The importance of back-up
We are now used to conducting so much of our lives online that we tend to forget electronic information can be easily lost due to an error, computer malfunction or theft of a laptop. Is everything on your computer system securely backed up?
A secure back-up should be a full copy of your live data which is then kept at a different physical location to your computer system. Have you thought about how you would recover from a fire or flood at your office? If your back-up media are kept on the same site as your computer system, you may not be able to recover your data quickly and your business might not then survive.
Are you sure the method of recovering data from your back-up media will work? IT professionals tend to use a three-stage back-up system: grandfather/father/son, with ‘son’ being the live data. You back-up to ‘father’ if that media fails you, and there is the still earlier back-up ‘grandfather’ copy to reinstall if all else fails. You might decide to a have a monthly, weekly or daily system of back-up at different repositories.
Records requirements
Keeping a secure back-up of your records is not only a good insurance policy for your business: it is also necessary for tax purposes. You are legally required to keep all the business records used for your accounts and tax returns for at least six years. PAYE or CIS records need to be kept for three years in addition to the current year. Non-business records used for your personal tax return must be retained for 22 months after the end of the tax year (six years for sole traders, partnerships and those with property income). All records can be kept in electronic format, so you don’t have to retain the paper originals. However, your electronic records must be easily accessible.
Do not assume that your bank or utility company will keep your online statements, bills and payments indefinitely. Most online records disappear without trace after a few months. For example, BT telephone bills are only available online for about six months after the issue date, so you need to ensure you keep your own secure copy of all relevant online statements.