Cutoff is a type of scheduled trigger, which defines a period (quarter, half-year) when the retention life cycle should begin. It's a property of a retention schedule that is associated with file parts that are associated with a given period, such as a month, quarter, or year.

A cutoff cycle is configured for a retention schedule. For more information on configuring a cutoff cycle on a retention schedule, refer to Create Retention Schedules.

In certain administrative processes, it is necessary to group records by the period they are associated with, and then cut them off at the end of that period. For example, quarterly financial records are cut off at the end of each quarter. A cutoff is often associated with closing records. For more information on closing records, refer to Close File Parts.

Cutoff processing is a two-step process that consists of the following:

1. Searching for Cutoff Eligibility
   A cutoff eligibility search finds items that are eligible for cutoff as of a given date for a given period, and which satisfy the following conditions:

   • Any file part that has a retention schedule with a configured cutoff cycle is available for cutoff.

   • The file part is eligible for cutoff on the last day of the cutoff cycle in which the File Part Open Date occurs. For example, if the cutoff cycle is set to Quarterly, and the File Open Date is April 14, then the file part is eligible for cutoff on June 30.
     If the Annually on Event (Fiscal) cutoff cycle is set, the file part is eligible for cutoff on the last day of the cutoff cycle in which the Retention Start Date occurs.

     Refer to Generate Cutoff Eligibility Reports.
      

2. Processing a Cutoff
   After searching for eligible items, you can perform a cutoff on them.

   Rules for Processing a Cutoff:

   • A cutoff can be processed only on file parts and not boxes, because boxes are used for storage and not for file management.

   • A cutoff is processed on the item, and not its content.

   • A cutoff can be processed only on file parts that aren't already cutoff.

   • Close an item during or prior to cutoff, if it is assigned a retention schedule that contains both an End of Life event type and a Time/Event Disposition event type.

To cut off a file part:

1. In the Navigation pane, select the Records tab.

2. Search or browse for the file part, and select it.

3. From the Action menu, choose Cut Off. The Cutoff and Close dialog opens.

4. In the Effective cutoff/close date field, select the date to perform the cutoff. This is typically the last day of the cutoff cycle, but can be any other non-null date.

5. If you don't want to close the file part, clear the Close file part check box. By default, this check box is selected.

   You may want to close a file part that is eligible for cutoff, because closing a file part prevents you from adding items into it. Refer to Close File Parts.

6. Select Process. The results of the action appear in the Results pane of the dialog box.

7. Select Close.

Reverse a Cutoff

The cutoff performed on an item is reversible. Reversing the cutoff is done when the cutoff performed is erroneous or premature. Reversing updates the Cutoff Date to a null value, and once again makes the item available for cutoff eligibility searching.

You can't reverse the cutoff for a closed file part. You have to reopen the file part first, and then reverse the cutoff. Refer to Reopening File Parts.

To reverse the cutoff performed on a file part:

1. In the Navigation pane, select the Records tab.

2. Search or browse for the file part, and select it.

3. From the Action menu, choose Reverse Cut off.