 Income
Tax 411
Business Record Retention
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Business
Record Retention
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Ever wondered how long you should keep copies of those
old bank statements. If you're like many of our clients, you
probably keep them longer than you're actually required to.
Prolonged record retention is a costly practice.
Space is wasted and an excessive amount of time is spent
locating documents. Conversely, premature record destruction can lead to
the loss of vital information.
We get asked about
the time frame for saving business records quite a bit, so we decided to
summarize it in this article.
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It's important to bear in mind that the appropriate time frame
for record retention is dependent on legal, regulatory and business
requirements and can vary from firm to firm. The following, however are some
guidelines:
Permanent
Stock and bond records; important cancelled checks; legal
documents for contracts it' effect; legal correspondence; deeds, mortgages and
bills of sale; depreciation schedules; financial statements; general ledgers
and special journals; insurance records (except policies); corporate minutes;
corporate charter and by-laws; property appraisals and other property records;
tax returns and IRS documents; CPAs' audit reports
7 Years
Accounts receivable and payable ledgers and schedules;
accident reports and claims; ordinary cancelled checks; expired contracts and
leases; inventory summaries; customer and vendor invoices; payroll records;
purchase orders; sales records; voucher registers and underlying payment
vouchers; subsidiary ledgers; plant ledgers; cancelled stock and bond
certificates.
3 Years
General Correspondence; Terminated employee personnel
records; expired insurance policies; internal reports; petty cash vouchers;
physical inventory tags; employee savings bond registration records.
1 Year
Bank reconciliation’s; routine correspondence with
customers and vendors; duplicate bank deposit slips; receiving reports;
requisitions; stenographers' notebooks; stock withdrawal documents
Those who seek specific assistance in establishing record
retention schedules as well as record keeping systems and procedures, are
welcome to contact us.
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Legal
Disclaimer |
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Secure Document Upload 732-229-4874 
tax@sm-cpas.com 
(732) 229-4874 