“Context first” is the principle at the heart of FilePlan 365. It means every document is filed to the record it’s about, before anything else.

What is a record context?

A record context is the thing your organisation manages. It might be:

• an employee in HR
• a tenancy or property in housing
• a case in complaints or social care
• a matter or client in a legal team
• a planning application or licence in a council
• a project or asset in construction

Each record context has its own metadata, such as a tenant’s name, a property reference or an employee’s start date. It also has its own document types and its own rules.

How documents inherit context

When you file a document to a record, it automatically picks up that record’s details. A gas safety certificate filed to a property knows the property reference, address and block. A contract filed to an employee knows their department, manager and employee ID.

That means:

• no re-keying the same information on every document
• consistent metadata across the whole organisation
• documents you can find by what they’re about, not just by their file name

Records link to each other

Records rarely stand alone. A tenancy belongs to a property, which has repair jobs, which involve contractors. In FilePlan 365, records link together, so you can move from a tenancy to its property, its repairs and its rent account in one click.

This gives teams a joined-up view without copying documents between sites.

Why it matters

Context first turns SharePoint from a place where files are stored into a place where records are managed. Filing becomes consistent, search becomes meaningful, and rules like retention can follow the life of the record itself.