Decision No. 218/2000/ND-BTC on the issuance of accounting document storage regulations

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1: Accounting documents subject to preservation and storage according to these Regulations include original accounting documents recorded on paper and having legal value in accounting, including:

1- Accounting vouchers, comprising: Original vouchers and bookkeeping vouchers;

2- Accounting ledgers, comprising: Detailed accounting ledgers, detailed accounting cards, summary accounting ledgers;

3- Financial reports, comprising: Monthly financial reports, quarterly financial reports, annual financial reports;

4- Other accounting-related documents, which are documents other than those mentioned above, used as bases for preparing accounting vouchers; documents related to economic activities (such as economic contracts, loan contracts, promissory notes, joint venture contracts...); documents related to capital, funds, profits (such as decisions to supplement capital from profits, distribution of funds from profits...); documents related to budget revenue and expenditure, fund usage (such as settlement of fund usage, settlement of state budget funds, settlement of investment capital...); documents related to tax obligations to the state (such as decisions on tax exemption, reduction, refund, additional collection, annual tax settlement...); documents related to asset inventory and valuation (such as inventory forms, valuation records...); documents related to inspection, auditing, and supervision (such as inspection conclusions, audit reports...); documents on computerized accounting programs, documents related to the destruction of accounting documents.

Article 2: Accounting documents specified in Article 1, if recorded on machines, on information carriers such as magnetic tapes, floppy disks, payment cards, must be printed on paper upon being stored and must have all legal elements as prescribed by the state regarding accounting documents (such as forms, codes, signatures, seals).

Article 3: Accounting documents to be stored must be complete, systematic, classified, and arranged into separate files (accounting voucher files, accounting ledger files, financial report files...). Within each file, accounting documents must be arranged in chronological order according to each accounting period, ensuring rationality for reference and use when necessary.

Article 4: Accounting documents to be stored shall be handled as follows:

1. Accounting documents of completed accounting periods that are no longer used for bookkeeping in subsequent accounting periods shall be stored no later than twelve months from the end date of the accounting period;

2. Accounting documents concerning the final settlement report of completed investment projects shall be stored no later than twelve months from the date the final settlement report of the completed investment project is approved;

3. Accounting documents related to dissolution, bankruptcy, shareholding reform, ownership conversion shall be stored no later than six months from the completion date of each such activity.

Article 5: The storage location for accounting documents is stipulated as follows:

1. Accounting documents of any unit shall be stored in the unit's archive room.

2. Accounting documents of joint ventures and wholly foreign-owned companies during their operation in Vietnam as per the investment license granted shall be stored at the company within the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

3. Accounting documents of dissolved or bankrupt units (including joint ventures and wholly foreign-owned companies), including accounting documents of completed accounting periods and documents related to dissolution or bankruptcy events shall be stored at the agency that established the unit (issued the license) or the agency that registered the business or at the location as decided by the authority deciding dissolution or bankruptcy.

4. Accounting documents of units undergoing shareholding reform or ownership conversion, including accounting documents of completed accounting periods and documents related to shareholding reform or ownership conversion shall be stored at the new owner's unit or at the location as decided by the authority deciding shareholding reform or ownership conversion.

5. Accounting documents of completed accounting periods of units that have been divided or split into two or more new units: If the accounting documents can be divided, they shall be stored at the new unit; If the accounting documents cannot be divided, they shall be stored at the location as decided by the authority deciding division or splitting. Documents related to division or splitting shall be stored at the newly divided or split unit.

6. Accounting documents of completed accounting periods and documents related to mergers of merged units shall be stored at the receiving unit.

In cases where a unit does not organize a department or storage room, it may lease accounting document storage to other organizations on the basis of a contract signed between the parties. The contract must clearly specify the responsibilities of each party regarding leased accounting documents, leasing costs, and payment methods.

