In my investigation work, the first question is always the same: can you show what happened? Who signed, and when. Who had access. Where the money went. Who was responsible.
The businesses that end up in real trouble are often the ones that can’t show what happened — even when they did nothing wrong.
The answer is rarely more software. It is a few registers, kept properly.
What a register is
A register is a simple list. One line for each thing: an agreement, a document, a laptop, a person’s contract. Each line says what it is, who is responsible for it, and what has to happen next — and when.
A spreadsheet is enough. What matters is that it exists, that one person owns it, and that it is kept up to date.
Why it matters
When someone leaves, the knowledge stays. Without registers, a business lives in people’s heads and inboxes. When the person goes, so does the answer to “where is that contract?”
Deadlines stop being surprises. A contract that ends, a work permit that expires, a medical check that is due, an annual report that has to be filed. A register shows them months ahead, not the week after.
You can answer in minutes, not weeks. When the tax office, an auditor, a bank, a buyer or a court asks for something, you open one file instead of searching everyone’s email.
You see money leaking. An agreement that was sent but never signed, while the work is already being done. A laptop that never came back. A subscription still paid for after the person who used it has left. None of this shows up in the accounts. It shows up in a register.
The registers I would start with
- Documents — the company’s own papers: founding documents, annual reports, policies, licences. Numbered, so anything can be found by its number.
- Agreements — every client and supplier agreement: who, what, the price, when it was sent, when it was signed, the invoices linked to it, and when it ends.
- People — contracts and amendments, confidentiality agreements, permits and their expiry dates, required check-ups, and the papers signed when someone leaves.
- Equipment — which laptop or phone is with whom, since when, and when it came back. What is in the office, and in what condition.
- Tools — every platform and subscription: what it holds, who has access, and what it costs each month.
- Payments — what came in, from whom, for what, and where the client came from.
- Retention — how long each kind of document has to be kept, when it can be safely destroyed, and which files are frozen because of a dispute.
You don’t need all of them on the first day. Start with agreements and documents — that is where most disputes begin.
How to keep them alive
A register that is not kept up to date gives a false picture. A few habits matter more than the format:
- One owner for each register.
- Fill it in when the thing happens — when the agreement is signed, when the laptop is handed over — not at the end of the month.
- The same numbering everywhere, so the agreement, the invoice and the folder point to each other.
- A short instruction for whoever fills it in. In my own companies I recorded short videos for the main registers, so a new person could keep them from the first day.
- A look at it every month, as part of your reporting.
Keep personal data to what you actually need, and decide who can see it. Registers about people are useful precisely because they are sensitive.
Made for your business
Every business needs a slightly different set. A shop needs stock and suppliers. An agency needs clients, freelancers and who has access to what. A company with staff from abroad needs permits and their expiry dates.
If you want, I can set up your registers with you — made for how your business works, in the tools you already use, with the deadlines and checks built in. If I am mapping your business, a register of your platforms is already part of the map.
Request a conversation — or first test your business potential.