Are spreadsheets and database entries considered records I need to retain?

Yes, often they are. Whether something is a record does not depend on its format. It depends on whether the information documents an organization’s business, decisions, transactions, or obligations. A spreadsheet that tracks budgets, or a database that stores customer transactions, can be just as much a record as a signed paper memo.

What Makes It a Record

A record is information created or received in the course of activity that has evidential or informational value worth keeping. Under this principle-based view, the question is not “Is it a spreadsheet?” but “Does this content document what the organization did or decided?”

Ask:

• Does it provide evidence of a transaction, decision, or obligation?
• Would you need it to answer an audit, legal, or regulatory request?
• Does a retention schedule already cover this type of information?

If the answer is yes, the spreadsheet or database entry is a record and falls under your retention rules, regardless of where it lives.

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are frequently overlooked because people treat them as working tools. But a finalized budget workbook, a tracking log used to manage a program, or an analysis that supports a decision can all be records. Drafts and scratch calculations that are superseded may not be, so judgment and your retention schedule matter.

Databases and Systems

Databases raise a harder question because the “record” may not be a single file. It might be a specific entry, a defined report, or a dataset extracted at a point in time. The data, its structure, and the context needed to understand it (such as field definitions) may all be relevant to keeping the record usable and trustworthy over time.

How to Decide What to Keep

1. Identify the business activity the information supports.
2. Match it to an existing retention schedule, or escalate if none applies.
3. Capture it in a managed system so it stays authentic, complete, and accessible for its full retention period.
4. Dispose of it only when the schedule allows, not because storage is tight.

The format is incidental. The function is what determines retention. For more guidance, see the electronic records topic hub.