With the deadline of January 1, 2017, the transitional period for the entry into force of the GoBD („Principles for the proper management and storage of books, records and documents in electronic form as well as for data access (GoBD)„) . It replaces the rules from GoBS and GDPdU, which have been binding for several years. With the GoBD being fully effective from January 1, 2017, the archiving of emails in companies is finally mandatory.

The time to implement the GoBD is getting tight.

The progressive and increasingly growing digitalization of business processes has prompted the legislator to define more professional standards for the creation of and handling of electronic documents and records. These new regulations for companies are defined in the GoBD. Received and sent digital records such as offers, order confirmations, invoices, etc. are particularly in focus here, especially when they were communicated via email.

The duty to archive digital documents, especially emails, has been a legal requirement not just since the GoBD came into effect. The commitment to electronic email archiving was already anchored in the GDPdU. Compliance has not been consistently checked by the financial administration so far. Companies that already use secure email archiving are on the safe side. Companies that have not yet securely archived their tax- and commercial-law relevant emails must now take action. On 31.12.2016, all transitional periods expire. Companies must then meet the GoBD requirements. Non-compliance can result in unnecessary costs and enforcement measures.

What to do now.

We hereby point out again that, in the course of legally compliant email archiving, de facto only tax and commercial law relevant emails need to be archived. However, since it is practically impossible and nonsensical to expect every employee to classify and archive their emails accordingly, the approach of fully automatic or system-driven email archiving is recommended. Here, all emails from the users' mailboxes are archived without any manual intervention. The user has no work due to the archiving process. They continue to work with their email client as they would without email archiving. With Benno MailArchiv, the archiving of emails is done automatically and without any manual intervention

From the user's point of view, the use of mail archiving changes nothing. Each user continues to work as before. In parallel, the users' emails are automatically archived in a revision-proof and legally compliant manner. Additional benefits are created for employees, as all emails are available for full-text search.

It is particularly important to understand that it is absolutely not sufficient to store emails in the mailbox! In no way do these meet the legal requirements! Mail archiving is an essential part of fulfilling the legal retention obligations regarding the company's accounting documents!

Further details that arise from the GoBD for the company's everyday life can be found in the document “GoBD – Guide for corporate practice“ (http://gobd.de/). We advise you to coordinate specific requirements for your company with a tax consultant or auditor of your choice.

Robust and secure solution.

With Benno MailArchiv, an internationally known and mature software solution has been available since 2008, which covers all legal requirements. Benno MailArchiv is characterized by its intuitively operated WebApp, which allows users to find any mail in seconds. A sophisticated rights management ensures that users only have access to the emails they are actually supposed to have access to. Access rights can also be managed independently of user-assigned mailboxes.

The openness and flexibility of Benno MailArchiv allows to combine the mail archiving software in an easy way with almost any mail and groupware system. All incoming and outgoing emails are automatically archived in a revision-safe manner and in accordance with the legal requirements.

Important and indispensable: Process Documentation

No matter which solution is used for mail archiving: Even the best mail archiving solution alone is not sufficient as a purely technical product to meet all the legal requirements of the legislator. In addition to the technology used (i.e. Benno MailArchiv), it is also important to integrate the technical solution into the mail flow and the overall organizational system of the company and to document it.

The industry association BITKOM has formulated in its publication "E-Mails and GoBD – 10 Memoranda for Corporate Practice“ (Download here

„The procedure for receiving and sending E-Mails that are subject to retention or are tax-relevant must be described in a procedural documentation. The procedural documentation must, in particular, describe how the organizational criteria defined in the GoBD have been implemented. The procedural documentation must be formulated in a way that is understandable to a third party
knowledgeable person and be verifiable within a reasonable time. The procedural documentation must be updated (versioning) and stored for the statutory
retention period.“
The creation of the procedural documentation is a natural part of the discussions regarding the introduction of E-Mail archiving with our customers.

Conclusion

By January 1, 2017, practically no company will be able to avoid email archiving. See email archiving in your company as an opportunity, because it actually offers many benefits for all users. You even have a choice: With Benno MailArchiv, you can implement archiving in your own premises. Or use the option to obtain Benno MailArchiv as simple as electricity from the socket as a cloud solution via our hosting partners.

Deal with the archiving of your e-mails, before measures and sanctions are threatened by the authorities. Test Benno MailArchiv non-binding and free of charge for 60 days and make yourself an idea of the advantages that the lightning-fast and extremely accurate search of Benno MailArchiv represents for your company. Our partners and we as the manufacturer are available for consultations and further measures at your disposal.

Use the dwindling time until 1.1.2017.