How long must you keep invoices and bookkeeping records?

Creating and sending an invoice is only half the job, you also need to keep it the right way for the right amount of time. Here are the main rules for how long Swedish businesses must retain their accounting records.

Seven years is the main rule

Under Swedish bookkeeping law, accounting records, which include invoices, receipts, and supporting documents, must be kept for seven years after the end of the calendar year in which the financial year closed. This applies whether you run a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a limited company. This text is a general summary, for exact guidance on your specific situation you should always check with an accountant or the Swedish Tax Agency.

What counts as accounting records?

Beyond invoices you have sent and received, receipts, bank statements, contracts that affect the bookkeeping, and the running ledger itself (general ledger, list of vouchers) also count as accounting records. In practice, essentially all supporting documentation behind your bookkeeping is covered by the same retention requirement.

What format can the information be kept in?

Accounting records can largely be kept digitally, you do not need physical binders full of paper if you have a digital system that ensures the information stays readable and unchanged for the entire retention period. It is important, though, that you can actually produce the information if the Tax Agency requests it, and that it is not at risk of being lost if a vendor shuts down its service.

Practical tips

• Make sure you regularly take an export or backup of your invoicing, rather than relying solely on the data staying with a single vendor.
• Keep records organized by financial year, so you can quickly find the right material if needed for an audit.
• Ask your accountant about the specific requirements for your business, especially if you operate under particular industry rules.

In FakturaKlar you can download a complete export of your customers, invoices, estimates, credit notes, payments, and products at any time, so you always have your own copy of your accounting records beyond what is stored in the service.