Free Business Records Retention Planner
A file can look old and still matter.
A tax rule may still apply. A contract or insurance requirement may require the record. An employee issue, audit, claim, dispute, investigation, or legal hold may have changed the answer completely.
And when records are spread across filing cabinets, email, cloud storage, accounting systems, and old folders, it becomes difficult to know why something is still being kept — or whether anyone has actually checked.
A disposal-review date is not permission to destroy the record.
The Business Records Retention Planner helps you inventory what the business keeps, document the retention practice you are following, record the basis for it, flag holds and open matters, review storage and sensitivity, and organize the questions that still need a qualified professional’s answer.
Free Excel planner. No account required. Anything you download is yours to keep.
Use the planner for record categories, dates, storage locations, and review questions — not copies of sensitive records.
Created by Josh Keller, CFO and business owner, for owner-led businesses.
Here's a situation the planner is designed for.
The planner can help you see why the record should not move forward yet.
It does not decide when the record can legally be destroyed.
An open dispute, legal hold, audit, claim, investigation, or similar matter can change what would otherwise look like ordinary disposal timing.
Fictional illustrative example.
When this helps
You know some need to stay. You suspect some probably do not. But there is no single place showing what has actually been reviewed and why.
Use the planner to record the current practice, supporting basis, triggering event, and whether anyone has verified it.
Some are paper. Some are in accounting software. Others are in email, cloud drives, employee systems, or somebody’s old folder structure.
Document the format, storage location, backup, sensitivity, access review, and who owns the record category.
Age alone does not answer whether a record should be destroyed.
Use the retention basis, hold checks, open-matter review, and disposal-review section before anything moves forward.
An audit, claim, employee complaint, payment dispute, investigation, lawsuit, financing review, or other matter may mean the ordinary schedule should no longer control the affected records.
Put the matter and the affected record into one review instead of relying on somebody to remember the exception.
What you get
The planner starts with 22 common business-record categories so you have a practical place to begin rather than staring at an empty spreadsheet.
Those starter categories cover areas such as formation and ownership, taxes, accounting, payroll, employees, contracts, customer and vendor agreements, invoices, job records, property and equipment, insurance, cybersecurity and privacy, regulated information, disputes and legal holds, marketing consent, and company policies.
There is room for up to 40 total record rows, so you can add categories specific to your own business.
Each applicable record can capture things such as:
What it does — and doesn't do
The planner helps you document and review a retention decision. It does not establish the legally correct retention period or authorize destruction.
Before you put information in the file
The workbook is meant to contain metadata, short descriptions, dates, locations, and review notes — not copies of the underlying documents.
Do not paste or attach passwords, credentials, banking details, medical records, employee files, customer files, legal communications, confidential source documents, or other sensitive records.
Use short descriptions and document-location references instead.
See what's inside
The file has five sheets.
See what the business keeps, why it is being kept, where it lives, and what still needs review.
Work through the starter categories and add business-specific records. Record the current retention approach, supporting basis, storage, sensitivity, hold status, and review dates in one place.
The Excel tab itself uses the shorter name Records Inventory & Plan because of Excel’s worksheet-name limit.
Track audits, claims, disputes, investigations, litigation, legal holds, and disposal reviews alongside the affected record, matter status, reviewer, proposed review timing, decision status, evidence, and next review date. This is where “old enough to review” stays separate from “approved to destroy.”
Track questions for an attorney, accountant, tax adviser, human-resources adviser, insurer, lender, regulator, or another qualified specialist. Then record the follow-up action, owner, due date, evidence, status, and next review date so the answer does not disappear into an email thread.
Record who owns the review, the review date, the next planned review, primary and backup storage, current disposal method, professional contacts, active matters, legal holds, and any industry or company-policy notes.
The instructions walk through the review process, explain the difference between retention and backup, show how holds and open matters affect disposal review, provide worked examples, and define where professional judgment is still required.
All names, amounts, dates, businesses, and scenarios shown in the previews are illustrative.
Start with the records you already have
The goal is not to make it easier to delete records. It is to make it harder to delete the wrong ones.
Review the starter categories.
Mark which record types apply and add anything important that is unique to the business.
Record what you currently do.
Document where the records are stored, who owns them, how long you currently keep them, and what event starts the retention period.
Identify what still needs verification.
Record the supporting basis, source, hold checks, open matters, storage questions, and anything that still needs a qualified professional’s answer.
Review before anything is destroyed.
Use the legal-hold and disposal-review section, resolve unanswered questions, and document the decision and follow-up.
Once the first inventory is built, you have something concrete to review instead of another pile of files and unanswered questions.
Planner details
Related Business Guide
The Owner Advisor guide What Business Records Should I Keep, and How Long Should I Keep Them? explains the main questions that can affect retention, including federal tax and payroll baselines, common business practices, legal holds, contracts, insurance, continuing business value, and when routine destruction should stop. Use the guide when you want to understand what can affect a retention period. Then use the planner to document how those questions apply to the records your business actually has.
No. Retention requirements can vary by jurisdiction, record type, industry, contract, insurance requirement, audit, claim, dispute, legal hold, and other circumstances. The planner helps you record a retention period and its supporting basis. It does not establish that the period is legally correct.
Yes. It starts with 22 common categories and provides room for up to 40 total record rows so you can add records specific to your business.
For some records, yes. When the necessary retention information and triggering date are entered, the basis has been verified, and the required hold checks are clear, the workbook can calculate a proposed disposal-review date. That date is not destruction approval.
The planner is designed to surface those matters before disposal. A legal hold or open matter can stop normal disposal timing and keep the affected records under review until the matter is properly resolved.
Yes. You can record paper, digital, or mixed formats; primary storage; backups; backup locations; access review; storage protection; sensitivity; and disposal method.
No. Record metadata, short descriptions, and document-location references. Do not put confidential source records, credentials, banking information, medical information, employee files, customer files, or legal communications into the planner.
No. It means the workbook has been organized for the next professional review. It is not a compliance certification and does not establish that every retention or disposal decision is correct.
The planner gives you a place to track questions for your attorney, accountant, tax adviser, human-resources adviser, insurer, lender, regulator, or another qualified specialist. Start by recording the unanswered question and the professional best suited to help resolve it.
Organizes retention, hold, and disposal questions for professional review; does not establish legal obligations, release holds, or authorize destruction.
Know what records the business is keeping.
Know where they are stored.
Know what retention basis you are relying on.
Know what still needs review before anything is destroyed.
Enter your email and we'll send you the planner. Anything you download is yours to keep.
Use it to organize the questions before a retention or disposal decision is made.