Article 6: At each unit, the Chief Accountant or the person responsible for accounting shall be responsible for assisting the Director (or head of the unit) in organizing, classifying, arranging documents, and processing procedures to store accounting documents.

Article 7: Stored accounting documents must be preserved according to current state laws on protecting stored documents and the provisions of this regulation. Accounting documents must be stored in the unit's storage room. The storage room must have adequate equipment and devices for preservation and conditions ensuring the safety of stored accounting documents, such as shelves, cabinets, fire prevention means; moisture and mold prevention; flood and pest control measures.

The head of the unit shall be responsible under the law for the safety, completeness, and legality of the unit's stored accounting documents.

Article 8: Units must open a "Record of Stored Accounting Documents" to record, monitor, and manage stored accounting documents. The Record of Stored Accounting Documents must include the following main contents: Type of stored document, number, date of storage, condition of the document when stored, storage period.

Article 9: The person assigned the task of managing and preserving stored accounting documents shall be responsible to the unit's head and under the law for any loss, damage, or other incidents caused by their own negligence.

Managers and preservers of stored accounting documents are not permitted to allow any organization or individual to view or use stored accounting documents without the written consent of the unit's head or the authorized representative of the head. In case of risk or discovery of stored accounting documents being lost, damaged by pests, or deteriorated, the manager and preserver of the documents must immediately report to the unit's head to promptly take measures to address and rectify the situation.

Article 10: Accounting documents within the storage period retain their legal validity in all legitimate exploitation and usage scenarios. The exploitation and usage of stored accounting documents must be with the written consent of the unit's head or the authorized representative of the head and must be conducted at the storage location.

In cases where state agencies authorized by law request and provide documents for external use, the unit and the person executing the agency's request must prepare a "Handover Record of Accounting Documents." In addition to the content specified in a general record, the "Handover Record of Accounting Documents" must clearly state: type of document, quantity, accounting year of the document, condition of the document, usage time, and deadline for returning to the storage room.

The unit must be responsible for providing accounting documents to investigative agencies, tax authorities, and state agencies with supervisory functions. These agencies must be responsible for safeguarding and preserving the accounting documents during their use and must return the documents fully and on time.

In cases prescribed by law, investigative agencies may issue a written decision to seize original accounting documents as evidence. The unit must store copies of seized accounting documents. When seizing accounting documents, both the investigative agency and the unit must prepare a record of the seizure.

Article 11: All accounting documents currently in use during the accounting year and those being prepared for storage as stipulated in Article 4 of this Regulation must be managed, preserved, and utilized according to the current accounting system.

PERIOD OF STORAGE FOR ACCOUNTING DOCUMENTS

Article 12: All accounting documents specified in Article 1 of this Regulation are classified and stored according to the following periods:

1- Minimum period of 5 years;

2- Period of 20 years;

3- Over 20 years.

Article 13: Accounting documents used for regular management and operation that are not directly used to record accounting books and prepare annual financial reports (such as warehouse entry forms, warehouse exit forms, receipts, payments not kept in the accounting voucher file of the accounting department; daily, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and nine-month accounting reports...) must be stored for a minimum of 5 years from the end of the accounting year.

Article 14: All accounting documents directly related to recording accounting books and preparing annual financial reports must be stored for 20 years, specifically as follows:

1. Accounting documents of the accounting year: stored for 20 years from the end of the accounting year;

2. Accounting documents of project investors' units, including accounting documents of the accounting year and accounting documents on final project investment settlement reports: stored for 20 years from the approval of the final project investment settlement report;

3. Accounting documents on fixed assets, including accounting documents related to the liquidation and sale of fixed assets: stored for 20 years from the completion of the liquidation and sale of fixed assets;

4. Accounting documents related to dissolution, bankruptcy, shareholding, and ownership conversion: stored for 20 years from the end of each respective process;

5. Records of destruction of stored accounting documents and related documents on destruction: stored for 20 years from the date of record creation.

