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Question

cut off vs retention schedule

asked on September 30, 2020

I was hoping for more information of the difference between cut-off schedules and retention schedules. I know their connected, but I don't understand how they're different and the function of each. 

I think I understand retention schedules for how long to keep documents and what happens to them, but I'm still uncertain about cut-off schedules

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replied on September 30, 2020 Show version history

In the life cycle of a record, you usually have 3 stages: 

  • An active record - from creation date until it is a final, actual "record";
  • Cut-off on the time line is usually when it becomes an actual record - This is usually when the retention period starts (well, when it becomes eligible for retention, anyways);
  • Disposition - which is the end of the required retention period.

 

The thing is, the cut-off date is not always obvious.  For some records it will be easy, such as when an agreement is signed it becomes an official record of that agreement.  Or, the final draft before an advertisement is sent out and published.

Even with the above, not every organization is going to choose the same cut-off dates.  In my organization we like to keep it simple.  All records produced or received in any given year is given a cut-off date of December 31st of that year.  There are always exceptions though and ours are usually Event based.  Lets say our Economic Development team is working on a project that spans 2-3 years before the Event actually takes place and documents become actual records.  In those cases, I have triggers on the folders that need to be switched to "Inactive" which then allows our workflows to include the records in those folders to be set up to start their retentions in the Record Series folders.

Hope this helps!

 

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