# How correspondence works

Why one record serves both directions, how documents are numbered, the life of a document from draft to lost or cancelled, why the lending log decides who holds a paper, and who may do what.

**Correspondence** keeps the office's paper trail. It does not replace the papers: it says which papers exist, where they are and what happened to them.

## One record, two directions {#directions}

An incoming paper and an outgoing paper are recorded the same way. Only the **Direction** differs, and it is fixed once the document is registered. The **Incoming** and **Outgoing** menus open the same documents filtered by direction, and a document created from one of them takes its direction.

## Numbering {#numbering}

A document receives its number when it is first saved: `INDOC` for incoming and `OUTDOC` for outgoing, then the year, then a five-digit counter that starts again each year. The number never changes, even when the document goes back to draft.

## The life of a document {#life}

| Status | Meaning | Next |
|---|---|---|
| **Draft** | Recorded, not yet confirmed. It can still be deleted. | **Register**, **Cancel** |
| **Registered** | Part of the paper trail. It can be lent and returned. | **Lend**, **Mark Lost**, **Mark Damaged**, **Cancel** |
| **Lost** / **Damaged** | The paper is missing or damaged; the record stays. | **Set to Draft** |
| **Cancelled** | Recorded by mistake. | **Set to Draft** |

Every status change, with its date and its user, is kept in the chatter. A document that is no longer draft cannot be deleted, only archived.

## The lending log decides {#lending-log}

Each loan is a line in the **Lending History**: the borrower, the day the paper left, the day it came back, and the users who recorded both. A line with no return day is an open loan. The **Lent** ribbon, the **Current Borrower** and the **Currently Lent** filter all read that open line, so they cannot disagree with the log.

A document has at most one open loan. While it is lent, it cannot be marked lost or damaged, nor cancelled: the paper is with someone, and the first step is to get it back.

## Who may do what {#access}

| Access right | Can |
|---|---|
| **Read-only** | Open the documents and their lending log. |
| **Manager** | Create and change documents, register them, lend and return them, mark them lost or damaged, cancel them, bring them back to draft and delete drafts. |

Each document belongs to a company, and users see only the documents of the companies they work in.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/correspondence/how-correspondence-works
- Updated: 2026-10-14
- Version: Correspondence 19.0.1.0.5