Organizing your business and personal files can be daunting, but this task can be more manageable if you know how long each record should be kept. The following list provides basic record retention guidelines. However, you should keep current on requirements for your specific industry and be alert to changes in IRS regulations. When in doubt, keeping records a little longer is always better. 

 

	Retention Period			Retention Period
Accident Reports/Claims (settled cases)	7 years		Notes Receivable Ledgers and Schedules	7 years
Accounts Payable Ledgers and Schedules	7 years		Option Records (expired)	7 years
Accounts Receivable Ledgers and Schedules	7 years		Patents and Related Papers	Permanently
Adoption/Custody Agreements	Permanently		Payroll Records and Summaries	7 years
Audit Reports	Permanently		Payroll Tax Reports	Permanently
Bank Reconciliations1	5 years		Personnel FIles (terminated)	7 years
Bank Statements1	5 years		Personnel Contracts (expired)	3 years
Birth Certificate	Permanently		Petty Cash Vouchers	3 years
Capital Stock and Bond Records: ledger, transfer registers, stubs showing issues, record of interest coupons, options, etc.	Permanently		Physical Inventory Tags	3 years
Cash Books	Permanently		Plant Cost Ledgers	7 years
Charts of Accounts	Permanently		Proof of Naturalization, if Foreign Born	Permanently
Checks (canceled - see exception below)	7 years		Property Appraisals by Outside Appraisers	Permanently
Checks (canceled for important payments, i.e., taxes, purchases of property, special contracts, etc. Checks should be filed with the papers pertaining to the underlying transaction.)	Permanently		Property Record, including costs, depreciation reserves, year-end trail balances, depreciation schedules, blueprints and plans	Permanently
Contracts, Mortgages, Notes and Leases: expired	7 years		Purchase Orders (except purchasing department copy)	1 year
Contracts, Mortgages, Notes and Leases: still in effect	Permanently		Purchase Orders (purchasing department copy)	7 years
Correspondence (general)	2 years		Receiving Sheets	1 year
Correspondence (legal and important matters only)	Permanently		Retirement and Pension Records	Permanently
Correspondence (routine) with customers and/or vendors	2 years		Requisitions	1 year
Deeds, Mortgages and Bills of Sale	Permanently		Sales Commission Reports	3 years
Depreciation Schedules	Permanently		Sales Contracts	7 years
Duplicate Deposit Slips	3 years		Sales Records	7 years
Employment Applications	3 years		Scrap and Salvage Records (inventories, sales, etc.	7 years
Expense Analyses/Expense Distribution Schedules	7 years		Stenographers Notebooks	1 year
Financial Statements (year end, other optional)	Permanently		Stock and Bond Certificates (canceled)	7 years
Garnishments	7 years		Stockroom Withdrawal Forms	1 year
General/Private Ledgers, Year-end Trial Balance	Permanently		Subsidiary Ledgers	7 years
Insurance Policies (expired)	5 years		Tax Returns and Worksheets, Revenue Agents' Reports, and Other Documents Relating to Determination of Income Tax Liability	Permanently
Insurance Records, Current Accident Reports, Claims, Policies, etc.	Permanently		Time-books/cards	7 years
Internal Audit Reports (longer retention periods may be desirable)	3 years		Trademark Registrations and Copyrights	Permanently
Internal Reports (miscellaneous)	3 years		Training Manuals	Permanently
Inventories of Products, Materials and Supplies	7 years		Union Agreements	Permanently
Invoices (to customers, from vendors)	7 years		Voucher Register and Schedules	7 years
Journals	Permanently		Vouchers for Payment to Vendors, Employees, etc. (includes allowances and reimbursement of employees, officers, etc., for travel and entertainment expenses)	7 years
Marriage and Divorce Records	Permanently		Withholding Tax Statements	7 years
Minute Books of Directors, Stockholders, Bylaws, and Charter	Permanently

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