Statutory registers, accounting records, minutes and tax documents — what the law expects you to hold, and how to store it so an audit is uneventful.
Statutory registers
Every entity must maintain registers of its directors, members or shareholders, and beneficial owners, along with the constitutive documents and filed forms.
These are the first documents requested in due diligence, and gaps in them slow every transaction.
Accounting records
The Act requires accounting records sufficient to show and explain the entity's transactions and to disclose its financial position with reasonable accuracy.
In practice that means invoices, receipts, bank statements, payroll records and a general ledger — maintained continuously, not reconstructed annually.
- Sales and purchase invoices
- Bank statements and reconciliations
- Payroll registers, payslips and statutory deduction records
- Asset register and depreciation schedules
- Contracts and leases
Minutes and resolutions
Decisions of directors and members should be recorded. Written resolutions are perfectly adequate for small entities and are far better than nothing.
Banks, buyers and auditors ask for resolutions constantly — for account opening, borrowing, share transfers and appointments.
Retention and storage
Tax and accounting records must be retained for the statutory period, generally several years. Digital storage is acceptable provided records are complete, legible and retrievable.
Because these records contain personal information, storage must also comply with the Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07], which came into operation in March 2022.
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep records only in the cloud?
Yes, provided they are complete, secure, retrievable and, where required, accessible in Zimbabwe.
How long must I keep tax records?
For the statutory retention period — keep at least six years unless advised otherwise.
Who is responsible for records?
The directors, regardless of who physically maintains them.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Zimbabwe's principal company law is the Companies and Other Business Entities Act [Chapter 24:31], available at ZimLII.
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