AI developers are licensing internal records from established companies to train their models. Process manuals, help desk history, CRM notes, project archives, QA logs and team chat all qualify. It is a license, so you keep your data and keep using it. Interested in selling? See if your business fits the program in under a minute.
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Know how long to keep every type of business record, and what to do with it after.
How long do you need to keep old invoices? Job applications? Slack messages? Most small and mid sized companies either keep everything forever or delete things at random, and both carry risk. This generator builds a retention schedule for a US business in a few clicks. Add your company name and policy owner, then tick the record types you hold, from tax files and payroll to CRM contacts, SOPs, project files, security logs and HIPAA records. The schedule lists how long to keep each record, the federal rule or common practice behind that period and how to dispose of it. Copy it as text for your policy document or download a CSV to adjust in a spreadsheet. It is a strong first draft for your attorney or compliance advisor to review.
| Area | Record type | Keep for | Basis | Disposal |
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If a lawsuit, audit or investigation is expected or underway, every related record must be preserved, even if its retention period has passed. Your policy should state this clearly and name who can issue a hold.
Email, chat, cloud drives and CRM systems all hold business records. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Slack let you set retention rules centrally. Match those settings to your schedule.
Expired does not always mean useless. SOPs, project histories and anonymized support records keep their value for training, internal AI tools and even licensing to AI companies, so archive them securely rather than deleting them.
It varies by record. A common US baseline is 7 years for tax and financial records, 3 to 4 years for payroll, 1 year for job applications, and permanent retention for corporate documents such as articles, bylaws and board minutes.
Federal EEOC rules require at least 1 year after a personnel action, and Form I-9 must be kept 3 years after hire or 1 year after termination, whichever is later. Many companies keep personnel files for 7 years to cover claims.
There is no single federal rule for general email. Many companies keep routine email for 3 years and keep email tied to contracts, disputes or regulated activity for as long as those records require.
It is how a record is destroyed once its retention period ends: cross cut shredding for paper, secure deletion for digital files and certified destruction for old drives. Some records with ongoing value are archived instead.
No. It reflects common US federal minimums and widely used business practice. State laws, industry regulations and contracts can require longer periods, so have a qualified advisor review it before you adopt it.