record keeping

Record-keeping is the systematic creation, organization, maintenance, retention, retrieval, and lawful disposal of records. Records may be paper or electronic and can include contracts, accounting entries, payroll data, emails, messages, transaction logs, photographs, and other information documenting actions, decisions, or legal rights.

Record-keeping duties arise from many sources, including statutes, regulations, contracts, court orders, and an organization's charter and operational needs. Records may be required for financial reporting, taxation, employment compliance, licensing, audits, public accountability, or evidence in litigation. There is no single retention period for all records. The required period depends on the type of record, the governing law, the industry, and whether an investigation or dispute is pending or reasonably anticipated.

Federal law provides many specific examples. Under Exchange Act § 13(b)(2)(A), certain issuers must make and keep books, records, and accounts that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect transactions and dispositions of assets. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires covered employers to make, keep, and preserve records concerning employees, wages, hours, and other employment practices; Department of Labor regulations specify information that must be maintained for covered nonexempt employees.

Record-keeping obligations can change when litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated, or when an investigation, subpoena, court order, or other legal requirement calls for preservation. In federal civil litigation, Rule 37(e) addresses electronically stored information that should have been preserved in anticipation or conduct of litigation, was lost because a party failed to take reasonable steps to preserve it, and cannot be restored or replaced through additional discovery. A party or organization may issue a legal hold to suspend routine deletion of potentially relevant information. Separately, under 18 U.S.C. § 1519 it is a crime to knowingly alter, destroy, conceal, falsify, or make a false entry in records with intent to impede, obstruct, or influence certain federal matters or bankruptcy cases.

A sound record-keeping program may use retention schedules, access controls, backups, audit trails, and documented disposal procedures. Those measures should be tailored to applicable legal duties and privacy or security requirements. Routine destruction under a consistently applied retention policy may be lawful, but records should not be destroyed when a preservation duty, court order, or other legal restriction applies.

[Last reviewed in August of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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