---
title: "Building a digital document archive: How to proceed"
description: "A digital document archive collects all your paperwork in one searchable place. How to build it – without folder chaos and without a major project."
type: "wissen"
product: "documents"
slug: "digital-document-archive"
source_language: "de"
target_languages: ["de", "en", "es", "pl", "tr"]
published: "2026-06-10"
status: "publish"
faq_json: [{"q":"What is a digital document archive?","a":"A central, searchable place for all company documents – invoices, contracts, receipts, mail. Documents are captured digitally, automatically indexed and stored in an orderly way."}, {"q":"Which is better: folder structure or search?","a":"Modern archives rely on indexing instead of folder depth: the system reads and classifies documents, and you find them by content, type, date or amount – not by memorized paths."}, {"q":"How do paper documents get into the digital archive?","a":"Via scanner: many devices send scans directly into the archive via WebDAV. Alternatively, upload in the browser or transfer via SFTP works."}, {"q":"Is a digital archive legally compliant?","a":"It can be, if tax-relevant receipts are archived unalterably for the statutory retention periods – for example in a GoBD archive with Object Lock."}, {"q":"How is it best to start?","a":"With the ongoing inflow: first connect the email mailbox and scanner, then gradually pull in the old stock via bulk upload."}]
language: "en"
source_id: "wissen/digitale-dokumentenablage"
source_hash: "a1fa5969b77e23f1e9d16845c11410631ac4488464235fd9f3470a0096e8e086"
---

A digital document archive is a central, searchable place for all your company's paperwork: invoices, contracts, receipts, mail. The key difference from a file server: documents are automatically read, classified and made searchable as they arrive – you find them by their content, not by memorized folder paths.

## Why folder structures fail

The classic digital archive is a folder tree: year, category, supplier, subfolder. This works exactly as long as a single person sorts things consistently. In practice, duplicates emerge ("Invoices_old", "Invoices_NEW"), everyone sorts differently, and in the end things are found by clicking through. On top of that: a folder knows nothing about its contents. No file system will tell you whether the invoice you're looking for, the one for €1,250 from the stonemason, sits in the "2024" folder or the "Suppliers" folder.

Modern archives reverse the principle: **indexing instead of sorting.** The system reads every document, recognizes type, date and amounts – and the structure emerges from the content, not from discipline.

## The four building blocks of a good archive

1. **Entry channels:** Every source needs a direct path into the system – browser upload, scanner (via WebDAV), SFTP/FTPS for batches, email import for mailboxes.
2. **Automatic processing:** Reading, classifying, making searchable – without manual tagging.
3. **Search and filters:** Finding via content, document type, time period and amount. How strongly this works in everyday use is shown in the article [Finding documents by their content](/en/wissen/volltextsuche-dokumente.html).
4. **Archive with retention:** Completed items move into long-term retention – for tax-relevant receipts, unalterable for the legal period.

In [webRichtung documents](https://www.webrichtung.de/module/documents/), these building blocks form one continuous workflow: no matter which way a document arrives, it goes through the same processing and ends up findable in the archive – optionally in the GoBD archive with Object Lock for 6, 8 or 10 years.

## Workspace and archive: think in two zones

A proven approach is to split into two zones: the **workspace** holds what you're actively working with – the open invoice, the contract under review. What's completed moves into the **archive** and remains searchable there. This keeps the active stock manageable – and completed items findable.

## How to build your archive

- **Week 1:** Connect the invoice mailbox – email attachments now flow in automatically from the start.
- **Week 2:** Set up the scanner via WebDAV; incoming paper mail is scanned right as it's opened.
- **After that:** Pull in the old stock year by year via bulk upload – not all at once.
- **Ongoing:** Check classifications on a sample basis and archive completed items.

The most important tip: start with the ongoing inflow, not with the basement full of folders. The benefit shows within days – and motivates you to tidy up the existing stock.

## Common mistakes when building

- **Recreating the folder structure:** Anyone who replicates the old hierarchy in the new system gives away the main advantage of content-based indexing.
- **Connecting only one entry channel:** If the scanner is left out, a parallel archive for paper emerges again.
- **Postponing retention:** Tax-relevant receipts belong in protected archiving from the start, not "sometime later".
- **Starting alone:** A brief team agreement on which receipts flow where prevents the archive from becoming a one-person initiative.