Finance Records Retention Schedule

The pdf attached below provides a records retention schedule for financial records. This includes guidance on:

• Accounts payable records
• Accounts receivable records
• Bank records
• Financial statements and reports
• Fixed assets
• Fees and grants records
• Other financial records (e.g. policies, procedures, guidelines, purchase orders/requisitions, creditor records, etc.)

What is a Financial Record?

The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement states an accounting record is a record of a company’s income and spending. These records contain the information needed for preparing the company’s annual financial statement. They allow the company’s financial position to be measured with reasonable accuracy at any time. They explain:  

• all the money that the company receives and spends 
• all assets and liabilities of the company 
• all purchases and sales 
• records of stock that the company holds
• records of services that the company provides 

Section 282 of the Companies Act 2014 states that accounting records are those that are sufficient to; 

• correctly record and explain the transactions of the company 
• enable, at any time, the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the company to be determined with reasonable accuracy 
• enable the directors to ensure that any financial statements of the company, required to be prepared under section 290 or 293, and any directors' report required to be prepared under section 325, comply with the requirements of this Act and, where applicable, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation, and
• enable those financial statements of the company so prepared to be audited  

Accounting records, pursuant to section 281 of the Companies Act 2014, shall contain: 

• entries from day to day of all sums of money received and expended by the company and the matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place 
• a record of the assets and liabilities of the company 
• if the company's business involves dealing in goods;
• a record of all transactions whereby goods are purchased and whereby goods are sold, showing the goods and the sellers and buyers (except buyers of goods in ordinary retail trade) in sufficient detail to enable the goods and the sellers and buyers to be identified and a record of all the invoices relating to such purchases and sales 
• statements of stock held by the company at the end of each financial year and all records of stock takings from which any such statement of stock has been, or is to be, prepared,
• if the company's business involves the provision or purchase of services, a record of all transactions whereby services are provided and whereby services are purchased, to whom they were provided or from whom they were purchased (unless provided or purchased by way of ordinary retail trade) and of all the invoices relating thereto 

• 20220602 Finance Retention Schedule.pdf200 KB