How to destroy accounting documents?

The accounting activity of any organization involves the presence of a large amount and accumulation of paper documentation. And sooner or later the question arises of how to store and how to destroy these papers.

Each type of accounting document has its own shelf life. Mostly it is at least 5 years. You can find out more about this in the List of typical managerial archival documents generated in the course of the activities of state bodies, local governments and organizations, indicating the periods of storage.

After the storage period expires, the papers can be destroyed. Some involve a third-party organization for this, but this is not necessary. You can eliminate them yourself, you just need to follow all the rules of procedure.

It is worth taking into account the fact that the procedure for the destruction of accounting documentation is not enshrined in any regulatory legal act. Therefore, the organization has the right to independently develop and approve the procedure for the destruction of primary accounting documents.

Below we describe how the procedure goes.

Before destruction of papers, it is necessary to carry out their examination.

To do this, it is necessary to issue an order and appoint an appropriate commission, consisting of at least three people. The commission considers all papers subject to destruction and draws up appraisal acts and inventories. Based on these acts and inventories, a decision is made on what is destroyed and what is transferred for further storage.

Then an act is issued on the allocation of documents for destruction. The act should indicate the total number of documents to be destroyed.

The very fact of destruction must be recorded in the act.

The methods by which documents will be destroyed (chemical, incineration, grinding), the organization has the right to determine independently.

Specialists of the law firm "PARITET" are well versed in the issues of document management and storage of paper documents. We are ready at any time to advise you on the organization of the procedure for the destruction of documents, and are also ready to provide you with the necessary assistance in preparing the accompanying documentation.