Business Info Help

September 10, 2008

Document Retention Recommendations

Filed under: Information, Advice — JE @ 10:08 am

So how long are you supposed to hold on to those documents anyway?  The following are a CPA’s recommendations on keeping documents. (Note: These recommendations on document retention are general guidelines.  Time documents should be kept according to appropriate laws, IRS and governmental regulations, and third-party requirements.)

Auditors’ reports Permanent
Bank debt deduction 7
Bank deposit slips, reconciliations, statements 4
Bills of lading 4
Budgets 2
Checks - cancelled 4
Contracts - purchase and sales 4*
Credit memos 4
Depreciation records 4*
Employee expense reports 4
Employee payroll records (W-2, W-4, annual earnings records, etc.) 6*
Financial statements — annual Permanent
Financial statements — interim 4
Freight bills 4
Internal reports (Work orders, sales reports, production reports) 4
Inventory lists 4
Invoices - Sales and cash register receipts, merchandise purchases 4
Invoices — purchases (permanent assets) 4*
General ledger Permanent
Journals  

General, cash receipts, cash disbursement, and purchase journals.

Permanent

 

Payroll journal

4
Petty cash vouchers 4
Subsidiary ledgers (accounts receivable, accounts payable, etc.) 6
Time cards and daily time reports 4
Worthless securities 7

1 Comment »

  1. […] risk management can include marketing, credit, operations management, customer service, and more. Document retention is another area of risk management - see my previous post on that, which outlines how long […]

    Pingback by Business Info Help » Managing Enterprise Risk Management in a Declining Economy — October 9, 2008 @ 3:55 pm

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