Characteristics of Essentials of Good Filing System: Each and every filing system confers some merits and demerits too, but for being an ideal filing system it must have the following essentials incorporated in it:
1. Simplicity: Filing system should be so simple as requiring’ no special training to handle. Where the filing system is technical and very much complicated, it is bound to create a lot of problems of inefficiency in work.
2. Safety: The main purpose of filing is to preserve the documents so that they may be used for future reference. That sort of filing must be adopted as is helpful in the preservation of documents from rats, insects, moisture etc.
3. Less Time Consuming: In business dealing, a lot of papers are taken out and replaced every day. All the letters and documents should be so field and in such a manner that no time is wasted in locating any letter.
4. Less Space Requiring: Already the business houses suffer accommodation problem. Only that filing system is successful which requires as little space as that is possible.
5. Economical: All the business houses cannot afford the filing system which is expensive. A good filing system should be of the kind which requires as little money as possible in its maintenance.
6. Easily Approachable: Files should be kept at such a place and in such a manner that anyone, authorised and willing to extract any document can reach the place conveniently.
7. Secrecy: The filing system should not be such as falling within the reach of anyone, though undesirable. If that is so, it would become very difficult to maintain secrecy. Where secrecy is disclosed, that may prove dangerous for any business house.
8. Elasticity: With the passage of time, the volume of business may grow. When the business is advanced, a number of letters and documents which are incoming and outgoing also increases. Hence, the filing system which is adopted should be capable of being varied or extended in future
