Source: Accounting Today

The labeling has evolved from “paperless,” to “document management,” to “content management.”

Regardless of what it is called, it is a serious project to be undertaken with an intelligent approach.

A content management system will not be effective if it merely automates an existing weak system. It is senior management’s responsibility to plan this initiative. It cannot be delegated totally to the IT people. The team should include:

• A senior management team member.
• Someone with knowledge of the current records management procedures and the ability to write new ones.
• An attorney—with respect to e-mail and assurance services.
• IT personnel.

Here are some issues to be considered:

·          Training—everyone in the firm must be trained on the new system.

·          Observance—everyone in the firm must follow the new procedures.

·          Spoliation—you need a plan to prevent intentional alteration or destruction of documents.

·          Retention—if you should ever be involved in litigation, you will discover that while it is possible to save everything, it becomes extremely costly when lawyers must review excessive volumes of documentation.

·          E-mail—this is a major issue. Some systems automatically delete e-mails over 90 days old. The user has the responsibility to retain important messages beyond that time.

·          Mergers—the two parties may utilize different applications. You may need to convert one to the other.

From Accounting Today, May 16-June 5, 2005, p. 24, or click on the following link: http://www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=12914&;pg=acctoday.