In almost any organization, regardless of its legal form and number of employees (even if we talk about individual entrepreneurs), in the process of its work, a huge number of various business papers, letters, tax reports and other information are accumulated on electronic media. Almost all enterprises that have been operating for more or less a long time, sooner or later face the need to systematize their archives.
Some of the documents must be preserved, and some, on the contrary, it is time to destroy. But what are the storage periods for accounting documents, after which they can be safely disposed of? Indeed, our legislative framework is rarely condescending to the violation of such conditions, and therefore it is necessary to know them.
It is the disclosure of this issue that this article is devoted to.
How to be
It should be noted that many documents are supposed to be stored for at least 75 years, and some categories of reporting are generally strongly recommended not to be touched throughout the entire work of the company. How to be? After all, I would like to comply with the law in full, but at the same time not complicate the life of the employees responsible for maintaining archival records!
Before we answer this question, we will familiarize ourselves with the main regulatory documents, which enshrines the basic requirements that consider the shelf life of accounting documents of all enterprises, regardless of their legal form, size and direction of activity.
Normative regulation of storage of documents
Let's look at the main regulatory documents that govern archiving in organizations.
Firstly, the Federal Law of November 2004 No. 125-FZ. This is a general document, it fully regulates the archiving in our country. So, his provisions speak about the organization of the process of preservation of all production and accounting documents, about the methods of acquisition and use of archives. In addition, it legislatively enshrines the processes of interaction between archival institutions and those citizens who wish to use the information stored there.
Of course, the “Basic Rules for the Work of Archival Organizations” play a huge role. They were officially approved and recommended for use by the decision of the Federal Archives, which was adopted on 02/06/2002. Starting the organization of the archive department in the organization, we strongly recommend that you first familiarize yourself with this document, since it displays the most important and fundamental points of this kind of activity.
Other documents
For the normal preservation of important papers, it is also necessary to know the list of standard archival documents that are generated in the course of the work activities of any enterprise. It is there that the periods of storage of accounting documents are indicated, and this document was approved by a separate order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation back in 2010. The document number is N 558. From its very name it becomes obvious that it contains a list of the main securities that are formed as a result of the business or other activities of the enterprise.
USSR legacy
The Regulation on Documents, published by the USSR Ministry of Finance on July 29, 1983, No. 105, is still relevant. Within the framework of this provision, both the initial terms of storage of documents and the procedure for their creation, acceptance and use are established.
From the Tax Code
In addition, you can find the relevant information in article 23 of the corresponding document. So, in the eighth article there is a clause that separately considers the periods of storage of accounting documents that can be used to accrue and withhold taxes. These include securities that confirm the direct receipt of income, expenses, as well as taxes already paid in favor of the state.
Finally, such information is available in the Federal Law 29 (No. 402-ФЗ dated December 6, 2011) “On Accounting”. In it, you can find the storage periods of accounting documents in organizations for commercial enterprises.
What should be stored and for how long?
It is not surprising that the storage of typical accounting papers that are formed in the course of activity of any organization (all this is in the aforementioned List) is especially important. Typical papers are stored: 1 year, 5 years, 75 years. Some documents (information about obtaining funds in especially large amounts) are required to be stored permanently.
Storage groups
Professional auditors say that all documents that reflect accounting records can be divided into four main groups. Here is a list of storage periods for accounting documents:
- Papers that should be kept permanently. These include all annual financial statements, as well as any evidence obtained when registering with the tax authorities.
- Long-term storage group (over 10 years). These are notifications, documents signed by employees on consent to the processing of personal data. The data on the subject itself, which gave such consent, should be available for 75 years.
- Temporary type. It is assumed that papers of this group should be stored for up to 10 years inclusively. These include invoices, as well as letters of guarantee.
- The fourth variety includes all of the above documents, which have expired, and therefore must be disposed of.
Important Nuances
Important! You need to know that reducing the shelf life is strictly prohibited, but an increase in this time is permissible. But this applies only to those organizations that conduct very specific activities.
So, the shelf life of accounting documents in LLC, which are engaged in the provision of financial loans to the population, starts from 75 years. In practice, inspecting organizations note that such documents should be available at all times, since in the event of any claims (from the side of the heirs, for example), they may need to be raised even after this period.
Therefore, the organization of the nomenclature that will be used at a particular enterprise for the organization of archival business is of particular importance. Now we will consider the basic requirements that inspection organizations make for specific organizations, depending on their legal form of ownership.
In general, they do not differ in variety, but there are also some nuances. As a rule, they are related to the amount of income the company receives.
Ltd
First, consider LLC. Since the turnover of such enterprises is quite significant, the requirements for them are stricter. Firstly, all accounting and tax reporting must be kept for at least 75 years. In addition, the shelf life of accounting documents in the LLC can be extended indefinitely in the cases that we have already considered above.
The documentation for settlements with personnel should be kept throughout the work of a specific person in the organization and for at least 10 years from the date of his dismissal. If the employee retires from this particular company, the documents must be kept permanently, because in case of claims regarding the size of charges, they will need to be raised first.
Invoices, other documents evidencing settlements with suppliers and customers belong to the third group, and therefore must be stored up to 10 years inclusively. As we already said, the general financial statements should be kept permanently.
