What is accounting archiving?

Accounting archiving involves keeping a company’s accounting and financial documents in an organised and accessible way. This ensures that a record is kept of the company’s financial history and that the documents needed to justify accounting transactions are available. Accounting records can be stored physically, in filing cabinets or boxes for example, or electronically, by storing the necessary documents on a computer medium.

Who is in charge of archiving the accounts?

Accounting archiving is generally carried out by the company’s accounting department, which is responsible for keeping and managing the accounting records and associated documentation. This may include receiving, sorting and filing accounting documents, as well as setting up various information management procedures and appropriate storage systems.
Depending on the size of the company and the complexity of its activities, the accounting department may consist of one or more accountants, who may be supported by accounting assistants or trainees. In large companies, it is usual for the archiving of accounts to be entrusted to a dedicated team or to a company specialising in this area.
It should be noted that accounting archiving must be carried out in a rigorous and orderly manner, to guarantee the reliability and integrity of the company’s accounting data. It is therefore advisable to entrust this task to qualified and competent professionals, who will be able to implement appropriate processes and tools tailored to the nature and needs of the business.

When should accounting records be archived?

Generally, it is advisable to archive your accounts each year, once all the accounting and financial documents have been collated and the annual accounts finalised. This allows the documents to be kept in a more organised and accessible way, should the need arise.
Compliance with legal deadlines for archiving accounting records is very important. Legal deadlines vary according to the type of business and the country in which it is registered. Generally speaking, accounting documents must be kept for more than ten years. However, there may be variations depending on the laws and regulations in force in each country.

The steps involved in archiving accounting records

Gathering documents

First of all, you need to collect all the accounting documents for the past year, such as invoices, receipts, purchase orders, bank statements, etc.

Sorting documents

Next, it is important to sort and classify these documents. For example, documents can be sorted by month or by document type. The sorting method is selected according to the company. It is also advisable to number each document to make it easier to find. Once the documents have been filed and numbered, they need to be grouped in chronological order and by year: generally, one year corresponds to one filing cabinet.

Copy documents

Once the documents have been sorted, filed, numbered and arranged, it is common practice to make a back-up copy of all the accounting documents and store them in a secure place, in case the original documents are lost or damaged.

Types of accounting archive

Physical archiving

Physical archiving consists of keeping accounting documents in paper form in filing cabinets and/or storage boxes. This can be useful if the company needs to consult these documents regularly or if access to a computer or computer network is limited.

Digital archiving

Digital archiving involves digitising accounting documents and storing them on an external hard drive or in the cloud. This makes accounting documents available quickly and easily. However, it is essential to set up a backup system to avoid any risk of data loss.

Outsourced archiving

Outsourced archiving involves a company specialised in the archiving of a company’s accounting documents. This is a possible solution for companies that do not have sufficient storage space for documents, or for companies that do not have the necessary resources to carry out the archiving of accounting documents.