How long should a small business keep its records? A retention table you can fill in

"Keep everything" and "delete everything" both cause problems. Keep everything, and you hold personal details long after you need them. Delete too much, and you may lose records the law or a dispute still needs. The answer is to sort your records by why you keep them.

This guide is for owners of small UK service businesses whose inboxes, spreadsheets, job tools and form exports hold years of records. It sets out the published minimums for tax and accounting records, explains how to set your own rules for other personal data, and shows how to handle holds without deleting what's still needed. It includes a blank retention table and a fictional worked example.

It isn't legal or tax advice. It doesn't cover employment, health or regulated-sector records, which have their own rules.

1. Three kinds of record

Sort your records into three kinds:

• Tax and accounting records. GOV.UK publishes minimum periods for these, with conditions.
• Other personal data, such as enquiries, job notes, photos and customer messages. There's no published period. You keep them only as long as you need them for the reason you have them, and that period is your decision.
• Records under a hold, such as those linked to an open complaint or dispute, or an HMRC compliance check. A hold can mean keeping them longer for now.

The same item can belong to more than one kind. An invoice is a tax record and may also contain a customer's details.

2. The published minimums for tax and accounting records

These are GOV.UK's words. Check which applies to you, and ask your accountant if you're unsure.

If you're self-employed, GOV.UK's guidance on how long to keep your records says: "You must keep your records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year." It adds that if you send your tax return more than 4 years after the deadline, you'll need to keep your records for 15 months after you send it.

If you run a limited company, GOV.UK's guidance on company and accounting records says: "You must keep records for 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, or longer if":

• they show a transaction that covers more than one of the company's accounting periods
• the company has bought something it expects to last more than 6 years, like equipment or machinery
• you sent your Company Tax Return late
• HMRC has started a compliance check into your Company Tax Return

These periods apply to those tax and accounting records. They aren't a rule for every record a business holds.

3. Other personal data: keep it only as long as you need it

For personal data, Article 5 of the UK GDPR says it should be kept in a form that identifies people "for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed". There are limited exceptions for archiving, research and statistical purposes.

The law doesn't set a period. You decide it, based on why you keep the data, and you should be able to explain your decision. Our guide to choosing between a spreadsheet and a CRM covers this principle and cleaning up old copies when you change tools.

4. Turn each purpose into a rule you can apply

"Keep it as long as we need it" isn't something you can act on. For each kind of record, turn the purpose into a rule that doesn't need guessing. It can be:

• an event, such as "when the guarantee on the job ends" or "when an enquiry is closed as not proceeding"
• a period you've chosen, such as a set number of months after the event, as long as you can explain why

Then write down who applies the rule, when they check it, and what they decided, with the date. There's no universal period that suits every business. The fictional example in section 9 shows how one business set its own rules.

5. Find where records hide

Records sit in more places than you might expect:

• email inboxes, including shared mailboxes and former employees' accounts
• spreadsheets and their copies
• form exports saved to laptops or downloaded folders
• job tools, CRMs and booking systems
• photos on phones
• backups

A rule only works if it reaches every copy. For backups, ask whoever manages them how deletion reaches them.

Our guides to shared inboxes for enquiries and removing access when someone leaves cover closed enquiries and leavers' accounts.

6. Holds pause the rule; they don't delete

A hold means keeping particular records for now, because of something like an open complaint, a dispute or an HMRC compliance check. For a company's accounting records, GOV.UK lists an HMRC compliance check as one reason to keep them longer.

• Record the hold: what it covers, why, who placed it and when.
• Review it at each regular review, and record the outcome.
• When you release it, the records go back to their normal rule. They aren't deleted automatically. Anything still needed for another reason, such as tax records, stays.

7. Review regularly, with an owner

Pick a regular review and name who does it. You choose how often, for example monthly or quarterly. At each review, apply the rules, review any holds and record what you decided.

8. When to get advice

Get advice if you hold employment or health records, work in a regulated sector, face a dispute or legal claim, or aren't sure which tax rules apply to you. This guide doesn't cover those cases.

9. Use the retention table

1. Copy one card for each kind of record you hold.
2. Write why you keep it, and whether it has a published minimum.
3. Turn the purpose into a rule or trigger you can apply without guessing.
4. Name the owner, and record any hold.
5. At each review, record the decision and the date.

Fictional example

Fictional example only: an invented self-employed decorator, jobs and dates. The rules, guarantee term and review routine are this business's own choices, not recommendations, and not legal or tax advice. The tax minimum is as GOV.UK states it.

The decorator works as a sole trader, gives a 12-month workmanship guarantee on each written quote, and reviews records early each month. They file tax returns on time.

Common questions

How long should I keep customer records?

There's no single answer. Tax and accounting records have the published minimums in section 2. For other personal data, keep it only as long as you need it for the reason you have it, and set a rule you can apply.

Can I keep everything, just in case?

The UK GDPR says personal data should be kept no longer than necessary for its purpose. Holding it with no current purpose isn't a reason to keep it.

Do backups count?

Yes, copies in backups are still copies. Ask whoever manages your backups how deletion reaches them.

What happens when a complaint is resolved?

Release the hold and record it. The records go back to their normal rule. They aren't deleted automatically, and anything still needed for another reason stays.

Do invoices count as customer records or tax records?

Both. Keep them at least as long as the tax minimum that applies to you.

ScalePass helps service businesses organise the records and tools they already use, with clear owners for each step. If you'd like help setting up retention rules and reviews in your current systems, see how we approach connected systems.

In short

Sort records by why you keep them. Keep tax and accounting records for at least the GOV.UK minimum that applies to you. Keep other personal data only as long as you need it, and turn each purpose into a rule you can apply: an event or a period you can explain. Find every copy, including backups. Use holds for open complaints, disputes or compliance checks, and when you release a hold, return records to their normal rule rather than deleting them. Review regularly, with a named owner, and record each decision.