Business

Changing legal form: what happens to your records?

11 July 2026 · 10 min read · DeSnipperaar

Many entrepreneurs convert their sole trader business or partnership into a limited company at some point. A lot changes in tax and legal terms, but what happens to the administration you have built up until then? Does it move along, may it go, or should you keep it separate? This guide shows what happens to your archive during a conversion, which documents you keep for years, what moves to the company and how to destroy the rest confidentially.

The quick answer: the sole trader administration falls under the seven-year tax retention obligation and that period simply continues after the conversion. The company is a new legal entity, so your old administration does not automatically merge into the new one. You keep the old period separate, transfer running files where you can and only clear out the documents without a retention obligation confidentially.

A conversion is not a clean slate for your archive

The biggest misconception is that the company starts with an empty archive and the old past disappears. That is not the case. In tax terms you remain accountable for the period when you were a sole trader. The tax authority can still audit those years and will ask for your administration from back then. If you have not kept it, you are left empty-handed. The conversion changes the legal form, not the retention obligation over the past.

For most documents the seven-year tax retention obligation applies, counted from the end of the financial year. For real-estate data it is ten years. More on that in the 7-year tax retention obligation. Those periods stay tied to the old period, regardless of the fact that you now continue through a company.

What moves to the company?

In a conversion you contribute the business into the company. Running matters move along in practice, so the company can continue the work. Think of current customer contracts, running supplier agreements, personnel files of staff who stay employed and files that are not yet closed. The company still needs those documents, so they belong in the new archive.

Mind the distinction between the physical transfer and the tax responsibility. Even though the company continues to use the same files, the administration over the period before the conversion stays tied to you as the former sole trader. So keep that tax core recognisably separate, so that during an audit it is clear which documents belong to which period.

What do you keep separate?

A number of items you keep until the period expires, regardless of whether the company continues to work with them. This is the tax and legal core of the old business.

• The annual accounts, tax returns and ledger of the sole trader.
• Sales and purchase invoices and bank statements from that period.
• The payroll records if you had staff.
• The contribution description and deeds around the conversion itself.
• Real-estate data, ten years.

Keep these documents complete and findable, digital or on paper. The deeds and the contribution description around the conversion emphatically belong there, because they form the bridge between the old and the new situation. An overview by document type is in how long to keep documents.

What may you clear out?

Not everything has to move or be kept. Working copies, duplicate printouts, old quotes that never became an order, drafts and outdated marketing material may be cleared out at the conversion. It is a good moment to start clean, so the company does not immediately drag along the clutter of years.

Clearing out here is not the same as throwing away. Old quotes and customer lists also contain personal data and do not belong in the street paper bin. Collect them in a sealed container and have them destroyed confidentially. That way the company starts with an ordered archive and you leave the superfluous behind safely.

Keep, move or destroy

The overview below helps you with the three-way split. Count the period from the end of the financial year.

Item	Action	Note
Annual accounts, returns, sole trader ledger	Keep separately	7 years
Invoices and bank statements, old period	Keep separately	7 years
Deeds and contribution description	Keep	long term
Running customer and supplier contracts	Move to the company	continuation
Personnel files of staff who stay	Move to the company	per item
Old quotes, drafts, duplicate copies	Destroy confidentially	no obligation
Data carriers being replaced	Wipe or destroy	after transfer

Use this as a guideline, not a final legal ruling. When in doubt, consult your bookkeeper, accountant or the notary handling the conversion.

Do not forget the data carriers

A conversion is often also the moment to switch to new systems, a new accounting environment or new equipment in the company's name. The old laptop, phone or external drive of the sole trader is then left behind, full of years of company and customer data. Deleting a file and emptying the bin is not enough, because the data stays on the disk.

First transfer the data you still need, for example to the new company environment. If a device is sold or reused, have it wiped thoroughly. If it is disposed of, physical destruction of the data carrier is the safest choice. Feel free to hand those carriers over in the same collection as the paper.

How to handle it in 6 steps

1. Inventory the full sole trader administration, paper and digital.
2. Separate the tax core of the old period and keep it recognisably apart.
3. Transfer running files to the company's archive.
4. Keep the deeds and the contribution description around the conversion.
5. Collect the rest in sealed containers and have it destroyed confidentially.
6. Sort out the data carriers by transferring and then wiping or destroying them.

Destroy confidentially with a certificate

The documents without a retention obligation and the old data carriers are destroyed confidentially. For a business archive with customer and staff data a fine shred is the starting point. The material travels sealed and stays that way until destruction, so the chain is closed.

Afterwards you receive a certificate of destruction with the date, quantity and level. That certificate is your proof towards the GDPR that the clean-up at the conversion was done carefully. Keep it with the deeds of the conversion. We collect within 20 km of Amsterdam with no call-out charge, work nationwide through pooled collection rounds and charge a fixed price per box or roll container. Drop-off on site is not possible; it works by appointment through collection.

Common mistakes

• Throwing away the old administration at the conversion. The retention obligation over that period continues.
• Keeping old and new mixed together. During an audit it is then unclear what belongs to which period.
• Losing the deeds. The contribution description is the bridge between sole trader and company.
• Forgetting to transfer data carriers. Then data the company still needed disappears.
• Throwing away unshredded. An old customer database on the street is a reportable data breach.

Frequently asked questions

Must I keep my sole trader records after converting to a limited company?

Yes. The sole trader administration falls under the seven-year tax retention obligation. That period continues, even after you convert to a limited company. You keep the old administration separately from the new one.

Does my old archive automatically pass to the company?

Not automatically. The company is a new legal entity. Running contracts and files are often transferred, but the sole trader tax administration stays tied to that period and you keep it separately.

May I destroy old documents at the conversion?

Only documents without a retention obligation and duplicate copies. The tax core and data with a running period you keep. The rest you have destroyed confidentially, not into the paper bin.

Do I remain personally responsible for the period as a sole trader?

Yes. For the period before the conversion you remain accountable, including for tax. That is why you keep that administration complete until the period expires, separated from the company's administration.

Conclusion

Changing legal form changes a lot, but not the retention obligation over your past as a sole trader. Keep the tax core of the old period recognisably separate, transfer running files to the company and keep the deeds of the conversion as a bridge between the two. The documents without a retention obligation you clear out confidentially, so the company starts clean. Close that clean-up with a certificate and you can be sure you have thrown nothing away too early and keep nothing too long.

Read also: closing a business: what to keep and destroy, merger: consolidating two archives, business takeover and archive due diligence and restart after bankruptcy: which archive do you take.

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Have old administration collected at the conversion? Request a quote via desnipperaar.nl. Within a few minutes you have a fixed price, including a certificate as proof.