🗂️ Storing Receipts Correctly: Digital Archiving Under GoBD Explained

If you're self-employed, you know the problem: where's that receipt from last month, anyway? And how long do you have to keep it all? The answer comes from the GoBD – the principles for the proper keeping and retention of books, records, and documents in electronic form (Grundsätze zur ordnungsmäßigen Führung und Aufbewahrung von Büchern, Aufzeichnungen und Unterlagen in elektronischer Form). It sounds dry, but it's mandatory for every business owner in Germany.

In this article, we explain what exactly the GoBD requires, how to archive receipts digitally the right way – and how Buchführungsheld takes all of this work off your hands.

What is the GoBD?

The GoBD is an administrative directive from the German Federal Ministry of Finance (Bundesfinanzministerium, BMF) that governs how businesses must retain their tax-relevant documents. It applies to all business owners, self-employed people, and freelancers in Germany – whether a sole proprietorship, GmbH, or UG. The current version was last updated on March 11, 2024, and has been in effect since April 1, 2024.

In short: anyone who does bookkeeping must comply with the GoBD. Anyone who doesn't risks problems with the tax office (Finanzamt) during a tax audit (Betriebsprüfung) – up to and including additional tax assessments.

The most important principles of the GoBD are:

• ✅ Traceability & verifiability
• ✅ Completeness
• ✅ Accuracy
• ✅ Timely recording
• ✅ Order
• ✅ Immutability – a receipt may not be deleted or altered after the fact

Sources: BMF letter dated March 11, 2024 · IHK Munich, GoBD overview

How long must receipts be retained?

This is one of the most common questions – and the answer changed in 2024. Through the fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act (Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz, BEG IV) of October 2024, the retention periods were adjusted for some documents. There are now three different retention periods:

• 📅 10 years: commercial books, inventories, annual financial statements, opening balance sheets, management reports, and organizational documents
• 📅 8 years: accounting vouchers, invoices, and receipts (new since 2025, previously 10 years)
• 📅 6 years: business letters, emails with tax relevance, and other documents

The period always begins at the end of the calendar year in which the receipt was created.

💡 Example: An invoice from March 2024 must be retained until at least December 31, 2032.

⚠️ Important: When in doubt, always keep documents for 10 years – because for individual receipts, you need to check whether a longer period might apply after all.

Sources: § 147 AO, gesetze-im-internet.de · Haufe, retention periods 2026

Which receipts must be retained?

In principle, all documents that are tax-relevant. These include:

• ✅ Incoming and outgoing invoices
• ✅ Cash register receipts and receipts
• ✅ Bank statements
• ✅ Hospitality receipts
• ✅ Mileage logs
• ✅ Contracts with tax relevance
• ✅ Emails documenting business transactions
• ✅ Payroll statements

Source: § 147 AO, dejure.org

Am I allowed to keep receipts only digitally?

Yes – but only under certain conditions. The GoBD permits exclusively digital retention if the following requirements are met:

• ✅ The receipt must be stored in an immutable way – a photo in your iPhone photo album is not enough
• ✅ The receipt must be legible and retrievable at any time for the entire retention period
• ✅ There must be a procedural documentation (Verfahrensdokumentation) describing how receipts are captured and archived

⚠️ Anyone who scans paper receipts and throws away the original may only do so if the digital archiving system is GoBD-compliant. Otherwise, the original must still be retained.

Source: Bundesfinanzministerium, GoBD in the AO handbook 2024

What does GoBD-compliant mean in practice?

GoBD-compliant specifically means:

• ✅ The original information content of the receipt is preserved
• ✅ No subsequent changes are possible
• ✅ The archiving system has a procedural documentation (Verfahrensdokumentation)
• ✅ The data is securely stored for the entire retention period

Many self-built solutions – for example a Google Drive folder or a simple Dropbox upload – do not meet these requirements. That's because files there can be deleted or overwritten at any time.

Source: GKK Partners, GoBD Update 2024

What are the risks of improper archiving?

Anyone who doesn't retain receipts correctly risks serious consequences during a tax audit (Betriebsprüfung):

• ❌ The tax office (Finanzamt) can make an estimate of the tax bases under § 162 AO – usually to the business owner's disadvantage
• ❌ Fines of up to 25,000 euros under § 378 AO
• ❌ Loss of the input VAT deduction (Vorsteuerabzug) in the case of missing incoming invoices
• ❌ In the worst case: rejection of the entire bookkeeping

Source: Retention periods for receipts, mammut-aktenvernichtung.de

Buchführungsheld handles GoBD-compliant archiving for you

With Buchführungsheld, you don't have to worry about GoBD compliance yourself. All uploaded receipts are stored in a German data center that is certified to ISO 27001. Storage is immutable and meets the GoBD requirements.

• 📤 Upload a receipt – via the app or browser
• 🔒 GoBD-compliant archiving – automatic, no system of your own needed
• 👩‍💼 Booking by real professionals – accurate & on time
• 📊 Monthly reports – BWA, trial balance (SuSa) & financial overview

➡️ Try it free for 7 days now – no credit card required!

Common mistakes in receipt retention

• ❌ Scanning receipts only weeks later – according to the GoBD, capture should happen promptly
• ❌ Throwing away originals without a GoBD-compliant system – this can become a problem during an audit
• ❌ Storing receipts in ordinary cloud folders – Google Drive and Dropbox are not GoBD-compliant archiving systems
• ❌ Not knowing the retention periods – when in doubt, always keep documents for 10 years
• ❌ No procedural documentation (Verfahrensdokumentation) – without it, the digital archive is formally not GoBD-compliant

Conclusion: Digital archiving under the GoBD is mandatory – but it doesn't have to be complicated

At first glance, the GoBD sounds intimidating, but at its core it's clear: receipts must be retained completely, immutably, and – depending on the type of document – for 6, 8, or 10 years. Anyone using a GoBD-compliant system is on the safe side.

With Buchführungsheld, you handle this without having to spend even a minute dealing with GoBD requirements. You upload your receipts – we archive them correctly, record them, and make sure everything meets the legal requirements.

FAQ: Common questions about GoBD-compliant archiving

1. What is the GoBD, explained simply?

The GoBD is a regulation from the Federal Ministry of Finance (Bundesfinanzministerium) that governs how businesses must keep and retain their accounting documents digitally. It ensures that receipts are complete, immutable, and retrievable at any time. The current version has been in effect since April 1, 2024.

2. How long must invoices be retained?

Since 2025, a retention period of 8 years applies to accounting vouchers and invoices (previously 10 years). When in doubt, it's advisable to keep them for 10 years, since longer periods may apply to individual receipts. Source: § 147 AO

3. Is Google Drive GoBD-compliant?

No. Google Drive, Dropbox, and similar standard cloud services are not GoBD-compliant archiving systems, because files there can be deleted or altered at any time. GoBD-compliant archiving requires a certified system.

4. Do I have to keep paper receipts if I scan them?

Only if your archiving system supports what's known as substitutive scanning (ersetzendes Scannen) and is GoBD-compliant may you throw away the original. Otherwise, the paper receipt must be retained as well.

5. What happens if I destroy receipts too early?

During a tax audit (Betriebsprüfung), the tax office (Finanzamt) can replace the missing receipts with an estimate – usually to your disadvantage. On top of that, you may face fines of up to 25,000 euros under § 378 AO.

6. How does Buchführungsheld handle archiving for me?

You upload your receipts via the app or browser. Buchführungsheld stores them in an ISO 27001-certified German data center – immutable and GoBD-compliant. You don't have to worry about anything else.

➡️ Get started for free now & have your receipts archived securely!