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Documentary custody in your company: what it is and how to do it
Discover what corporate document custody is, how it is used, and why it needs to be considered in each department.
Marcos Lopez
HR Consultant
11 of April, 2025
Have you ever stopped to consider how many documents your business generates? Invoices, contracts, payrolls, meeting minutes, grant and aid requests, banking documents. Document custody plays a key role in managing it all.
When we take the first steps, document custody will be relatively simple. But as the business grows, the volume of documents multiplies exponentially.
That’s why having a good document manager will save us a lot of headaches.
What is document custody?
This refers to the process by which the documents generated or received by the company are stored and organized.
This includes both physical and digital documents. And it refers to documents of any type:
- administrative,
- financial,
- accounting,
- human resources…
Business document management includes data custody. It also covers sensitive information such as personal data appearing on invoices, not forgetting confidential information such as patents.
One of the key elements in document custody is the archive. On the one hand, it is the set of documents stored by the company. On the other hand, it is the place where all these documents are stored. In case we need to consult them, we will go to this archive in their search.
Company’s document management system
A document management system is the mechanism by which we safeguard documents. It can be physical, but technological advances allow us an electronic management of documents. In this process, data and document digitization is essential.
The great advantage of digitizing a company’s document management is the organization and indexing. If the program is easy to use, you can quickly access the documentation. Thus, hours of fruitless searches in the organization’s archives are avoided.
Finally, let’s talk about the file manager. This can refer to the person in charge of document management in the company. But also to the program that we use for this purpose. Needless to say, it is a key figure in document custody and its management.
How to manage document custody?
No matter the size of the company, you will generate a series of documents that you should store. Some of them will include data protection in companies, so we will be especially cautious.
We will save the documents safely and orderly. With these guidelines for managing the physical file, it will be easier:
- Use classifiers, folders or similar binders to group and order documentation. And identify them with labels to distinguish each type of document.
- Standardize document custody. Always use the same method. It must be explained to the workers.
- Store documents by importance or current events. So, it will be easier to locate those you consult more frequently.
- Group the documentation that remains to the same project. Also those of the same class (payrolls, contracts, invoices…).
- The documents, always in the archive. We cannot leave them stacked on the desktop or in inappropriate places for this purpose.
- Review and periodically destroy those documents that you no longer need.
These guidelines can also be applied if you opt to digitize document custody. For example, we can group folders by projects or document type.
There’s also the option to always use the same nomenclature. This way, it will be easier for us to identify and locate the document.
For greater security, we can create passwords. In this way, only those people with access to confidential documents can consult them.
We should not leave digital documents on the computer desktop either. They must be stored correctly. To save space, we can always compress folders. And don’t forget to back up regularly.
Advantages of document custody
The document custody in a company provides a series of advantages that contribute to improving operational efficiency and ensuring the security of information. Among the most notable advantages include:
- Quick and easy access to information: document custody allows for more efficient organization of documents, facilitating their storage, search and recovery.
- Reduced risk of loss or misplacement: it minimizes the risk of document loss, helping to maintain the integrity of the company’s information.
- Greater security: it helps protect the sensitive and confidential information of the business, ensuring its safety and confidentiality.
- Regulatory compliance: it facilitates the compliance with applicable regulations on data storage and protection, minimizing the risk of penalties.
- Space and cost savings: it allows saving space and reducing costs associated with storing and managing paper documents.
- Facilitates team management: it facilitates collaboration between teams and departments by allowing shared and secure access to relevant information.
In short, the document custody provides a series of benefits that go beyond simply storing documents. Contributing to improving the efficiency, security and regulatory compliance of the company.
Custody and data management
As we have seen, the relationship between document custody and data protection in companies is very close. One could say that one depends on the other and vice versa.
Therefore, we will make sure to choose a document custody method that allows protecting the confidentiality of data and information.
It doesn’t matter if we have a physical archive, a digital one or combine both. We will have to apply the pertinent security measures so that sensitive information does not end up in the wrong hands.
In this sense, the Organic Law on Data Protection establishes three levels of security:
- High level security. Documents related to religion, health, race, beliefs, sexual orientation or ideology. Also data on gender violence or collected without consent for police purposes.
- Medium level security. Documents about administrative or criminal infractions. Related to solvency and credit, tax administrations or financial services.
- Low level security. All files or personal documents that do not fit in the other two levels of security.
Document management and custody software
One of the best supports for a company’s document management is a document management software. This is the case of Sesame HR, which combines HR management with the documents of the company. After all, these are two aspects that usually go hand in hand.
Having a tool like this allows us to centralize document custody. In one space we have all the key documents about our staff.
They are correctly classified, so locating them will be easier. They are 100% accessible to the company and the worker.
In fact, the employee can attach medical certificates, sick leave reports, expense notes and tickets… Thus, Human Resources don’t have to be aware of these issues.
Labor documents, certificates of professionalism, etc. are also stored. Even payrolls, for the worker to download them.
All this, in a 100% secure environment. All the documentation is encrypted, and HR can decide who accesses it and who does not. This way, we ensure a document management system that is safe and accessible for all.
If you want to know more about document custody, we invite you to discover related contents that you’ll find on the Sesame HR blog. We’re your trusted HR software!
Need help?
I'm Marcos López, HR consultant at Sesame HR. Book a meeting with my team to help you.