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What Are Archive Serial Numbers?

An Archive Serial Number (ASN) is a unique permanent reference you assign to a physical document. It creates a link between a paper document in a physical filing system and its digital counterpart in Essal Office.

The Problem ASNs Solve

When you scan a document and store it digitally, you often still need to keep the original paper — for legal, compliance, or practical reasons. The challenge is quickly locating the paper original when you need it.

An ASN solves this by giving each physical document a number. The number is written or printed on the physical document (usually as a barcode) and also recorded in Essal Office. When you search for a document in Essal Office and find it digitally, the ASN immediately tells you where to find the paper original in your physical filing system.

How ASNs Work

  1. You create a numbering system for your physical folders, binders, or boxes (e.g. a box labelled 0001–0200 contains documents with ASNs 1–200)
  2. When you scan and upload a document, you assign it the next available ASN
  3. You write or stamp the ASN on the physical document and file it in the corresponding physical location
  4. Later, when you find the document in Essal Office, the ASN field tells you exactly where the physical copy lives

ASNs Are Optional

ASNs are entirely optional. They are most useful for organisations that:

  • Are required by law to keep paper originals
  • Operate hybrid physical/digital filing systems
  • Have large volumes of physical documents and need to reconcile them with digital records

If you operate paperless-only (all originals are digital), you do not need to use ASNs.

ASN Format

ASNs are numbers. Each document gets a unique number. Numbers are typically assigned sequentially, but there is no strict requirement — you can assign any unique number to any document.

A common approach is to use a binder-based system: - Binder 1: documents with ASN 0001–0100 - Binder 2: documents with ASN 0101–0200 - And so on

This makes retrieval fast: ASN 0157 → go to Binder 2, find page 57.

ASNs and Barcodes

Many organisations print ASN barcodes onto label stickers and affix them to physical documents. During upload, a barcode scanner can read the ASN and automatically enter it into the ASN field, eliminating manual typing.

Essal Office supports ASN barcode scanning in the document upload workflow.