How long must business documentation be retained?

Slovenian Accounting Standards no longer prescribe specific retention periods for accounting records and documents (except for those that must be kept permanently). Therefore, when setting retention periods in internal policies, businesses should primarily consider the legislation applicable to each specific area. As a rule, for substantively related documents, it is advisable to apply the longest retention period required by any relevant law.

1. Companies Act (ZGD-1), Article 54 – permanent retention:

• accounting books (the general ledger and journal as core records),

• balance sheets, income statements or annual reports, including the business report.

2. Records in the Field of Labour and Social Security Act:

• records on employees — permanent retention,

• records on labor costs — permanent retention,

• records on the use of working time.

3. Value Added Tax Act (ZDDV-1):

• invoices relating to the supply of goods or services — at least 10 years after the end of the year to which they relate,

• invoices relating to real estate — at least 20 years after the end of the year to which they relate.

From this it follows:

• received and issued invoices with supporting documents (delivery notes, receipt documents) — 10 years,

• exception: received invoices relating to real estate — 20 years.

4. Other accounting documents:

• cash operations records, bank statements, deposit and loan agreements, other subsidiary ledgers, and journal vouchers — it is recommended to define a reasonable retention period, for example 5 years after the end of the financial year to which they relate.

5. Annual financial statements and final payroll calculations:

• annual financial statements, final payroll calculations, and payslips for periods without final payroll calculations — permanent retention,

• supporting payroll calculations — 2 years,

• annual statements must be retained in original form.