How long does a business need to keep its records?

Does your office tend to look like our Fayette county landfill  with tons of old paperwork?

Although there is no single statute of limitations for the many categories of records a business needs
to retain, we can offer some guidelines.

Here’s our suggested schedule for record retention.
In the case of special circumstances,
 legal action(s), or unique contractual disputes,
you may need to hang onto the documents
 a bit longer.

Accident reports and claims (settled cases) 7 years
Accounts payable ledgers and schedules 7 years
Accounts receivable ledgers and schedules 7 years
Audit reports of accountants Indefinitely
Bank reconciliations 1 year
Bank statements 7 years
Cash books Indefinitely
Charts of accounts Indefinitely
Checks (canceled, see exceptions below) 7 years
Checks (canceled for important payments, i.e., taxes, purchases of property, special contracts, etc.) Indefinitely
Construction documents Indefinitely
Contracts and leases (expired) 7 years
Contracts and leases still in effect Expiration + 7 years
Correspondence (general) 3 years
Correspondence (important) Indefinitely
Deeds, mortgages, bills of sale, titles Indefinitely
Depreciation schedules Indefinitely
Duplicate deposit slips 1 year
Electronic fund transfer documents 7 years
Employee personnel records (after termination) 7 years
Employment applications 3 years
Expense analyses and expense distribution schedules 7 years
Financial statements (end-of-year, other months optional) Indefinitely
General and private ledgers (and end-of-year trial balance) Indefinitely
I-9s (after termination) 3 yrs after hire or 1 year after termination, whichever is later
Insurance policies (expired) 3 years
Inventories of products, materials, supplies 7 years
Invoices to customers 7 years
Invoices from vendors 7 years
Journals Indefinitely
Leases see Contracts
Licenses Indefinitely
Loan documents, notes Indefinitely
Minute books of directors and stockholders, including by-laws and charter Indefinitely
Notes receivable ledgers and schedules 7 years
OSHA logs 5 years
Payroll records and summaries, pensions, payroll taxes 7 years
Petty cash vouchers 3 years
Property appraisals by outside appraisers Indefinitely
Property records including costs, depreciation reserves, end-of-year trial balances, depreciation schedules, blueprints and plans Indefinitely
Purchase orders (purchasing department copy) 7 years
Receiving sheets 1 year
Sales records 7 years
Scrap and salvage records (inventories, sales, etc.) 7 years
Subsidiary ledgers 7 years
Tax returns and worksheets, agents’ reports, any documents relating to income tax liability Indefinitely
Time books/cards 7 years
Trade mark registrations Indefinitely
Voucher register and schedules 7 years
Vouchers for payments to vendors, employees, etc. (including allowances and reimbursement of employees officers, etc., for travel and entertainment expenses) 7 years
W-4 forms 4 years
Workers’ comp. documents 11 years