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Retention periods

Viewing and changing the retention period of a document.

Every archived document has a deletion lock: a period during which nobody can delete it. The lock results from the document type the document was filed as. A billing document, for example, is locked for ten years from the end of the year in which the invoice was issued. This way you meet statutory retention obligations, and PDFMAILER.FLOW Archive keeps track of the periods for you.

The period is recorded on the document when it is archived. If an administrator later changes the period of a document type, this applies only to documents filed afterwards. A document already archived keeps its period.

View the retention period of a document

Look up how long a document is retained, for example when you want to delete it or are asked about it during an audit.

  1. Open the document.
  2. Look next to the name at the top: the lock shows the date until which the document is locked.
  3. For the details, open the Data tab, for invoices the Info tab, and look in the Retention section.

In the Retention section you see which document type the document is archived as, how long the lock applies, from when it is counted and whether the document is deleted automatically once it has expired.

Change the document type of a document

If a document was archived as the wrong type, such as a contract as “Other”, correct the type. This also changes its retention period. You need administrator rights for this.

  1. Open the document.
  2. In the Retention section, click the name of the document type.
  3. Under Change to, choose the correct type.
  4. Enter a reason, for example “Wrongly classified when archiving”.
  5. Click Change type.

The document then counts as the new type and is retained for as long as that type specifies. The reason is recorded in the document's history, so that it can be traced later why the period changed.

Shorten a retention period

If the document would be retained for a shorter time with the new type than before, PDFMAILER.FLOW Archive does not allow the change by default. This way every document stays protected until its statutory period has expired. If a period has to be shortened nevertheless, for example because a document was wrongly archived as an invoice, proceed as follows:

  1. Have an administrator allow shortening in the organization's settings under Shortening retention.
  2. Change the document type as described above.

The other administrators are notified of the change. If the document is no longer locked with the shorter period, it can be deleted right away.