Page 209 - Accounting Best Practices

c10.qxd 7/31/03 3:12 PM Page 198
198
Exhibit 10.3 (Continued) Filing Best Practices
Type of Record Retention
Layoff Selection 1 Year
Material Safety Data Sheets 30 Years
Minute Books, Including Bylaws and Charter Permanent
Notes Receivable Ledgers and Schedules 7 Years
Occupational Injuries 5 Years
Payroll Records—Pay Data 3 Years
Payroll Records—Employment Data 3 Years from Termination
Physical Inventory Tags 3 Years
Physical/Medical Examinations Duration of Employment,
plus 30 Years
Plant Cost Ledgers 7 Years
Polygraph Tests 3 Years from Date of Test
Promotion Records/Notices 1 Year from Promotion
Property Appraisals Permanent
Property Records Permanent
Purchase Orders 7 Years
Receiving Sheets 1 Year
Sales and Purchase Records 3 Years
Sales Records 7 Years
Stock and Bond Certificates (Canceled) 7 Years
Subsidiary Ledgers 7 Years
Tax Returns Permanent
Termination Records 1 Year
Time Cards 3 Years
Time Worked Records 2 Years
Transfer Records 1 Year
Wage-Rate Tables 3 Years

there is no termination date whatsoever, such as corporate minute books, titles to
automobiles, or project files for special machinery built for customers.
Once a document-destruction policy has been created to eliminate unneces-
sary paperwork, a common result is for a company to realize a significant savings
in storage space as well as filing cabinets, both of which may be sold off or used
for other more profitable purposes.

Cost: Installation time: