Archive storage for companies

Paper records are the storage problem every Vietnamese company has and nobody plans for. The accounting law says how long they must be kept, the tax office can ask for any of them, and the office rents by the square metre. This page covers the retention rules, how to box and index an archive so a single file can be found, and what it costs to keep it in climate control instead of a cupboard.

Updated September 2026

What must be kept, and for how long

Those are minimums, and the tax authority's right to inspect runs across them, which is why most finance teams keep everything ten years and destroy on a schedule rather than deciding file by file. Contracts, HR files, licences and board records are not covered by the accounting periods but are kept at least as long as the obligations in them run, and usually longer. The practical rule: a box gets a "keep until" year when it is packed, and nothing is destroyed before it.

Boxing an archive so it can be found

1. One box, one department, one year where possible. Mixed boxes are the reason retrievals take an afternoon.
2. Files stay in their lever-arch binders or go into labelled folders; loose paper is bundled by month. Nothing is stored loose in a box.
3. Each box gets a code on two sides, a department, a document type, a date range and a "keep until" year: "FIN-2026-03 · Sales invoices · Jan to Jun 2026 · keep until 2036".
4. A one-line-per-box index is kept by the company and mirrored in the storage catalogue, where each box is a searchable item with its photograph.
5. Boxes are packed two-thirds full, or paper goes into small cartons, so each can be lifted safely and stacked without crushing.
6. Confidential records are noted as such on the index, not on the box.

Retrieving one file

Search the catalogue by box code or the words on the label, request delivery, and the box arrives at the office the next day at the earliest for 500,000 VND a trip, five boxes included. For a tax query with a deadline, express doubles the fee and brings it within 24 hours. The box goes back on the next collection or stays at the office until you are done; the movement history records who requested it and when, which is the audit trail an inspector expects.

Disposal when the date passes

Each year, filter the catalogue by "keep until" and request disposal on the boxes that have passed. Note whether the paper is confidential and must be shredded rather than recycled, and keep the disposal record with the index; the record of what was destroyed and when is itself worth keeping. Nothing is disposed of without a request from an account holder with the right role.

Why climate control for paper

Paper is the most humidity-sensitive thing a company owns. In an unconditioned room in this city, pages wave, ink feathers, staples rust and mould speckles the edges within a season, and a ten-year record becomes unreadable by year four. Air-conditioned sections at 23 to 25°C hold paper flat and dry, on shelves off the floor, with pest control on a schedule. The premium over a standard section is a few hundred thousand dong a month against the cost of a record you cannot produce.

Cost against the office cupboard

A one-bedroom apartment's worth of archive, forty boxes, is a Large air-conditioned plan at 6,150,000 VND a month, or 49,980,000 VND a year on a twelve-month commitment; the same forty boxes in a central office occupy a room that rents for more. Small archives are a Small plan at 1,550,000 VND. Business plans carry VAT invoices, PO references and a team login so finance, admin and the auditor can each see what they need.

Frequently asked