munich enterprise software
  • SAP Digital Platform
    • Digital communication with the MailCenter platform
      Expand your digital possibilities! Now increase the efficiency of your SAP systems with smart add-ons for digitizing and automating your processes.
    • MailCenter
      • Communication via mail
      • Send and receive email
      • Archiving
      • Receive ▶ Outlook to SAP
      • Exchange Connector
      • Stamping documents
      • SMS Short Message
    • E-Invoice | Release
      • XInvoice
      • ZUGFeRD
      • Release procedure
      • Approval Process App
      • Confirmation
    • Monitoring
      • SAP Monitoring
      • IDoc Monitoring
      • Process Monitor
      • Log Monitoring
      • KPI Monitor APP
  • Support
  • Success Stories
  • Company
    • munich enterprise software
      supports companies in digitizing their SAP processes regardless of size and industry. We transform old, manual working methods into modern, digital processes. Less work, more productivity.
      • company
      • News
      • Presse
      • Contact
      • SAP Jobs
      • Become a sales partner
  • English
    • Deutsch (German)
    • Español (Spanish)
  • Menu Menu

E-mail archiving

You are here: Home1 / SAP Blog2 / Collection of contributions to SAP Mail3 / E-mail archiving

Interesting facts about e-mail archiving

E-mail is at the heart of business communication. There is hardly a document that is not sent by e-mail. The exchange of relevant business data between customers and companies has to be legally required since 2017. The e-mail archiving required here does not only refer to the e-mails themselves, but also to all file attachments that are sent with them.


SAP Mail Archiving Storage System

Reasons for e-mail archiving

Time and again, the assumption is that the only purpose of complying with the legal obligation to archive e-mail is the legal necessity. In addition to increased efforts and the associated workload for companies, the real benefits are not always seen. In fact, however, archiving makes a lot of sense and is also of considerable benefit to the company itself. In the event of legal disputes, complete documents are available which, if necessary, may have a demonstrable character. From an entrepreneurial point of view, archived e-mails offer protection and security against the loss of customer data and at the same time provide an overview of all relevant processes that are always available.
A company’s IT department also benefits from a mail archive. Administrative processes in the background are automated according to fixed rules and do not affect the workflows of the employees.

Target group for the obligation to archive

There is often a presumption that all persons who issue invoices are also obliged to archive e-mails. This is not the case. Accounting and tax requirements require compliance with corporate guidelines. There is a legal obligation to archive all business e-mails that are sent by a company or sent to the company. The size of the company does not matter. Small businesses are as much subject to archiving as large corporations.
So-called non-merchants, such as freelancers and small business owners, do not have to archive their business e-mails. The basis for the obligation to archive can be found in the German Commercial Code (HGB), the Tax Regulations (AO) and the GoBD.

Definition E Mail Archiving Small Business

The E-mail Archiving Act 2017 is binding on companies and defines the legal deadline for retaining e-mails. The associated mandatory long-term archiving of digital business documents is part of proper accounting. The requirements for legally secure email archiving are justified in the GoBD. These shall indicate the principles that reflect the proper handling of electronic records, books and documents, as well as their access to the data.
The removal of business documents that are transferred via e-mail is required for a period of six to ten years. This e-mail archiving obligation covers all correspondence that takes place in the business sector, starting with non-binding offers, through the confirmation of orders to the final invoicing. If required, e-mail archiving Allows GoBD software to provide a convenient solution that particularly benefits small and medium-sized enterprises. The corresponding audit-proof e-mail archiving is made possible as an automated process.

Private mail at work

Archiving mails can be problematic in relation to purely private correspondence. On the one hand, the employer must maintain a mail archive that fully records the complete business e-mail correspondence. On the other hand, there is the protection of the privacy of the respective employees. As a result, saving private e-mails is not permitted, as is the deletion or reading of such e-mails.
A company essentially has two ways to deal with private mail in the work context. It may expressly and completely prohibit the use of corporate e-mail accounts for private purposes. Another option is to avoid automatic mail archiving. This means that employees must automatically transfer official e-mails from their accounts to the archive, thus separating incoming private and professional e-mails. In the regular day-to-day life of a company, the prohibition of private e-mail correspondence has been the rule since 2017. The solution with the independent separation of the mails by the employees would be associated with a high degree of uncertainty for the company.

