An online archive is a digital collection of documents that is accessible over the internet. You find what you need without walking to a filing cabinet, and files are stored securely, searchable and available from anywhere. For invoices and bookkeeping records the business variant applies: a digital archive tied to your administration. In this article you can read how an online archive works, how to build one and what to watch out for.
Contents
How does an online archive work?
An online archive holds digitised documents in a database that you reach over the internet. You search on keyword, date, relation or amount, and you can open, print and download what you find. Most archives store metadata alongside each file, describing what the document is and where it came from, because that is what makes searching work. Storing files centrally also protects them: a document in an archive does not fade, get misfiled or disappear with a laptop.
How to build one
Start with a decision about scope: which documents go in, and which do not. Then scan what is on paper, convert digital files to one consistent format and add metadata such as date, relation and document type so the archive can be searched rather than browsed. Finally pick a system that fits the volume you actually handle, with a search function that works on the fields you care about.
For invoices and receipts there is a shortcut: if the documents are already being processed, the archiving can happen as a by-product of that processing instead of as a separate project.
What it gives you
- Documents found in seconds instead of minutes, which is where most of the time saving sits.
- Access from any location, so colleagues and your accountant look at the same file.
- No physical storage, and no cost of managing it.
- A longer usable life, because a stored file does not degrade the way paper does.
Retention and privacy rules
Two sets of rules apply, and both differ per country. Retention periods for business records are set nationally and run to several years in most of Europe, with longer terms for some categories such as property. And because invoices and personnel documents contain personal data, storing them falls under data protection law: the European data protection rules ask for appropriate security and for access limited to those who need it. Check the retention terms that apply where your company is registered, and if in doubt ask your accountant.
What to watch out for
Secure the archive against unauthorised access and set rights per user, so not everyone sees everything. Make sure backups exist and that you know who is responsible for them, which is a question worth asking any supplier before you move your records. Check that converted files are actually readable and that the metadata is right, because a document you cannot find is effectively lost. And consider what happens if you switch software: an archive that sits inside one accounting package leaves with that package.
An online archive for your invoices
For invoices and receipts TriFact365 fills in the archive as part of the processing. The moment an invoice has been processed the document is stored, searchable on relation, invoice number, entry number or amount, with the reference to the entry in your accounting package and an audit trail of who did what. Because that archive sits alongside your accounting software rather than inside it, the documents stay available if you change package. Read more about storing and retrieving documents, or about how the invoice gets there from receipt to journal entry.
Frequently asked questions
An online archive is a digital collection of documents that is accessible over the internet. Files are stored in a structured way with metadata, so they can be searched on keyword, date, relation or amount rather than browsed folder by folder.
Cloud storage keeps files; an archive also knows what they are. An archive stores metadata per document and often a history of how it was handled, which is what lets you find one specific invoice among thousands.
Scan or import the documents, have the data read from them, add metadata such as date and document type, and store them in one consistent format. For invoices and receipts the archiving can be a by-product of the processing rather than a separate project.
Retention periods are set per country and run to several years in most of Europe, with longer terms for certain categories. Check what applies where your company is registered, because the term rather than the storage method is what the rules are about.
It can be, and that depends on the supplier rather than on the concept. Look for encryption, backups, rights per user and a clear answer on where the data is stored, because invoices contain personal data that falls under data protection law.
