You have a bunch of options, the most logical and useful would be the use of a CRM and either associating the documents to the individual clients or cutting and pasting them into notes. This way, should you have repeat business, you have a complete record of past business. Because CRMs can be set up to use passwords to access to the database, you can maintain some form of confidentiality there. If having them around just bothers you, you can Zip up the ones you wish to get rid of and keep them in an archived form for later retrieval. This makes them less accessible and keeps them in a non-searchable form, but you have them for later use, should you need them. A Zip or archival file can be password protected, should you feel the need to maintain confidentiality. Finally, if confidentiality is of paramount importance, you can choose to encrypt either individual files or your entire hard drive through the use of encryption utilities available on the market. I'm a fan of keeping things around because if and when you wind up with a similar situation, part of the new solution may already be available to you, thereby cutting out some of the steps and saving time. This either nets you a larger return or savings for your clients. Hope this helps, Frank From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net [mailto:hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net] On Behalf Of DAVID F. FARKAS Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 2:11 PM To: hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net Subject: [Hidden-tech] To keep records or not to keep records... ... that is the question. I have a rather unusual consulting business. I take intake notes. I take notes on the work I do. Then write a report that is emailed to the client. Filing is not my forte and I do not have staff, so there is a pile of Jurassicly filed notes (oldest sediment is more or less on the bottom... except for that pesky ice age that churned things us...) What I'd like is input on is whether there is any need to keep the detailed notes at all. Perhaps just capturing the client info in a CRM database with minimal notes would suffice? That let's me have an overview and do follow up without paper that is not likely to be reviewed, assuming I actually put it all into a dB. The other concern is privacy / confidentiality. I am not legally bound by licensure to maintain confidentiality, but I do. Having notes creates the potential for violations of that privacy. The less I keep the less it's an issue. Thoughts? Experiences? Comments? Idea? Best practices that have worked for you or others? As always, thanx for being this wonderful resource and think tank. Blissings, David '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Snowmen Fall from Heaven... Unassembled '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' "Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' "Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' "I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." ~Mother Teresa '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' No trees were destroyed by sending this message. However, a significant number of electrons were sorely inconvenienced by delivering it. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.hidden-tech.net/pipermail/hidden-discuss/attachments/20081217/b03d61fe/attachment.html