Accounting records are the supporting documents that verify the history of transactions, audits, and reports. Accounting documents are sometimes required to be kept on file for a certain number of years.

They may be paper or electronic records. Records may include point-of-sale documents such as receipts and invoices, as well as inventory delivery and audit records, and the results of internal and third-party audits from various periods.

These documents are commonly known as a “paper trail,” and, even if they are mostly electronic today, the existence of documents that reaches back several years is a deterrent to fraudulent activity.

Accounting is largely about the reconstruction of material facts concerning the flow of money in a business, and the records are the bricks with which the transaction history can be reconstructed. Accounting firms are required by the SEC to keep accounting records for up to 7 years.