Record Retention Guidelines

By Donna Herman
MGD Services

Have you ever grappled with what receipts and documents should you retain and for how long? This seems like a simple question, but depending on the document, the state you live in, the state you work in and your specific business, it can be an exhaustive process. So how do you know what records to retain, how long to retain them and when they can be discarded or destroyed.

For the purger and the packrat, here is a list from NJSCPA from their website moneymattersnj.com which provides some general guidelines you can follow.

Individual Records	Retention Period
Tax returns	Six years from filing
Medical bills	Six years from payment
Form 1099s	Six years from receipt
Keogh and IRA statements	Six years from purchase
Year-end brokerage statements	Six years from receipt
Schedule K-1s from partnerships or S corporations	Six years from disposition of interest
Insurance policies	Six years from expiration
Business Records	Retention Period
General:	.
Capital stock records	Indefinite
Corporate records and minutes	Indefinite
Tax returns	Indefinite
Accountant's audit reports	Indefinite
Monthly trial balances	7 years
Cash:	.
Cash receipts and disbursements	7 years
Bank statements, cancelled checks and deposit slips	7 years
Bank reconciliations	7 years
Petty cash vouchers	7 years
Inventories:	.
Perpetual inventory records	7 years
Physical inventory records	7 years
Sales and Receivables:	.
Sales journals	7 years
Shipping tickets	7 years
Accounts receivable ledgers and trial balances	7 years
Invoices	3 years
Expired contracts	7 years
Purchases and payables:	.
Purchase journals	7 years
Bills of lading	3 years
Accounts payable ledgers and trial balances	7 years
Purchase orders	3 years
Paid bills and vouchers	7 years
Expired purchase contracts	7 years
Payroll:	.
Payroll journals	7 years
Payroll reports	7 years
Form W-4	7 years
Time cards	7 years

Industry Specific Record Retention Guidelines

Work product and specific documentation produced by various companies and government agencies carry with them their own record retention guidelines. In order to illustrate this, I have included the following guidelines supplied by the CDC as an example of industry record retention requirements. These guidelines can be found publicly at:

http://www.cdc.gov/od/foia/policies/clearance.htm#FILING

CDC Record Retention Guidelines

Scientific and technical documents should be retained in accordance with the CDC Records Control Schedule, B-321 Item 2-33, which requires that a record copy be maintained permanently.

The following grid illustrates the general retention durations and locations for Record Copy, Supporting Material and Other Material as defined by CDC Records Control Schedule, B-321 Item 2-33.

Record Type	Retention Duration	Retention Location
Record Copy	0 - 5	CDC Office
Record Copy	5 - 20	Federal Records Center (FRC)
Record Copy	20 +	National Archives Permanent Retention
Supporting Material	0 – 2 years	CDC
Supporting Material	2 – 10 years	FRC
Supporting Material	10 years	DESTROY
Other Material	Until Project Completion	Project Office
Other Material	After Project Completion	DESTROY