This oft-asked question is a tricky one for many reasons. First, retention requirements are unique to the type of document in question. Internal audit reports? Three years. Canceled checks? Seven years. Year-end financial statements? Well, find a good place to store them because you will need to retain such statements until the cows come home (i.e. forever). Second, just knowing how long to keep a document on hand is not enough. Applying a record retention policy at a company site poses some logistical and human resource issues which must be addressed. Lastly, when it comes to record management, the IRS likes to see adherence to lawful, organized, consistent retention policies. Therefore, our advice is to develop a record retention policy your company can actually manage and then stick to it.
Below you will find a listing of retention guidelines for accounting, tax, insurance and corporate records. If you have a question about any item on the list or one not found on the list, please feel free to contact our offices.
| Accounts payable ledgers, schedules & invoices | 7 |
| Accounts receivable ledgers, schedules & invoices | 7 |
| Audit reports, external | Permanent |
| Audit reports, internal | 3 |
| Bank reconciliations | 3 |
| Bank statements & deposit slips | 7 |
| Bills of lading | 3 |
| Budgets and productions | 2 |
| Canceled checks, except as described below | 7 |
| Canceled checks for important matters such as purchases of property, payment of taxes, special contracts, etc | Permanent |
| Cash receipts & disbursements journals | Permanent |
| Chart of accounts | Permanent |
| Depreciation schedules | Permanent |
| Expense analysis & distribution schedules | 7 |
| Expense reports | 7 |
| Financial statements (year-end) | Permanent |
| General ledger & journals | Permanent |
| Inventories | 7 |
| Invoices for nonproperty purchases | 7 |
| Invoices for property | Permanent |
| IRS determination & approval letters | Permanent |
| Notes receivable ledgers & schedules | 7 |
| Payroll records | 8 |
| Petty cash vouchers | 3 |
| Purchase orders, except purchasing department copy | 1 |
| Purchase orders, purchasing department copy | 7 |
| Receiving reports | 3 |
| Sales commission reports | 3 |
| Sales invoices & other sales records | 7 |
| Shipping reports | 3 |
| Subsidiary ledgers | 7 |
| Systems records | Permanent |
| Tax returns, worksheets & other documents used to determine tax liability | Permanent |
| Trial balances | 7 |
| Vouchers for payments to vendors, employees, etc | 7 |
| Retirement & pension records | Permanent |
| Stenographer’s notebooks | 1 |
| Training manuals | Permanent |
| Union agreements | Permanent |
| Correspondence Records | Retention (Years) |
| General | 2 |
| Legal, tax & other important matters | Permanent |
| Corporate Records | Retention (Years) |
| Articles of incorporation, bylaws, charter, minute books, etc. | Permanent |
| Capital stock & bond records | Permanent |
| Contracts & agreements (expired) | 7 |
| Copyrights patents & trademark registrations | Permanent |
| Mortgages, notes & leases (expired) | 8 |
| Option records | 7 |
| Property records, including costs, appraisals, depreciation schedules, blueprints & plans, deeds & easements, etc. | Permanent |
| Insurance Records | Retention (Years) |
| Accident reports (settled) | 6 |
| Claims (settled) | 10 |
| Fire inspection reports (settled) | 6 |
| Group disability records | 8 |
| Policies (expired) | 3 |
| Safety reports | 8 |
| Personnel Records | Retention (Years) |
| Contracts (expired) | 7 |
| Disability & sick benefits | 7 |
| Garnishments | 7 |
| Personnel files (terminated) | 7 |
| Withholding tax statements | 7 |
Working for Web Record Retention Guidelines Disclosure