Guide to Business Records Retention Requirements

How to Use This Guide

This is a guide in digest form to the provisions of Georgia statutes and rules and regulations relating to records keeping by the public. It tells the user (1) what records must be kept, (2) who must keep them, and (3) how long they must be kept.

The guide is derived from statutory laws of Georgia published in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated and from the Rules and Regulations for the State Bar Created by the Supreme Court of Georgia.

This guide is intended as a reference only. Although every effort has been made to insure its accuracy, laws and regulations are constantly changing.

Coverage

In preparing the guide, it was necessary to establish boundaries in order to keep it within its intended purpose. The records covered by the guide are those that address categories of activities conducted by individuals, businesses, and organizations for which retention requirements are expressly stated in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, in the Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, or in the Rules and Regulations for the State Bar created by the Supreme Court of Georgia.

In many statutory provisions and regulations, there is implied responsibility to keep copies of reports and other papers furnished to state agencies or local governments. Such implied requirements have not been included in the guide.

The following types of requirements have also been excluded from the guide:

• Requirements involving the furnishing of reports to local or state government agencies or courts, the filing of tax returns, or the submission of supporting evidence with applications or claims.
• Requirements involving the display of posters, notices, or other signs in places of business.
• Requirements contained in individual government contracts.
• Requirements involving records to be kept by government agencies.
• Contract terms mandated by statute or rule.
• Licensing or registration requirements.
• Requirements relating to labels or labeling of products or goods.
• Requirements imposed by municipalities, counties, or local school boards.

Citation

Citations found in the guide are citations to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, or to the Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia.The applicable records retention requirement can be checked in digest form in the guide and then in full text in either the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, in the Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, or the Rules and Regulations for the State Bar created by the Supreme Court of Georgia.