3 Shredding Essentials for Accounting Firms

It’s tax time and accounting firms are going to be super busy. Paper shredding protocols should be at the top of the list for securing client information and keeping things in order. To make sure document destruction guidelines are followed and help accounting firms remain in compliance, there are three shredding essentials accounting firms should employ:

  1. Scheduled Service
    Scheduled service is when there is a designated time and place for either pick-up or when the shredding company comes onto the campus to shred documents. This is a recurring schedule that takes place to alleviate any document build-up and keeps the firm’s employees alert and vigilant to make sure all sensitive documents are stored and ready for shredding on this date.


  2. Witnessed Shredding
    Shredding for accounting firms must be regulated. That means sensitive information must be carefully assessed and watched. For compliance and regulatory reasons, having a point person to work directly with the shredding firm to watch and make sure all the documents are shredded and disposed of properly is key. Witnessed shredding involves being able to sign off or get an authentication record of the documents that were disposed of. Reputable firms have no problems with this, and actually encourage the process.


  3. Document Retention Schedule
    A document retention schedule ensures all documents that need to be retained are closely monitored as part of the records management protocols. There are so many items that must be kept for a certain amount of time such as tax returns, W9s, real estate tax bills, other critical and sensitive information, and of course, income statements. The document retention schedule should be set up and tagged to make sure when the time comes for document destruction, it will be easy to navigate.

Contacting Shred America for Shredding Services

Shred America specializes in accounting firm shredding, ensuring accounting firms are always in compliance. We help protect the identity of clients by shredding documents and hard drives when needed. It is easy to just throw away paperwork, but accounting firms are held to a higher standard. There are many laws and regulations they must abide by at the federal, state, and local levels. Who wants to do business with an accounting firm that compromises their standards and client information?

It is very easy to take the lower road and avoid shredding services, but the team at Shred America makes it easy to come up with a plan that will work all throughout the year. As an experienced team that understands the legalities and complications of accounting firms, we provide a variety of solutions that help, including onsite shredding, mobile services, and schedule services.

Secure document shredding is what we do! Veteran-owned and operated, we understand the importance of confidentiality and security. We have locations in the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, and Washington D.C. to keep your documents safely shredded. We help protect accounting firms from identity theft.

For more information on how we can help schedule your shredding services, contact an associate at Shred America today!