Shelf life of accounting documents

Any economic activity involves the movement of documents that are very different in their importance, which are created within the enterprise itself or are obtained from the side of interconnected counterparties. The document circulation passes several stages. Creation of a primary document or receiving it from the outside occurs at the first stage of the workflow. At the second stage, the document is accepted for accounting and its verification. On the third stage, the used documents are processed and transferred to the archive for storage. The shelf life of accounting documents is different.

The list of accounting and other documents intended for archiving includes twelve main sections. The first section includes papers that have administrative, supervisory and organizational functions that provide the legal basis for conducting a full cycle of document circulation and storage of documentation by all economic entities. The shelf life of the accounting documents included in the first section is five years.

Sections two through four include planning, financing, pricing, lending, accounting and reporting documents.

Various documents and reports on the implementation of economic, technical, scientific and cultural ties are included in section number five.

Information documents on servicing various activities of economic entities and other organizations contain section six.

Rationing, tariffs, labor remuneration and its protection - these papers constitute section seven.

The eighth section of the list includes personnel documents concerning the admission, dismissals and other movements of workers. Documents on the received awards are also kept here.

Section number nine consists of papers relating to the material and technical support of the activities of the organization and the storage of valuables.

In the tenth section of the list there are documents reflecting administrative and economic measures to manage the enterprise, which promote strict observance of internal regulations, internal communication services, transport services.

In the eleventh section are all the social and domestic documents that provide measures for social insurance, housing and household issues.

The twelfth section of the list includes papers on the activities of public trade union organizations and other public associations.

On the basis of the RF Federal Law No. 129, the timeframe for keeping accounting records (invoices, contracts, acts and other primary documentation, accounting and tax reporting registers) is set for five years. At the same time, during this period the enterprise keeps in the archive (its own or state) a working chart of accounts, an accounting policy, as well as automated accounting programs used in data processing. The period of storage of cash documents is also 5 years.

Personnel documentation and payroll books are stored for a very long time. 75 years - the period of storage of accounting documents related to orders, payroll and other incomes, on which the amount of the calculated average wage depends, the length of service for obtaining state pension provision. References and minutes, opinions of commissions, reports on heavy and especially harmful working conditions, on occupational injuries, on accidents and industrial accidents are stored during the same time. The same amount of time does not get rid of insurance contracts, which resulted in an insurance event and provided insurance payments.

Five years are kept accounting financial documents. And the countdown of this period begins only after the expiration of their validity period. These are business contracts, property insurance contracts, contracts for the provision of audit services, and others. As many as from the moment of the dismissal of the employee, agreements are kept with materially responsible persons, books of purchases and sales, etc.

The law establishes the procedure for the submission of accounting financial documents to the archive. An administrative fine is also provided for officials responsible for the proper implementation of this clause of the law on securing the retention of financial and other economic documentation. Administrative penalty for violation of this procedure in accordance with paragraph 11 of Article 15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation is a maximum of three thousand rubles. The term of storage of accounting documents is controlled by tax inspectorates and state bodies.

Archives for the storage of accounting and other documentation are equipped in special isolated premises and are contained in metal safes or fireproof cabinets that allow to ensure their integrity and complete safety for a long time.