SharePoint is one of the best places to store and share documents. Millions of people use it every day, and for most teams it is the right home for their files.

But a growing number of people say the same thing once they try to use it for the documents that really matter: contracts, HR files, certificates, supplier records. It stores them, but it does not manage them. The structure, the rules and the evidence have to come from somewhere else.

Here are the four problems we hear most often, and what a good answer looks like.

Problem 1: “I want to store structured documents in SharePoint”

This is where almost everyone starts. You have documents that belong to something: an employee, a supplier, a property, a customer. They come in recognisable types. You want them stored consistently, so they can be found and trusted.

In practice, here is what happens:

• A library is created, then folders, then sub-folders
• Each team names things differently
• Metadata is optional, so some documents have it and many do not
• Over time, the same type of document ends up in several places

SharePoint gives you the building blocks: libraries, content types, metadata and permissions. What it does not give you, on its own, is the file plan that decides how those blocks fit together for your records, and a way to see all the records for one person, supplier or property in one place.

What good looks like: every document is filed against a context (the employee, the supplier) and a document type, with consistent metadata captured when it is stored.

Problem 2: “I want to store HR files securely in SharePoint”

HR files are among the most sensitive documents any organisation holds: contracts, right to work checks, salary reviews, warnings, health information. They are also some of the most repetitive, which makes them ideal for structure.

The worries are consistent:

• Who can see this? Permissions set at library or folder level are hard to audit one record at a time
• Who has opened it? Activity data exists, but it is rarely available in a form an HR team can use
• Is it labelled properly? Sensitivity labels applied by hand are inconsistent
• How long do we keep it? Retention is a policy on paper rather than a rule in practice

What good looks like: one record file per employee, with documents grouped by type, and the preview, metadata, audit history and permissions for each document visible together.

Problem 3: “I need to store supplier information and contracts in a structured way”

Supplier records suffer from the same scatter. A contract sits in one library, the insurance certificate in an email, the due diligence form on someone’s drive. When a renewal comes up, or a dispute starts, someone spends days assembling the picture.

Structured storage changes that. When every supplier has a record file, and every contract, certificate and review is filed against the right document type, you can see what you hold and what is missing. An empty category is a visible gap, not a silent one.

What good looks like: a single record file per supplier, with contracts and supporting documents grouped by type, review and expiry dates captured as metadata, and clear access controls.

Problem 4: “SharePoint isn’t a records management solution”

This is the conclusion people reach after running into the first three. SharePoint is a platform for storing and collaborating on documents. Records management asks more of a system:

A records solution should…	Why it matters
Store records against a file plan	So every record has a clear home
Show everything held for a person, supplier or property	So nothing has to be hunted for
Show who viewed, changed or shared a record	So every action is accountable
Apply retention rules	So records are kept for exactly as long as required
Dispose of records on time	So you do not hold data you no longer need
Apply sensitivity labels consistently	So protection matches the record

You can build parts of this yourself with enough configuration and discipline. Many organisations try. The cost is time, ongoing maintenance, and the risk that the structure erodes as people come and go.

The common thread: a file plan

Each of these problems comes back to the same missing piece. A file plan is the agreed structure that says where each type of record belongs, how long it is kept, what happens at the end, and how sensitive it is. Without one, documents are just files. With one, they become managed records.

That is why we named the product FilePlan.

How FilePlan 365 solves it

FilePlan 365 is a records management add-on for SharePoint Online. Instead of replacing SharePoint, it adds the structure SharePoint leaves to you.

• Find by context. Search for an employee, supplier or property and open their record file
• Documents grouped by type. A folder tree of document types on one side, the documents and their key metadata on the other
• Search within the record. Type a word and the folders and document list narrow to the matches
• Everything on one screen. Preview the document, read its metadata, review the audit history and check security and permissions
• A lifecycle that follows the file plan. Stored, audited, retained, disposed and labelled correctly

It is delivered as software as a service, so there are no servers to run. And it is licensed by the number of documents you manage, not by the number of users, so you pay for the records you manage.

A quick self-check

Ask yourself these six questions about your most important documents:

1. Can we list every type of document we hold for an employee, supplier or property?
2. Can we find all of them for one person or supplier within a minute?
3. Can we say who has opened or changed a given document?
4. Do we know how long each type must be kept, and from when?
5. Do we dispose of records on time, and can we show that we did?
6. Are our sensitivity labels the same for the same type of document, every time?

If you answered “no” or “not sure” to more than two, the problem is not your people. It is the missing structure.

Where to go from here

Start small. Pick one context, such as the employee file or your supplier contracts. List the document types. Agree the rules for retention, disposal and sensitivity. Then apply them where people already work.