This standard has four principles which should be taken into account to create and
maintain full and accurate records. Each principle is followed by a statement of its
objective and a set of minimum requirements together with explanations as to why
these requirements are considered essential.

The principles are:

Principle 1: Recordkeeping Must be Planned and Implemented

Recordkeeping policies and procedures (compliant with legal, regulatory and
administrative requirements) must be implemented and must clearly assign
recordkeeping responsibilities and appropriate resources and training.

Principle 2: Full and Accurate Records of Business Activity Must be Made

Full and accurate records must be made of all business activity for the whole
organisation; records should be identified and created to document and facilitate
the transaction of business.

Principle 3: Records Must Provide Authoritative and Reliable Evidence
of Business Activity

Organisations must be able to demonstrate that records captured are authentic,
reliable, complete, comprehensive, useable, tamperproof and have integrity.

Principle 4: Records Must be Managed Systematically

Records must be managed systematically across both recordkeeping systems and
business systems within an organisational recordkeeping framework.

These high level principles are supported and achieved through meeting the
requirements outlined in the ‘Requirement’ column. The requirements are the
mandatory part of the standard. The requirements are focused on outcomes and the standard is not prescriptive about how these outcomes are achieved. This framework is concerned with identifying outcomes rather than with prescribing specific recordkeeping practices.

To help clarify the intent of each requirement, there are corresponding explanations in the next column. The ‘Explanation’ column does not add any additional obligations. Terms such as ‘should’ and ‘will’ are used purely in an explanatory sense.