There are different reasons to keep corporate records for a period of time. If an issue concerning liability arises, various corporate documents, including meeting minutes, should be available for production during discovery. Meeting minutes can show that the officers and the shareholders are following the corporate resolutions.
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The length of time you keep and maintain records depends on the item, expense or event memorialized by the record. A nice starting point is determining the period of limitations for the item recorded. The period of limitation is the time in which you can amend your tax return to claim a refund or the the time in which the IRS is allowed to assess additional taxes. Depending on the item for which the record pertains, the IRS recommends keeping the records for 2 - 7 years. You can find a more complete table here.
The IRS also requires corporations to keep tax documents for anything claimed as depreciation. Depreciation is an income tax deduction businesses can claim for the general wear and tear of company assets. If an item depreciates for seven years, all records pertaining to that item should be kept for those seven years.
Regardless of IRS regulations on corporate recordkeeping, it is a good idea to keep and maintain corporate records for your own usage. Journals and ledgers detailing transactions, purchases and events are an effective means of organization.
You can find templates for meeting minutes, corporate records,and other documents at RocketLawyer.com. It only takes a few minutes to complete the free Business Legal Check Up to find out exactly what documents you need for your business.
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