Receipts, invoices, bank records, payroll records and ATO requirements
There's a particular kind of dread that comes with a shoebox of old receipts.
Do you need all of these? Can you throw out last year's? What about the invoice for equipment you bought three years ago and already sold?
The good news: there is one core rule, and it covers most of what you'll ever need to know.
The short answer
Most Australian business records need to be kept for five years under ATO rules, from when you prepared or obtained the record, or completed the transaction it relates to — whichever is later. If your business operates as a company, a separate, longer requirement also applies: the Corporations Act requires companies to retain their financial records for seven years, regardless of the ATO's own timeframe. Employee records generally need to be kept for seven years too, under workplace law. These are three distinct legal requirements, not one rule described three ways.
What actually counts as a record
The ATO's requirement covers anything relating to your business's income, expenses, tax and superannuation affairs, including:
sales invoices and receipts
purchase invoices and expense receipts
bank statements and reconciliations
payroll records, including PAYG withholding and wages
records relating to the purchase, sale and cost of business assets
GST records, including tax invoices
any calculation, estimate or choice you made for your tax or super affairs — and how you arrived at it
Records need to contain enough detail for someone outside your head to understand the transaction — generally the date, amount, description, and relevant GST information.
Three separate legal requirements, not one
ATO tax records — 5 years. Covers the income, expense, GST and super records described above, for any business structure.
Company financial records — 7 years, under the Corporations Act. If you operate through a company, section 286 of the Corporations Act separately requires you to keep written financial records that correctly explain the company's transactions and financial position, retained for seven years — this applies to every company, including a small proprietary company with one director, and exists independently of the ATO's own timeframe. Failing to comply is treated seriously, including as a factor courts and liquidators can rely on when assessing whether a company was insolvent.
Employee and payroll records — 7 years, under the Fair Work Act. Applies if you employ anyone, regardless of your business structure.
How long — the categories that differ
| Record type | Minimum retention |
|---|---|
| General business tax records (income, expenses, invoices, bank records) | 5 years from when prepared/obtained or the transaction completed — ATO requirement |
| Company financial records (if you operate through a company) | 7 years — Corporations Act requirement, separate from the ATO's rule |
| Employee and payroll records | 7 years — Fair Work Act requirement |
| Capital gains tax (CGT) asset records | 5 years after the asset is sold or disposed of, not from purchase |
| Carried-forward tax losses | Until the loss is fully used, plus the review period for that later return |
| Records under ATO review or dispute | Until the matter is fully resolved, even if that exceeds 5 years |
The CGT rule is the one that most often catches people out: if you buy an asset and hold it for ten years before selling, you don't start the five-year clock at purchase — you start it at disposal. That can mean keeping a single purchase record for well over a decade.
Digital vs paper
The ATO accepts digital records as the primary form of record-keeping, provided they're accurate, complete, and can be produced if asked — including keeping information about how any digital destruction process works, if you use one. For most small businesses, cloud accounting software with receipt capture is a practical way to satisfy this without a physical filing system at all.
A simple way to think about it
Rather than trying to remember every exception, a workable rule of thumb for many small businesses is: keep everything for at least seven years. That single window comfortably covers the ATO's standard five-year rule, the Corporations Act's seven-year requirement for companies, and the Fair Work Act's seven-year requirement for employee records, without needing to sort records into separate retention categories.
Assets, carried-forward losses and anything under dispute are the genuine exceptions — worth flagging specifically rather than relying on a blanket rule.
A quick self-check
Do I have a consistent place — digital or physical — where every business record ends up?
Do my records include enough detail (date, amount, description, GST) to make sense on their own?
Have I identified any assets I still hold, where the retention clock hasn't started yet?
If I operate through a company, am I meeting the separate 7-year Corporations Act requirement, not just the ATO's 5-year rule?
If I employ anyone, am I keeping those records for seven years, not five?
If I'm ever asked to produce a record, could I actually find it?
Free official resource
The ATO sets out the core record-keeping rules for Australian businesses, including which records need to be kept longer than five years.
ato.gov.au — Overview of record-keeping rules for business https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/preparing-lodging-and-paying/record-keeping-for-business/overview-of-record-keeping-rules-for-business
When should you get professional help?
you're not sure whether an old record can be safely discarded;
you're being reviewed or audited and need to understand what you're required to produce;
you're selling an asset you've held for a long time and want to confirm what records you'll need; or
you want a record-keeping system set up properly, rather than relying on memory or a shoebox.
Continue learning
→ Do I Need Accounting Software When My Business Is Still Small?
→ Should I Open a Separate Business Bank Account?
→ My Bookkeeping Is Months Behind — Where Do I Start?
SKC Accounting | Knowledge Centre | Knowledge Guide 006
Last reviewed: August 2026
General information only. This guide does not take into account your individual circumstances and is not a substitute for professional accounting, taxation, legal or financial advice.