X-invoice and e-mail archiving

Those who deal with the archiving of e-mails are usually also concerned with the legally secure handling of electronic invoices. While the classic PDF invoice is still widely used in companies, from November 2020 the legal obligation for electronic invoicing in the form of x-invoicing will be in place. In the case of PDF format, there is no legal certainty within the meaning of the underlying EU directive. The XInvoice is a standard here, which offers the option of further processing of relevant invoice data. The X-invoice enables a federally uniform form of electronic invoice, which can be sent by e-mail.
However, archiving the invoice alone is not sufficient. In order to be able to adequately map and understand business processes, the e-mail in which the invoice is sent must also be archived in its entirety.

What does audit-proof archiving mean?

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) has been in place since May 2018. It is valid throughout Europe and contains numerous requirements for data handling on a transparent basis. The E-mail Archiving GDPR provides for the obligation to provide information about personal stored data.
The legal GoBD requirements for mail archiving determine more complex solutions than, for example, archiving outlook mails via file storage on the hard drive. Even a printout of the mail in paper form does not comply with the guidelines. The key is archiving, which guarantees that the e-mails cannot be changed and are stored in their original state. One option here, for example, would be a solution in the form of a cloud archive system that allows both the management of documents and the accounting guidelines. The legislator does not define uniform requirements for the place of archiving, but it does define requirements for the way in which it is stored.

The data must therefore be
– complete,
– available at any time,
– protected from manipulation and
– be machine-evaluable.

What needs to be archived?

When archiving electronic data, the laws on the retention of tax-relevant documents and the principles of proper accounting are relevant for companies. In principle, all books and records that are important for taxation must be archived. This includes, for example, all annual financial statements, consisting of balance sheets and profit and loss accounts, received and sent commercial and business letters, management reports and accounting documents. All stored documents are subject to tax and commercial retention periods.

Retention periods for documents

The aforementioned retention periods for all archivable documents are usually ten years. On the other hand, offers with order processes, consignment notes and delivery notes as well as payslips for intermediate, final and special figures only have to be archived for six years.

Why is document security so important?

When documents and emails are at the heart of all related business processes, it is especially important to protect them from loss, theft and destruction. Many companies break the law when archiving data and documents, resulting in data loss, security leaks, and lawsuits.
Companies can avoid most of these problems – as long as they implement strict security standards, meet the legal requirements for archiving and, perhaps most importantly, ensure the security of their documents with the help of professional archiving.

Some myths at the end

Some myths persist when it takes a look at the variety of e-mail archiving policies. Enlightenment is essential here in order to avoid mistakes and to prevent long-term misunderstandings.

The e-mail server is sufficient to archive e-mail

This assumption is wrong. The server does not store permanently, does not provide any forgery security and does not protect against tampering.

A backup replaces e-mail archiving

That is not the case. A back-up is performed at specific times and contains the content that exists at the time. It is not legally secure because it does not collect content that is subsequently modified or even deleted. A back-up is just a useful addition to archiving.

Every company must encrypt its mail archive

No, it doesn’t have to. Encryption is certainly useful to protect sensitive data, but lawmakers do not require an encrypted form of e-mail storage.

Without exception, every e-mail must be archived

That would be useless and unhelpful. All mails that involve business processes and customer contacts must be archived. Spam, promotional emails and newsletters are not included. If they pass through the most common spam filter, they may be deleted without any problems.

E-mail archiving solutions must be GoBD certified

This is not necessary. There are a large number of solutions from a wide range of vendors, each of which is suitable for legally secure archiving. The legislator does not provide for any special certification for this purpose.


Do you have questions or would you like an SAP System Demo?
We would be happy to advise you in a personal conversation.

Do you need support or have questions?

Contact us. We are happy to advise you!


