All document issued or received by a company in the course of its business must be kept for certain periods of time. minimum periods (although there is nothing to prevent the company from’archive longer, unless it contains personal data).
These limitation periods, during which the’administration can lead controls vary according to the nature of the products. documents to keep and legal obligations related to it.
Civil and commercial documents
The following documents must be kept for the following periods:
2 years :
- Guarantee for goods or services supplied to the consumer (Article L110-4 of the French Commercial Code)
- Insurance policy from the termination of the contract (Article L114-1 of the Insurance Code)
3 years :
- Customs declaration (Article 16 of European Council Regulation n°2913/92 of 12 October 1992)
5 years :
- Contract or agreement concluded as part of a commercial relationship, commercial correspondence (Article L110-4 of the French Commercial Code)
- Banking document cheque stub, bank statement, etc. (Article L110-4 of the French Commercial Code)
- Freight transport document (Article L110-4 of the French Commercial Code)
- Intellectual property document patent, trademark, design and model (Article 2224 of the Civil Code)
- A lawyer's file from the end of the mandate (Article 2225 of the Civil Code)
10 years :
- Contract concluded electronically from €120 (Article 213-1 of the Consumer Code)
30 years :
- Contract for the purchase or sale of property and land (Article 2227 of the Civil Code)
Accounting vouchers
Accounting records must be kept for 10 years from the end of the financial year, in accordance with the law.’Article L123-22 of the French Commercial Code.
This concerns :
- Accounting book and register journal book, inventory ledger, etc.
- Supporting document order form, delivery or receipt slip, customer and supplier invoice, etc.
Tax document
Tax documents must be kept for 6 years in accordance with the’Article L102 B of the Book of Tax Procedures.
This concerns the following taxes:
- Income tax and corporation tax
- Industrial and commercial profits (BIC), non-commercial profits (BNC) and agricultural profits (BA) under the actual system
- Corporation tax for EIRL limited liability companies (farms, self-employed companies)
- Direct local taxes (property tax, public broadcasting contribution)
- Business property tax (CFE) and CVAE
- Sales tax (VAT and similar taxes, entertainment tax, tax on insurance policies, etc.)
Corporate and legal documents for commercial companies
The following documents must be kept for the following periods:
Last 3 financial years :
- Attendance sheet and powers of attorney. Report of the Managing Director or the Board of Directors. Auditors' report (Article L225-117 of the French Commercial Code)
5 years :
- Status of a company, an EIG or an association and amending documents from the loss of legal personality or removal from the RCS (Article 2224 of the Civil Code)
- Merger Treaty and other documents relating to the operation of the company and documents of the absorbed company (Article 2224 of the Civil Code)
- Register of registered shares, register of share movements, movement orders, register of minutes of general meetings and board meetings from the end of their use. (Article 2224 of the Civil Code)
10 years :
- Annual accounts balance sheet, income statement, notes, etc. (Article L123-22 of the French Commercial Code)
Personnel management
The following documents must be kept for the following periods:
1 year :
- Recording of employees' working hours, on-call time and compensation for on-call time (Article D3171-16 of the Labour Code)
3 years :
- Document relating to social security contributions and payroll tax (Article L244-3 of the Social Security Code and L169 A of the Book of Tax Procedures)
- Accounting for days worked by employees under fixed-term contracts (Article D3171-16 of the Labour Code)
5 years :
- Pay slip (Article L3243-4 of the Labour Code)
- Single personnel register from the employee's departure (Article R1221-26 of the Labour Code)
- Documents relating to employment contracts, salaries, bonuses, allowances, balances of accounts, pension schemes, etc. (Article 2224 of the Civil Code)
- Observation or formal notice from the Labour Inspectorate, verification and monitoring by the CHSCT (Article D4711-3 of the Labour Code)
- Declaration of accident at work with the primary health insurance fund (Article D4711-3 of the Labour Code)
