How Long Should You Keep Expense Receipts?

How long a business should keep expense receipts depends on its recordkeeping obligations, internal controls, business needs, and the type of transaction. A single period should not be assumed to apply to every organization or record. Finance, legal, or tax advisers familiar with the business and jurisdictions involved should determine requirements; this guide offers a process for managing the decision, not a retention rule.

Set a retention schedule from authoritative guidance

Identify the records the organization creates—receipts, reports, approvals, payment evidence, and accounting entries—and ask the appropriate internal owner to map requirements to each record class. Consider contractual obligations, audits, disputes, and the lifecycle of a transaction as well as statutory requirements. Record the source and owner for every schedule decision so future changes can be reviewed.

• Inventory expense record types and the systems or locations that hold them.
• Ask qualified internal or external advisers to confirm applicable requirements.
• Document retention triggers, periods, holds, and authorized disposal steps.
• Review the schedule when rules, operations, or systems change.

Preserve records so they remain usable

Keeping a file is not enough if it becomes unreadable or cannot be connected to its expense. Store records with clear access controls and link them to the relevant report or transaction. Maintain legibility, useful file names or metadata, and a way to retrieve a receipt during a review. If converting paper to digital, ensure the capture process and resulting record meet the organization’s requirements.

Distinguish ordinary retention from a hold

A routine schedule may need to pause when a record is relevant to an audit, investigation, claim, or other preservation instruction. Define how employees are notified, who can place or release a hold, and how deletion is suspended across systems and backups where applicable. Only the responsible authority should determine when the hold ends.

Dispose deliberately and protect sensitive details

Receipts can contain personal or payment-related information. Restrict access to business need, avoid keeping unnecessary copies, and use approved secure disposal when the authorized period ends. A documented deletion process helps avoid both premature removal and indefinite accumulation.

Make retention operational

Assign an owner, identify where receipt records live, and test whether a sample can be retrieved by employee, date, amount, or report. Explain to employees how to submit receipts and whom to contact when a record is missing. Review exceptions and system migrations so a change in storage does not silently break access to older documentation.