Products SAP Mail – MailCenter

SAP Mail


Products SAP Monitoring – HotM

SAP Monitoring


More blog posts
SAP RPA
September 29, 2022
Read more
sap banf
September 26, 2022
Read more
sap-monitoring-prozess-monitor-2
September 26, 2022
Read more
E-Mail versenden und empfangen - MailCenter digital
April 28, 2022
Read more
E-Mail-Automatisierung
February 10, 2022
Read more
January 28, 2022
Read more
html mail bilder einbetten
January 20, 2022
Read more
pdf-protect
December 8, 2021
Read more
sap-badi-enhancement-spot
November 25, 2021
Read more
sap freigabeverfahren
August 31, 2021
Read more
sap banf freigabe
August 25, 2021
Read more
SBWP SAP Business Workplace
August 20, 2021
Read more
July 28, 2021
Read more
SAPConnect SAP Mailversand konfigurieren SCOT Screenshot
July 9, 2021
Read more
SAP IDoc Status ändern BD87 ändern und verabeiten Screenshot
July 9, 2021
Read more
July 8, 2021
Read more
July 8, 2021
Read more
July 8, 2021
Read more
April 15, 2021
Read more
April 13, 2021
Read more
April 1, 2021
Read more
sap-qm-beschaffung
March 22, 2021
Read more
Geschaeftspartner
March 18, 2021
Read more
xrechnung_erechnung_b2g_pflicht
February 16, 2021
Read more
January 25, 2021
Read more
sap-bestellung-freigeben
January 20, 2021
Read more
ISO-9001
January 14, 2021
Read more
SAP Partner Zertifikat MailCenter
December 16, 2020
Read more
SAP Partner Zertifikat MailCenter
December 16, 2020
Read more
Di Geschichte der E-Mail
December 12, 2020
Read more
November 3, 2020
Read more
2020_xrechnung_erechnung
October 3, 2020
Read more
zertifizierter Access Point
October 3, 2020
Read more
xrechnung_erechnung_b2g_pflicht
October 3, 2020
Read more
SAP HANA S/4HANA
May 19, 2020
Read more
sap-gui-7.60-download-softwarecenter-downloads-min.PNG
May 19, 2020
Read more
e-mail-knigge
March 9, 2020
Read more
SAP Gateway
February 22, 2020
Read more
E-Mail Sicherheit
February 21, 2020
Read more
Papierloses Büro
February 9, 2020
Read more
SAP Firoi
February 8, 2020
Read more
Elekrtonische Rechnung
December 11, 2019
Read more
December 9, 2019
Read more
sap xrechnung
December 6, 2019
Read more
SAP Formular
November 15, 2019
Read more
sap adobe form
November 15, 2019
Read more
sap adobe form
November 14, 2019
Read more
Digitalisierung
November 7, 2019
Read more
Prozessoptimierung für SAP - SMART Prozess
October 15, 2019
Read more
Kernprozesse SAP
October 15, 2019
Read more
SAP Dispositionsverfahren
October 15, 2019
Read more
e-mail-fax-post-edi
October 15, 2019
Read more
E-Mail SIgnature
October 15, 2019
Read more
SAP SD Checkliste
October 15, 2019
Read more

RSS SAP News

  • SAP North America Closes 2022 with a Strong Fourth Quarter, Sees Impressive Growth in RISE with SAP
  • SAP Business Technology Platform Wins Three “Best Of” Awards from TrustRadius
  • Inclusive Teams, Better Products
  • The Take: Connecting the Dots Between Interest Rates, Inflation and the Real Economy
  • In 2023, SAP Will Continue to Lead the Market in Procurement Innovation
Need support or have questions?
Get in touch now

Recent Posts

  • SAP RPA
  • SAP Banf
  • Performance Monitoring in SAP Basis
  • MailCenter Extensions
  • Email Automation
  • Digitalization-DVV-ZFK-2021
  • Embed HTML-Mail images
  • Protect PDF file against change
Share this entry
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
MailCenter

Mail Products


HotM

SAP Monitoring


Share this entry
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
Site Information

Company
Blog
Privacy
Imprint
Sitemap

Your SAP Partner
munich enterprise software GmbH
Industriestraße 31
82194 Gröbenzell
Opening hours:
Mon. – Fri.: 09:00 am to 16:00 pm
+49 (0) 89 2154 689 80

Contact


SAP Partnership

@ contact
© Copyright 2005 - 2022
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
XInvoice Standardsap xrechnungElekrtonische RechnungE-invoice – electronic invoice
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, you cannot refuse them without impacting how our site functions. You can block or delete them by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visist to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Datenschutz
Accept settingsHide notification only