The problems in this series, from sprawl and duplicates to empty metadata, poor retention and noisy search, share a root cause: SharePoint has storage, but no records structure. FilePlan 365 adds that structure in four layers.

Layer 1: Record context

The foundation is the record your organisation manages: an employee, a case, a tenancy, a matter or a project. Every document belongs to one.

Record contexts hold the key metadata, such as names, references, dates and owners, and link to related records. They answer the question “what is this about?”

Layer 2: File plan

Within each record, documents are organised by a numbered file plan. For an employee, that might be 01 Recruitment and onboarding, 02 Contract and terms, 03 Right to work and vetting, and so on.

The file plan is the same for every record of that type, so everyone knows where things go, and where to find them.

Layer 3: Document types

Each classification contains defined document types, such as Employment contract or Gas safety record. A document type sets the extra metadata, templates and rules for that kind of document.

Document types are what make filing consistent and search precise.

Layer 4: Purview policies

Finally, each document type maps to your Microsoft Purview policies: a retention label, a sensitivity label and the DLP policies that apply. These are applied automatically when a document is filed, and retention can start when the record’s events happen.

How the layers work together

Layer	Answers	Example
Record context	What is it about?	Employee: Priya Shah
File plan	Where does it belong?	02 Contract and terms
Document type	What kind of document is it?	Employment contract
Purview policies	How must it be governed?	6 years after leaving, Confidential: HR

Put together, the four layers turn SharePoint Online into a records system that’s consistent across every site and team, without replacing the tools people already use.