Article 15: Accounting documents stored for over 20 years are those with archival value and long-term economic, political, and social significance for the unit, industry, or locality, such as:

1- Summary accounting books;

2- Annual financial reports;

3- Final project investment settlement report files;

4- Other vouchers and accounting documents. The determination of accounting documents to be stored for over 20 years is decided by the unit, industry, or authorized agency based on the archival value and long-term significance of the documents and information, and they are entrusted to the accounting department or another department for storage in original form or otherwise.

Article 16: Accounting documents that have exceeded the retention period of five years or twenty years but are related to pending, ongoing, or yet-to-be-tried lawsuits shall not be subject to the retention periods specified in Articles 13, 14, and 15, but shall be retained according to the current legal provisions or the decision of the competent authority.

Article 17: In cases of force majeure due to natural disasters or fires resulting in damage or loss of accounting documents, the entity must establish a Recovery Committee for Accounting Documents chaired by the entity's head, the Chief Accountant or the person responsible for accounting, and representatives from relevant departments. The Committee must carry out the following tasks:

- By all means, recover and preserve recoverable documents;

- Conduct an inventory to determine the number of remaining documents, the number of lost or irrecoverably damaged documents;

- Prepare a record detailing the number of remaining documents and lost documents by type of accounting document. The record must be stored for the same retention period as the damaged or lost documents.

DESTRUCTION OF ACCOUNTING DOCUMENTS EXCEEDING RETENTION PERIOD

Article 18: Accounting documents that have exceeded the retention period as prescribed herein may be destroyed upon the decision of the entity’s head if there is no other directive from a competent state agency or individual. The destruction of accounting documents exceeding the retention period must be carried out fully and correctly according to the procedures stipulated herein.

Article 19: Procedures for destroying accounting documents exceeding the retention period:

1- The entity that stores the accounting documents shall be responsible for their destruction;

2- The entity’s head decides to establish a "Committee for Destroying Accounting Documents Exceeding Retention Period." The committee includes the entity’s leadership, the Chief Accountant or the person responsible for accounting work, and a representative from the storage department;

3- The Committee for Destroying Accounting Documents must conduct an inventory, evaluate, and classify the documents by type, prepare a "List of Accounting Documents to be Destroyed" and a "List of Accounting Documents to be Stored for Over Twenty Years;"

4- Prepare a "Record of Destruction of Accounting Documents Exceeding Retention Period" and proceed with the destruction of the accounting documents. The Record of Destruction of Accounting Documents Exceeding Retention Period, in addition to the contents required for a standard record, must clearly specify: the type of accounting documents destroyed, the retention period for each type (from year to year), the method of destruction, conclusions, and signatures of the committee members.

The Record of Destruction of Accounting Documents Exceeding Retention Period, along with the List of Accounting Documents to be Destroyed and the List of Accounting Documents to be Stored for Over Twenty Years, serves as the basis for recording the "Accounting Document Storage Tracking Book" and storing it for twenty years at the entity’s archive.

Article 20: The destruction of accounting documents exceeding the retention period must be carried out immediately while preparing the Record of Destruction of Accounting Documents. Depending on the specific conditions of each entity, the destruction of accounting documents can be done through methods such as burning, cutting, shredding by machine or manually, ensuring that the destroyed accounting documents cannot be reused for any information or figures. In cases where paper scraps are recycled as raw material, the Committee for Destroying Accounting Documents must implement the aforementioned destruction methods before removing the paper scraps from the entity.

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 21: The Accounting Document Retention System takes effect from January 1, 2001. All previous regulations contrary to this system are abolished.

Article 22: Any acts of destroying, damaging, or losing stored accounting documents will be subject to administrative penalties or legal proceedings depending on the nature and severity of the violation.

Article 23: Sectors and fields with special characteristics regarding accounting documents (such as banking, securities markets, etc.), based on this system, shall cooperate with the Ministry of Finance and the State Archives Administration to develop their own accounting document retention systems.