Never miss a
certificate expiry

People hold certificates, and people change roles, so file by person first. One folder per employee, named surname then first name, keeps every certificate they hold together no matter which course or provider it came from.

Resist a folder per course at the top level. When you need everyone with a given certificate, a search or a group does that job better than a second copy of every file.

Agency and contractor workers are the awkward case. Decide who holds their certificates, you or the agency, and file a copy under the person either way so the site induction check has something to open.

Put the course first and the expiry date at the end, like First-Aid-exp-2026-11-30.pdf. The expiry date is the one you act on, and written year first it sorts correctly.

Some certificates never expire, and some state only the date of completion. Write what the document actually says, and keep the validity period you were told in your policy rather than guessing from the issue date.

A wallet card and the course certificate for the same course can show different dates. Keep both, name the card with the date printed on it, and note the training provider’s course ID so the two can be matched later.

A tracker has two jobs: show what is about to expire, and show who has no certificate at all. The second is easier to miss, because a missing document leaves nothing to sort by date.

A monthly rhythm works well. Look at everything expiring in the next 60 to 90 days, book the courses, and compare each role against the certificates it requires. Many courses have waiting lists, so a reminder with only a week to go is often too late.

Separate refresher certificates, like first aid or forklift, from one-time inductions that never lapse. Only the first group belongs on your expiry review.

Most HR and safety teams begin with a spreadsheet of names, courses and dates, often with conditional formatting that turns a row red as the date nears. Larger employers move to a learning management system or HR software with a training module. Both work, but someone still has to read each certificate and enter its date.

The weak point is the certificates that come from outside: a provider’s PDF or a photo of a card. Filex reads those directly, files them under the employee and lists the expiry dates, while your spreadsheet or HR system stays as the official record if you want it.

It files certificates and reads the dates on them. It does not decide which certificates a job requires, tell you what the law or your insurer expects, or book training and email employees for you. It also needs the name and date to be readable, so a blurry card photo may need a quick look from you.

It works on the certificates you upload once the rule is set up. Digging out older paper records is a separate job.