Companies should take care to keep corporate records separate from all other records, in a secure and easy to access place. If an officer or a shareholder is involved in more than one corporation, the documents for each corporation should be kept separate.
There are no federal laws stating how long corporate records must be kept, other than records used for taxes. Companies must keep those records pursuant to IRS regulations (usually documents for depreciation).
Companies should keep the following documents:
- Corporate contracts
- Leases
- Shareholder and Board of Directors' meeting minutes
- Other transactional documents
A corporation's officers can keep the documents in any manner, but they should at least file them in such a manner that any certain document can be easily found when needed.
You can find documents that are appropriate for your business by taking Rocket Lawyer's free Business Legal Check Up.
This article contains general legal information and does not contain legal advice. Rocket Lawyer is not a law firm or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. The law is complex and changes often. For legal advice, please ask a lawyer.