A key job record is missing. What can you recover?

The file refers to an attachment nobody can find

Imagine an email says “approved as attached”, but the attachment is absent from the saved job folder. The account is disputed and each person assumes somebody else has the original. Repeatedly searching every folder is taking time without narrowing the gap.

Describe the missing item first. Record its likely name, date, sender, recipients and purpose. That gives the search a defined target and helps another person recognise the right file.

Check the places the record should have reached

Look through authorised business mail, project systems, issued-document registers and backups. Ask the known sender or recipient whether they retained a copy. Keep a note of where recovered material came from.

Do not enter a former worker's personal account or bypass access controls. If access is disputed or formal disclosure may be needed, ask your adviser about the proper process instead of trying an improvised workaround.

Test the recovered file

Open the attachment and compare its details with the referring message. Is it the right revision and job? Does it contain the approval being discussed, or only a proposal that was sent for review?

business.gov.au recommends backing up digital records. Recovery is also a useful test of that backup: confirm that the relevant content, not merely an empty folder or shortcut, is available to the authorised business user.

Source: business.gov.au: Record keeping

Identify what still cannot be found

Keep a short gap list showing the missing item, searches made and the next enquiry. Avoid telling the other party a document exists in your possession when you have only a reference to it.

If several files have similar names, retain them separately until their identity is resolved. Do not select the version most favourable to your claim simply because it contains the wording you expected to find.

Label any reconstruction as a reconstruction

You may be able to assemble a timeline from later invoices, diaries and correspondence. State the records used and the date the timeline was created. Separate factual entries from inference.

Do not recreate a missing approval form and date it as though it was signed on the job. Ask an adviser how the absence affects the dispute and what other evidence may be relevant. A reconstruction cannot silently replace an original.

Decide the next step with the gap visible

Give the adviser both the recovered material and the unresolved gap list. That allows advice to address the file you actually have, rather than an assumed perfect set of documents.

Use Report a Dispute below if CRP is helping organise the account. Explain the missing item and why it matters to payment. Keep formal response dates under review while the search continues; recovery work is not an extension of a legal deadline.