UK company accounting records: CA 2006 requirements on content, format, retention and location, plus lost records, offences and UK GDPR considerations

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate expert

Practice notes

Section 386(1) of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) obliges every company to keep ‘adequate accounting records’. These records must contain sufficient detail to show and explain the company’s transactions, make it possible to disclose with reasonable accuracy the company’s financial position at any time, and enable the directors to ensure that any required accounts comply with relevant company law.

What are accounting records?

Accounting records comprise the company’s own financial dealings, as well as transactions with third parties, and serve as the basis for preparing the company’s annual statements of account, namely its annual reports and accounts (annual accounts). Consequently, a company’s accounting records will usually consist of a larger set of documents, and more detailed information, than its annual accounts. CA 2006 does not give a specific definition—as records differ by company according to the nature of their business—but CA 2006, s 386(3) states that they should include:

day-to-day entries of all monies received and expended by the company, and the matters in respect of which each receipt and payment occurs...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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