the advent of new media and new formats, it is necessary to promptly rewrite electronic archival documents onto such media and formats (clause 2.32 of the Document Storage Rules).

Besides, at least once every five years need to be checked (clauses 2.32 and 2.40 of the Document Storage Rules):

• - physical condition of the carriers;
• - reproducibility of electronic documents.

If something turns out to be wrong, electronic documents should be rewritten to new media. At the same time, it is important that when rewriting, the completeness and reliability of the information is ensured.

In all cases, it is necessary to check for the presence of malicious computer programs (clause 2.39 of the Document Storage Rules).

If an electronic document contains malicious computer programs, it should be seized for anti-virus processing (clause 2.41 of the Document Storage Rules).

How to obtain an electronic document from the archive

An electronic document from the archive can be obtained in the form of an electronic copy or a copy on paper (clause 2.47 of the Document Storage Rules).

Electronic copies of archival documents can be obtained from the archive in electronic form or via the Internet. They are certified with an electronic signature by the head of the company or an official authorized by him ().

When issuing a copy of a document on paper, an archival code is placed on the back of each sheet, certified by an inscription and a seal on the back last sheet copies (clause 5.14 of the Document Storage Rules).

How to destroy an electronic document

If an electronic document has expired, it can be destroyed. The selection of documents is carried out by an expert commission consisting of company employees.

The list of documents to be destroyed is written in the act. Its form is given in Appendix No. 21 to the Document Storage Rules.

After this, physical destruction or destruction by software and hardware is carried out (

With the transition of office work to computerized technologies, the question arises of streamlining and organizing the storage of documents created in electronic form.

Documents in electronic form can be created by employees of the organization on computers, received by email, or converted into electronic form (by scanning) from traditional paper form. The created or received document must be saved in the computer’s memory - written as a file to the hard drive. Documents can be stored on a computer’s hard drive, or on a specially dedicated computer (file server), or on removable media.

First of all, folders (directories) are created on the hard drive in which documents will be placed. Just as paper documents are put into files, so files are put into folders. Each folder can have subfolders within it, which in turn can have their own subfolders. Each folder is assigned a "name". The “name” should begin with the type of documents (orders, acts, reports, etc.), why the content of the documents is clarified by information about the authorship, issue, correspondent, period for which the documents (files) are grouped.

Current office work files are stored on the computer's hard drive. When working on a network, the user may have access to disks or directories on other computers. In this case, they will have serial letter numbers and can be worked with as devices located on your own computer. To do this, permission to share access to a particular file is set on the computer containing the necessary resources. Access can be limited either by using a password for full and read-only access, or by restricting access to only certain users. You can enter a password to restrict access to the folder.

Organizations with a large volume of shared documents use dedicated, highly reliable computers - file - servers - designed for continuous operation and providing simultaneous access to data from units to tens, hundreds and even thousands of users.

All documents received for office circulation must be stored in general folders created in accordance with the nomenclature of the department’s (organization as a whole) files based on standard classifiers.

One of the main issues that determine the successful use of computer technology in the office is the reliability of storing documents in electronic form. The security of documents consists of:

sustainable power supply;

Reserve copy;

antivirus protection;

prevention and diagnostics using special utilities (auxiliary programs).

The peculiarity of electronic storage is that documents are sent to an electronic archive immediately upon completion of work with them in office work. This allows you to ensure the safety of documents, their centralized storage, quick search and distributed access to documents, both using a local network and using remote access (by telephone and via the Internet).

A database of documents is formed during the process of their registration.

Data on documents for the past year are stored separately even after all documents for the past year have been executed. The database is used for reference work only and can be copied to an external storage medium. Depending on the amount of information, it can be a floppy disk, magnetic tape, CD-ROM or other archival media.

Documents with permanent and long-term storage periods are usually recorded on CD-ROM, and documents with temporary storage periods are usually recorded on media that can be erased and rewritten upon expiration of the storage period.

The storage periods for documents do not depend on their form of existence - paper or electronic - and are determined by special directories - lists of documents indicating storage periods.

A logical drive or several folders on a computer are usually used as a place to store archive documents. If there are programs like “Electronic Archive”, accounting and copying are performed automatically. Otherwise, this is done manually: the documents are divided by storage period, folders are created corresponding to the annual sections of the inventories. If there are a significant number of documents in permanent storage, they are located inside the annual section, in the folders of the relevant departments.

The minimum period for storing documents is established Federal law about “On Accounting” - five years with the right to destruction only after an audit. Required condition- checking the quality of the recording after data transfer and periodically checking the safety of data during the storage period of the storage media.