Key takeaways
- Every Cyprus company must keep accounting records that explain its transactions and its financial position, and keep them at the registered office for six years from the end of the financial year.
- From 1 January 2026, tax records are kept for six years from the tax return’s submission deadline, or from the date it was actually filed if that is later, not from the end of the tax year.
- VAT records, including every invoice issued and received, are kept for at least six years.
- Self-employed individuals need audited accounts above €120,000 of gross income from tax year 2026, up from €70,000. Every company still needs an audit or, if it qualifies, a review.
- Electronic records are accepted, provided they stay complete, unaltered and readable for the whole retention period.
01The short answer: three laws, three clocks
Bookkeeping in Cyprus is not one obligation but three, and they overlap. Each law says what must be kept and from when the six years run:
Where the clocks differ, the practical rule is to keep each record until the last of them has run. Since 2026, that is usually the tax clock, because it starts from a filing deadline that falls more than a year after the year ends.
02What “proper books” means for a company
Section 141 of the Companies Law puts the obligation on the directors: they must make sure the company keeps the accounting records needed to prepare its financial statements. In practice those records have to show:
- money in and out: every sum received and spent, and what it was for;
- sales and purchases: every one, with the invoice behind it;
- assets and liabilities: what the company owns and owes;
- the supporting documents: contracts, invoices, receipts and bank statements, as evidence for the entries.
The test is whether the books explain the company’s transactions and show its financial position with reasonable accuracy at any time, not only at the year end. A shoebox of receipts sorted once a year does not meet it; a ledger kept current, with each entry traceable to its document, does.
The records are kept at the company’s registered office for six years from the end of the financial year they relate to.
03Tax records: the 2026 change to the six years
Until the end of 2025, records supporting a tax return were kept for six years from the end of the tax year. The 2026 tax reform moved the starting point. From 1 January 2026, books, records and supporting documents are kept for six years from the submission deadline of the tax return (or of an amended return), or from the date it was actually submitted, whichever is later.
Two consequences are worth planning for:
- The window is longer. A company’s tax return for 2026 is due on 31 January 2028, so its records run to at least 31 January 2034: more than seven years after the year they record.
- A late or amended return restarts the clock. The six years run from the later of the deadline and the actual filing, so a return amended three years on extends the retention for that year with it.
If a tax audit begins in the last year of the period, the records must be kept until the audit is finished, for up to one extra year.
04VAT records
A VAT-registered business keeps its VAT records for at least six years. They include every invoice issued and received, credit notes, customs documents, the VAT account, and the workings behind each return. For intra-community supplies they also include the buyer’s validated VAT number and the proof of transport.
The invoices you receive matter as much as the ones you issue: they are the evidence for every euro of input VAT you deduct. What an invoice must show to count is set out in the valid VAT invoice guide, and how to assemble a file that an inspector can follow from a return box back to the invoice is covered in the VAT working papers guide.
05Audited accounts: companies and the self-employed
Companies. Every Cyprus company has its financial statements independently examined each year; there is no small-company exemption. For financial years starting on or after 6 February 2026, a company with turnover under €300,000 and total assets under €500,000, in two consecutive years, may have a review engagement instead of a full audit. The detail is in the audit-or-review threshold article.
Self-employed individuals. From tax year 2026, a self-employed individual with gross income above €120,000 prepares audited financial statements. Up to tax year 2025 the threshold was €70,000. The test is gross income (turnover), not profit, so a business with thin margins can cross it.
Below the threshold, a self-employed person still keeps books and records that support the income and expenses on the tax return, for the same six years.
06Filing deadlines that set the clock
Because the retention period now runs from the submission deadline, the deadline itself matters for how long records are kept:
- Company tax return (IR4). Up to tax year 2025, due by 31 March of the second year after the tax year. From tax year 2026, due by 31 January of the second year after it; the first return on the new deadline, for 2026, is due on 31 January 2028.
- Self-employed with audited or reviewed accounts. The same change: 31 January of the second year after the tax year, from tax year 2026.
The new deadline is two months earlier than the old one, so the year-end books have to be ready sooner. A ledger kept current through the year, rather than rebuilt at the end, is what makes that possible.
07Paper or electronic: both are accepted
Cyprus does not require records to be on paper. Invoices and records can be kept electronically, and a PDF is fine as long as it is complete and unaltered. What the law asks is that electronic records stay readable and accessible for the whole retention period, and that their origin and integrity can be shown. No electronic signature is needed; a reliable trail from the document to the entry does that job.
Cyprus has no mandatory e-invoicing for businesses in 2026, so most of the invoices you receive will keep arriving as PDFs, scans and photos. What does apply is covered in the e-invoicing in Cyprus guide; for suppliers in Greece, see the myDATA e-invoicing guide.
08A record-keeping routine that meets all three
The rules above reduce to four habits:
- Collect every document in the period it belongs to, not at the year end. Missing receipts are cheapest to find the month they are missing.
- Record each document once, with its VAT per line, and keep the document beside the entry it supports.
- Reconcile the bank monthly, so the books show the financial position “at any time”, as section 141 asks.
- Archive by year, for the longest clock: six years from the tax return’s deadline, not from the year end.
This is where bookkeeping automation earns its place. Pileform reads the invoices, receipts and bank statements you upload, with VAT decided per line, and embeds each source image in the Excel output next to the rows it produced, so the trail from document to entry travels with the file. Entries post to your accounting software after review. Results are archived for a retention period you set, with country presets that include Cyprus at six years. For the wider picture of what can be automated in a Cyprus practice, see accounting automation in Cyprus; for supplier invoices specifically, invoice automation.
09References
- Companies Law, Cap. 113 (official English translation, Department of Registrar of Companies), section 141.
- Cyprus Tax Department, the Assessment and Collection of Taxes Law and the 2026 reform announcements.
- EU VAT Directive (consolidated), the invoice and record rules that the Cyprus VAT Law implements.
For month-by-month practice, see the month-end close checklist.
Unsure how long a client’s records need to be kept, or whether a pile of documents is complete? Send a redacted example to contact@pileform.com; a person reads it and replies within one business day.
Quick answers
Six years, but the start date depends on the law. Company accounting records: six years from the end of the financial year. Tax records, from 1 January 2026: six years from the tax return’s submission deadline, or the actual filing date if later. VAT records: at least six years. Keeping each record until the last of these has run covers all three.
The directors. Section 141 of the Companies Law, Cap. 113, requires them to make sure the company keeps accounting records that explain its transactions and show its financial position with reasonable accuracy at any time. The records are kept at the registered office.
From tax year 2026, when gross income exceeds €120,000. Up to tax year 2025 the threshold was €70,000. The test is gross income, not profit. Below it, the self-employed still keep books and records supporting their tax return.
From tax year 2026, by 31 January of the second year after the tax year, so the 2026 return is due on 31 January 2028. Up to tax year 2025 the deadline was 31 March of the second year after the tax year.
Yes. Invoices and records can be kept as electronic files, including PDFs, as long as they are complete, unaltered and readable for the whole retention period. No electronic signature is required.
Keep the document beside every entry.
Pileform reads invoices, receipts and bank statements with VAT per line and embeds each source in the output. Sign up free, no card.