Jack W Olds & Company, LLP hereby denotes its policies regarding information and document retention. These policies apply uniformly to documents retained in either paper or electronic format.
Documents to be maintained
We will retain firm business records to comply with Internal Revenue Service requirements. In relation to the professional services we provide, our policy is to retain documentation necessary to support our work (including opinions, resolution of differences, conclusions and research utilized in analysis), our correspondence with clients, and our work product and items of continuing significance. Drafts or other documents not utilized in our client work will not be retained.
Documents transmitted as attachments via email are considered separate from the email messages to which they are attached.
Original client records will be returned to clients upon their request and will not be a part of our ongoing files.
Procedures for client document storage
All client service information will be stored in the firm’s central system. Those email messages that contain information pertinent to the completion of a tax return or financial statement will be included in the source documents folder. Email messages not saved for filing in the correspondence file or other appropriate folder will be deleted.
Retention periods for client records
Retention periods commence immediately following the date of the financial statements or the taxable year in the case of tax returns and workpapers.
- Audits, reviews and compilations (financial statements and workpapers) – 7 years
- Litigation support projects (including workpapers) – 3 years
- Permanent files for current clients – Permanent
- Permanent files for former clients – 7 years
- Regulatory examination files – 7 years after the close of the exam
- Reports filed with government agencies (including workpapers) – 7 years
- Special projects (reports and workpapers) – 7 years
- Tax returns and workpapers (including electronic filing authorizations and any such documentation to support virtual currency transactions) – 7 years
Destruction and control
Destruction of documents is as important as their storage. Paper documents which are not to be retained in the firm’s files must be shredded or incinerated if they contain confidential information or sensitive data. Any document with a Social Security number, a taxpayer identification number or a client name on it must be destroyed in this manner. We will never throw confidential documents in the trash. Electronic documents are destroyed by deleting them from the medium on which they are stored and then purging the medium itself. A written list of files (both paper and electronic) to be destroyed will be reviewed by each partner for clients with potential issues that may require a longer retention period.
A list of files destroyed will be maintained permanently. If we learn that a government agency is investigating a client or that private litigation is pending or threatened (even if the firm is not directly involved), we will retain all relevant records, even if they are slated for destruction under the firm’s policy and even if no request has been made for them.