Create a file plan to manage records in SharePoint Server

APPLIES TO: 2013 2016 2019 Subscription Edition SharePoint in Microsoft 365

The file plan is the primary records management planning document in SharePoint Server. Although file plans can differ across organizations, they typically:

• Describe the kinds of items the organization acknowledges to be records.

• Describe what broader category of records the items belong to.

• Indicate where records are stored.

• Describe retention periods for records.

• Delineate who is responsible for managing the various kinds of records.

This article describes the contents of a file plan and summarizes how to create a file plan for your organization. The article also directs you to a worksheet in which you can record the file plan.

Identify kinds of records

Determining which active documents in your organization might be declarable as records requires the collaboration of records managers, lawyers, compliance officers, and content managers. Note that, even if your enterprise is not in a highly regulated industry, there are general laws that might obligate your enterprise to keep records. Along with general business laws, you must evaluate legal requirements that are specific to your enterprise.

It is beyond the scope of this article to provide more than general information about how to determine what is a record in your organization. Most likely, your enterprise is already doing some form of records management and has filled most of the records management roles that you need, and you might already have a taxonomy of records.

Generally, to determine what are records in your organization:

1. Understand your enterprise's legal obligations and business needs.

2. In a collaborative effort across the divisions of your organization, analyze how active documents are used.

3. Develop a list of the kinds of documents that should become records. For example, you might determine that the following should be retained as records:

• Contracts to rent corporate space.

• Documents related to employees' benefits.

• Documents related to product research and development.

4. Categorize the records. Records in the same category often have the same retention periods and might require similar treatment in other ways.

Record the information that you collected. Record the kind of record, the category that records of this kind belong to, and a brief description of the kind of record.

The following is a sample worksheet:

Kind of record	Record category	Description
Benefit plans, insurance plans, pension plans	Employee Benefit Descriptions	Descriptions of all employee benefit plans.
Payroll timesheets, supplementary payroll information	Payroll Records	Summaries of hours worked, overtime, and salary paid.
Vendor invoices	Invoices	Records of goods or services purchased from vendors.
Product surveys, questionnaires, training manuals, training videos	Training Materials	Provides internal or external training.
Shipping forms, shipping reports	Shipping Records	Documents the shipment of materials.
Press releases, newspaper articles	Press Releases	Public relations information about products and services.
Emergency contact sheets, medical plan enrollment forms, resumes, benefits status reports	Personnel Records	Records of individuals' employment histories and related personnel actions.

Complete the file plan

After you determine which documents should be retained as records and after you create a set of record categories, complete your file plan by providing additional information about each kind of record. Indicate the following:

• How long each kind of record should be retained.

• How records should be disposed of when the retention period expires.

• Who is the primary records manager for records of this kind.

• What kind of media are records of this kind stored in.

The following is a completed sample file plan:

Records	Description	Media	Record category	Retention	Disposition	Contact
401k plans	Description of employee benefit plan.	Web pages	Employee Benefit Plans	X years	None	Kathi Flood
Insurance plans	Description of employee insurance plan.	Print	Employee Benefit Plans	X years	None	Reshma Patel
Pension plans	Description of employee pension plan.	Print	Employee Benefit Plans	X years	None	Reshma Patel
Payroll timesheets	Summaries of hours worked, overtime, and salaries paid.	Electronic documents	Payroll Records	X years	Destroy	Reshma Patel
Supplementary payroll information	Summaries of sick time, vacation time, and other non-salary payroll items.	Electronic documents	Payroll Records	X years	Destroy	Reshma Patel
Vendor invoices	Records of goods or services purchased from vendors.	Print	Invoices	X years	Destroy	Eric Lang
Product surveys	Customer satisfaction survey.	Web pages	Survey Materials	X years	Archive	Molly Dempsey
Questionnaires	Questionnaire to determine customer demographics.	Print	Survey Materials	X years	Archive	Molly Dempsey
Training manuals	Hard-copy training content.	Print	Training Materials	X years	Destroy	Molly Dempsey
Training videos	Video training content.	Video	Training Materials	X years	Destroy	Molly Dempsey
Shipping forms	Configuration of materials shipments	Print	Shipping Materials	X years	Destroy	Eric Lang
Shipping reports	Documentation of the shipment of materials.	Electronic spreadsheets	Shipping Materials	X years	Destroy	Eric Lang
Press releases	Releases about products and services.	Electronic documents	Public Relations Information	X years	Archive	Molly Dempsey
Newspaper articles	News about products and services.	Print	Public Relations Information	X years	Archive	Molly Dempsey
Emergency contact sheets	Employee information.	Electronic documents	Personnel Records	X years	Destroy	Reshma Patel
Medical plan enrollment forms	Employees' sign-up forms for health plans.	Electronic documents	Personnel Records	X years	Destroy	Reshma Patel
Resumes	Resumes received.	Mixed	Personnel Records	X years	Destroy	Reshma Patel

Note

The example earlier in this section is a sample. It is not a recommendation of any particular file plan settings. To reinforce that this is an example and not a recommendation of any records management policy, no retention periods are supplied.