Individual entrepreneurs
The requirements for this category of companies are much less stringent, since the number of documents created there is much less. So what is the shelf life of accounting documents SP? Let's look at this issue in more detail. Firstly, all certificates of registration, annual reporting to the tax authorities. This information should be stored permanently throughout the life of a particular company.
However, if an entrepreneur does not have employees, and he keeps records according to a simplified scheme, then all the requirements end there. Of course, the shelf life of IP accounting documents in this case is the same 75 years, since only annual reports are among them.
Company
Since the activity of such enterprises involves obtaining a significant amount of income, as well as settlements with shareholders, the requirements for documents stored in this case are the most stringent. In general, in most cases, the shelf life of accounting documents in a company is at least 75 years. However, there are exceptions.
Of course, all information about the authorized capital, the volume of deposits, the size of the charter share of the founders should be stored on an ongoing basis. The list of documents that must also be archived for a period of 75 years or more includes accounting documents that can be used by tax organizations: information on the return on assets, statements on settlements with shareholders, as well as electronic media on which income data is available on accounts of the organization of funds in especially large amounts.
Information on settlements with personnel is also stored for 75 years. Other documents (invoices, letters of guarantee) have a retention period of up to 10 years inclusive.
Budget organizations
And what are the periods of storage of accounting documents in budget institution? As a rule, there are no special requirements for this. It is believed that for 75 years only information on annual financial statements and securities intended for tax authorities should be kept. All other documents are stored up to 10 years inclusive.
Important Features
If you familiarize yourself with the list of all laws and regulations that is available above, you may be surprised: the standard shelf life of accounting documents does not exceed five years (Federal Law No. 402)! At the same time, in our article we write about 10 years and above. How can this be? Unfortunately, in this case there is a poor elaboration of the regulatory framework, when the requirements of the law are contrary to realities. Let us illustrate with an example.
If you are even a simple sole trader, you can easily come across a situation where the tax inspectorate requires the submission of documents that have already expired (in accordance with the requirements of the law). In the case of a CJSC and LLC, the annual turnover of which may exceed tens or even hundreds of millions of rubles, the absence of even some unimportant securities can cause major trouble.
For example, often required papers confirming the legality of the claim of receivables. It is no secret that in practice its term can be estimated at almost ten years. According to the law, two sets of accounting documents can already be destroyed at the same time. If the company really disposed of them, it could incur large expenses. How? Very simple.
If the company is unable to provide the requested securities, you will have to recalculate the tax on profit (although it might not exist at all), as well as pay heavy fines.Simply put, when determining storage periods, one should be guided not so much by the requirements of the law (paradoxical as it may be), but by the real importance of a document for a particular company.
Of course, the shelf life of primary accounting documents in any case should be as long as possible, but even many invoices under certain conditions need to be stored in the archive for more than 15 years. If the company has any debtors, or if it itself owes to someone, such papers must be stored permanently, regardless of the requirements of the Federal Law and resolutions.
How to determine the importance of accounting documents for the organization?
How to understand what papers should be marked “before need” when storing them, and what should be done with them in the future? In this case, professional lawyers recommend a separate examination of the value of the stored documents.
The main requirement that members of the commission should be guided by is not only the value of the information itself in the stored papers, but also the damage that the organization may suffer if they are lost.
Thus, it is required to increase the shelf life for the following financial and accounting documents: any contracts and estimates for those works that even theoretically can increase the value of both the enterprise itself and its individual components; all papers and electronic media related to competitive procurement; all documents that may be required in one way or another in case of litigation (even theoretically possible).
Notes for individual entrepreneurs
Since there are a lot of requirements, and their interpretation in various legislative acts and court decisions is strikingly diverse, the process of storing papers becomes especially difficult for entrepreneurs, as an individual entrepreneur often has no legal background or specialists specially hired to resolve such issues. In this case, it is necessary to contact law firms in case of any disputes, if they are based on accounting documents, the terms and procedure for which are not clearly stated in the legislation.
Please note: the more competently and completely established the process of archiving, the less problems you will encounter in the future.
Requirements for the organization of archiving in the company
So we reviewed the basic information on the timing. But how to organize the storage of documents of the organization? What methods are available?
Firstly, you can create your own archive. In the case of individual entrepreneurs and small LLCs, the manager of the enterprise or a specially hired employee often become the archivist. The archive itself becomes either a dedicated room, or even a large safe.
But in recent years, turning to special companies that specialize in creating and storing archives has become much more popular. They can help both organize existing storage facilities and create new ones from scratch. In the case of companies for which it is especially important to keep especially valuable documents in complete safety, these companies can organize their storage in specially protected and specially protected boxes.
The advantage of the first method is your complete control over your documents, and the cheapness of this method is obvious. The disadvantages include the vulnerability of the archive (not everyone has the means to equip a fireproof room). In addition, not everyone has the appropriate legal education for the proper organization of storage.
The advantages of the second method include the ideal organization of storage, as well as the full legal preparedness of the agency staff. The negative side is far from complete control over the archive of company management.
So we examined the shelf life of accounting documents provided for by legislative standards, as well as the requirements that apply to the main legal forms of business in this case.
