Record Retention Recommendations

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“Record Retention Recommendations”		«BACK
	by Krass Monroe Tax Group
	from Krass Monroe, P.A.

Business documents are an important history of your businesses transactions with customers, vendors, creditors, and employees. These records should be maintained and available to resolve questions that may arise in the future.

Your business records should be easily accessible to authorized personnel in your business. Your business records should be maintained in accordance with the below recommended periods. Certain circumstances involving pending or potential litigation may require an extension of time for record retention. Your legal counsel should be consulted prior to discarding documents that may be subject to an extended retention period.

Special retention requirements may apply to documents or information maintained on computer systems. The Internal Revenue Service has special computer retrieval requirements when business records are maintained on a computerized system. You should consult with our tax department regarding any applicable IRS requirements.

With the latest in technology keep in mind that you can scan your permanent records and save them on disk or CD. Not only will this save you money in storage but it will also be easier to retrieve any permanent records.

Type of Record Retention Period Type of Retention	Retention Period
Accident reports and cliams7 years Accounts payable ledgers	7 years
Accounts receivable ledger7 yearsAudit reports	Permanent
Bank reconciliations 1year Bank statements	7 years
Canceled checks - important Permanent Canceled checks - other	7 years
Capitol stock and bond records Permanent Cash books	Permanent
Chart of AccountsPermanent Contacts and leases expired	7 years
Contacts & leases in effectPermanentCorrespodence - Customer and Vendors	1 years
Correspondence - general3 yearsCorrespondence - legal	Permanent
Deeds, mortages, and bills of salePermanentDepreciation schedules	Permanent
Duplicate deposits slips3 yearsEmployee personnel records after termination	3 years
Employee benefit plan records7 yearsEmployment applications	3 years
Expense analysis and distribution schedules7 yearsFinancial statements - year end	Permanent
Financial statements - other7 yearsGeneral ledgers and trial balances - year end	Permanent
Inherited property records and valuationsPermanentInsurance polices - expired	3 years
Insurance recordsPermanentInsurance audit reports	Permanent
Internal reports3 yearsInventory records	7 years
Invoices to customers7 yearsInvoices from vendors	7 years
JournalsPermanentLow-income housing records	7 years
Minute books of directors and stockholdersPermanentNote receivables ledgers	7 years
Option records7 yearsPayroll records	7 years
Petty cash vouchers3 yearsPhysical inventory tags	3 years
Property appraisalsPermanentProperty records	Permanent
Purchase orders7 yearsReceiving sheets	3 years
Requisitions1 yearSales records	7 years
Savings bond records - employees3 yearsScrap and salvage records	7 years
Tax returns, worksheets and revenue agents' reportsPermanentTime books	7 years
Trade mark registrationPermanentVoucher registers	7 years

Learn more about Taxation.