What Should Bradenton Business Owners Shred, and What Can They Simply Throw Away?

When it comes to the disposal of documents, it is essential to know what you can throw away and what must be shredded. 

The general rule is to shred any document with your identity or personal information somewhere in some form. However, certain documents should be stored forever or stored for a period of time, so you shouldn’t go ahead and shred all identity-related documents. 

Documents You Should Shred 

When it’s time to dispose of an important document, it can be tricky to decide whether to throw it away or to have it shredded. 

Employee Documents to Shred

Documents that belong to employees and include any of the following details must be shredded:

• Their name 
• Personal address 
• Any part of their social security number
• Any passwords 
• Signatures

The idea is to shred documents that contain any personal identity information. This personal information is the type of data that thieves look to steal. This is because they can use this information to misappropriate the individual’s identity. 

Protecting the personal information of your employees is essential for any Bradenton business owner. In fact, it may even be your legal obligation. 

Other Business Documents to Shred

If you step back even further and take a look at your business as a whole, you will see a long list of documents to shred. 

The following documents should be shredded: 

• Transaction records 
• HR records 
• Financial statements 
• Profit and loss statements 
• Tax records 
• Payroll records 
• Inventory and price-lists
• Contracts 
• Insurance policies 
• Budget documents 
• Customer lists 
• Supplier information 
• Internal reports 

All of these documents contain sensitive information that can be used to compromise your business’s security. 

After keeping these documents for the required amount of time, your best and safest course of action is to shred them. If you fail to dispose of these documents securely, you may leave your business open to data breaches and other security issues. 

Documents You Can Safely Throw Away

Generally, if a document does not contain any personal or sensitive information, it can be tossed. 

Documents you can safely toss in the trash include:

• Canceled checks 
• Paystubs reconciled with W-2 forms
• Expired warranties

Essentially, any documents that are not included in the must-shred lists we made above can be thrown out. 

Securely Shred Your Documents with ShredQuick

When it’s time to shred sensitive documents in Bradenton, you should call ShredQuick. Contact us today for a consultation for secure and worry-free document shredding services!