What the company must retain.
WHAT TO KEEP
Certificate of incorporation Constitution and every amendment Statutory registers
Minute books: board and members
Resolutions Annual returns and accounts Tax filings and receipts Bank mandates and statements Contracts of significance Share certificates and transfer instruments Licences and permits Property documents Insurance policies Employment records
HOW LONG
Per the applicable retention requirements, and indefinitely for constitutional and ownership documents.
WHY INDEFINITELY FOR THOSE
They establish existence and ownership and they are required decades later.
WHERE TO KEEP THEM
Securely, with digital copies backed up separately.
WHY BOTH
Originals are occasionally required; copies are what you use.
WHAT TO ORGANISE
By category and year.
WHAT TO MAINTAIN
An index of what exists and where.
WHY
It is what a transaction, audit or investigation requires immediately.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Who is responsible for the records.
WHAT COMMONLY GOES WRONG
Records held by a former accountant or agent Documents lost when offices move Nobody knowing what exists
WHAT TO DO
Obtain everything from any agent holding it, now.
WHY NOW
Relationships end and documents become difficult to recover.
WHAT TO VERIFY
That the public record matches your records.
HOW
A search at the registry.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT DISCREPANCIES
Correct them.
