Card transaction records: what to keep, and for how long

A GST and QST audit sometimes reaches back to sales made several years ago. A customer disputes a card payment from long before that. In both cases, the question is the same: do you still have the record, and were you still required to keep it?

The rule is the same for most businesses that take card payments: six years. But the clock does not always start on the day of the sale, and not every document is kept in the same way.

In practice, a sale made in January 2020 had to be kept until the end of 2026, because the six year clock starts at the end of the year the sale happened in, not on the exact date. A business that has been open for a few years is therefore always sitting on at least six full years of records, never less.

What counts as a transaction record

A transaction record is not just the receipt handed to the customer. For Revenu Québec and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), it means any document that supports a sale or an expense tied to your business. Some owners mix this up with general bookkeeping. The two overlap, but a transaction record is specifically proof of one sale: who paid, how much, how, and when.

What to keep as a record:

• invoices and receipts given to customers, or copies of them
• batch and end of day reports produced by the terminal or point of sale system
• credit notes, refunds and voided sales
• documentation of a payment dispute settled with the card issuer
• records tied to GST and QST, such as input tax credits claimed

The batch report deserves particular attention. Many terminals and point of sale systems only show recent data on screen and clear the rest after a few months. The record worth keeping is not what is still visible on the device, but the full export, taken before it disappears. Without that export, a business facing an audit request, or a customer disputing a payment months later, is left with no proof, even though the sale genuinely happened.

How long to keep them

Both Revenu Québec and the CRA ask businesses to keep records and supporting documents for the six years following the end of the last tax year they relate to. For a sale made in 2026, the clock starts at the end of 2026, not on the date of the sale itself.

That period can stretch longer. If a return was filed late, the clock starts from the filing date, not the year end. If a file is under objection or appeal with the CRA, the related records must be kept until the matter is finally resolved, plus two years. For a capital asset, a terminal or a POS system that was purchased, for instance, the six year clock only starts when it is sold or taken out of service, not when it was bought.

What form they need to be in

Paper is not required. Revenu Québec accepts records kept on an electronic or computer medium, as long as that medium can still produce accessible and usable copies. In practice, you need to be able to open and read the file six years from now, not just today. A file in a format that discontinued software can no longer open does not meet that bar.

It is also worth keeping a backup copy, separate from the system that produced the original. A replaced terminal, a closed vendor account or a failed hard drive should not be able to take six years of proof down with it.

Where to keep them

One detail many business owners miss: the CRA requires records to be kept in Canada, at your place of business or your residence, unless it has given written permission otherwise. This is not a theoretical point. More and more point of sale systems and terminals run on a subscription, with data hosted by the vendor rather than on a device you hold, and possibly outside the country.

If that describes your system, the CRA can grant permission to keep electronic copies elsewhere, but only on written request to your tax services office, and only if compliant copies stay accessible to its representatives in Canada.

Destroying records before the deadline

You do not have to let boxes pile up for six years if space or upkeep becomes a problem. You can ask Revenu Québec for permission to destroy documents ahead of schedule, through a written request that describes precisely which documents are involved and the period they cover. Without that permission, destroying records early is done at your own risk if a file is ever reviewed.

Next time you consider switching terminals or point of sale systems, ask your current provider one simple question before closing the account: can you export batch reports and transaction records going back six full years, not just the last few months?

It is also worth checking now whether your current exports actually reach back six full years, or only a few months. Doing that once a year is enough, and beats finding out the hard way on the day an audit or a dispute asks for them.