How long a company must keep its accounting records
Companies Act, 2015 · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Every company must keep proper accounting records and preserve them for at least 7 years from the date each record was created. The records are kept at the registered office and must always be open to the company's officers.
- Deadline
- Keep each accounting record for at least 7 years from the date it was created
- Where
- Kept by the company at its registered office
Steps
- Record, day by day, all money the company receives and spends and what it was for, plus a record of its assets and liabilities.
- If the company deals in goods, also keep year-end stock statements and the stock-take records behind them.
- Keep the records at the registered office, open to the company's officers at all times.
Watch out
- Failing to keep proper records is an offence for the company and each officer in default: up to KSh 2 million for a company, and up to KSh 1 million or 2 years in jail, or both, for a person.
- Tax law separately asks for 5 years from the end of the period a document relates to, but company law's 7 years from creation is the longer of the two.
- If the company is in liquidation, the 7-year rule is subject to the liquidation rules.
Who this covers
- Every company registered under the Companies Act
Official sources (2)
- Companies Act, 2015 (No. 17 of 2015) new.kenyalaw.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Tax Procedures Act, 2015 (No. 29 of 2015), Revised Edition 2021 kra.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026