How Much Statement History Do You Need?

How long should you keep statements like bill payments and other transactions? The answer, of course, is, it depends. But it might be longer than you think. You might need to keep even a routine and seemingly innocent water bill for several years in some cases.

Which raises the question of how to keep those records so they’re easily accessible and searchable. You can keep paper files, but that can be a time-consuming and cumbersome task, and paper can be misplaced or damaged in all kinds of ways. Sometimes your financial institution keeps tracks of your payments, but not your actual bills, and only for relatively short times.

An online solution with easy accessibility to all your transactions is likely your best bet.

Why You Need to Keep Financial Records.

The primary and most important reason to keep track of your bills or other records and their payment is for tax purposes. Depending on what you claim in your taxes, and especially if you have self-employment income, you can be required to keep accurate records for up to seven years.

In the event you get audited by a state or federal tax agency, which can come a few years after filing tax returns, being able to provide supporting documents will be crucial. Unless you keep documents yourself, you might find your financial institution no longer has the records you need, or they might not be easily accessible.

Sadly, major life events such as divorce might also require full disclosure of detailed financial information going back several years. Access to those figures can impact financial arrangements going forward. Other types of litigation might need the same detailed financial disclosure.

If you hold a position of fiduciary trust, where you’re entrusted with someone’s financial care, you want to maintain complete records for quite a long time.

In any of these circumstances, if you haven’t kept meticulous records on your own, you may have to go in person to your financial institution—or perhaps more than one of them—to get the information. Depending on the institution and their record keeping, you could wait weeks for the information and potentially pay a fee.

The Better Way

You can reduce all these challenges with an online solution that stores documents for several years. Your information should be easily accessible, with all your records in one place. The hosting platform should be secure, well organized by date and company, protect documents from any potential damage like fire, water, or accidental disposal, and do away with paper clutter.

Cubby Paperless does just that. It functions like a free online filing cabinet that holds statements and bills from many service providers in one central location. It makes looking for records easy and convenient. You don’t have to invest hours checking in with banks, other institutions, or their websites, all of which require their own passwords and usernames. Cubby paperless stores and organizes all your documents in one place.

Cubby keeps documents for years and they are accessible with one login.

Besides its unmatched storing ability, Cubby makes it easy to keep track of your bills as they arrive. You’ll never misplace any of them or wonder if you received your phone bill. The platform does it all for you, without requiring you to share the login information to any biller websites. And best of all, it’s free.

No one likes to handle, organize, and store stacks of paper bills and documents. Like other digital services that make life easier, moving your records online is a brilliant solution.