It is important to hold onto your business records in case of an IRS audit or other examination. Retaining unnecessary records will soon exceed storage space available for most businesses. Therefore, you may wish to establish a retention schedule that takes into account state and federal regulations, as well as industry standards. The retention periods are intended as a general guideline only. If you have questions about destroying any tax or accounting records, please contact a Postlethwaite & Netterville professional immediately. These guidelines apply to both paper and electronically stored records.
Document |
Retention Period |
| Accident reports/claims (se led cases) | 7 years |
| Accounts payable ledgers and schedules | 7 years |
| Accounts receivable ledgers and schedules | 8 years |
| Audit reports | Permanently |
| Bank statements | 3 years |
| Capital stock and bond records | Permanently |
| Cash books | 7 years |
| Charts of accounts | Permanently |
| Checks (canceled checks for important payments, special contracts, purchase of assets, payment of taxes, etc. Checks should be filed with the papers pertaining to the underlying transaction) | Permanently |
| Checks (canceled except those above) | 7 years |
| Contracts and leases (expired) | 7 years |
| Correspondence, general | 2 years |
| Correspondence, legal and tax related | Permanently |
| Deeds, mortgages and bills of sale | Permanently |
| Deposit slips | 7 years |
| Depreciation schedules | Permanently |
| Employee personnel records (after termination) | 7 years |
| Employee applications | 3 years |
| Expense Reports | 7 years |
| Financial statements (year-end) | Permanently |
| General ledgers, year-end trial balance | Permanently |
| Insurance policies (expired) | 3 years |
| Insurance records, accident reports, claims, policies, etc. | 7 years |
| Internal audit reports (miscellaneous) | 3 years |
| Inventory records | 7 years |
| Invoices to customers from vendors | 7 years |
| IRA/Keogh plan contributions, rollovers, transfers, and distributions | Permanently |
| Minute books of directors, stockholders, bylaws and charter | Permanently |
| Payroll records, summaries and tax returns | 7 years |
| Petty cash vouchers | 3 years |
| Purchase orders | 3 years |
| Receiving sheets | 1 year |
| Retirement plan records | Permanently |
| Safety records | 6 years |
| Sales records | 7 years |
| Tax returns, revenue agents’ reports, and other documents relating to determination of income tax liability | Permanently |
| Time cards and daily reports | 7 years |
| Trademark registration, patents and copyrights | Permanently |
| Trial balances (monthly) | 3 years |
| W-2 Forms | 7 years |
Note: Guidelines for maintaining records are primarily based on a taxing authority's statutory power and limitations on auditing these records.