Pursuant to the Law on Archival Material and Archival Activities and the bylaws adopted on the basis thereof, business entities, in their capacity as creators of archival material and documentary records, are required to ensure proper recording, classification, archiving and safekeeping of documentation generated in the course of their business activities, in accordance with the form in which such documentation was originally created.
Key information regarding electronic archiving (e-archiving):
- There is no statutory obligation for business entities to introduce e-archiving of documentation, nor to use software solutions for archiving purposes. Business entities that do not generate documentation originally in electronic form continue to archive documentation in paper form, in accordance with applicable regulations.
- The e-archiving system is currently being introduced primarily within public authorities, while no mandatory application has been prescribed for the private sector.
- Documentation delivered to business entities by public authorities exclusively in electronic form (e.g. tax decisions delivered to electronic mailboxes, CROSO registrations, financial statements, etc.) constitutes documentation originally created in electronic form. Public authorities bear responsibility for the proper e-archiving of such documentation, while business entities are required to download and store such documentation in electronic form, without subsequent alterations that could compromise the integrity of the electronic document.
- With regard to the archival book, the new form is envisaged to contain separate sections for paper documentation, the volume of which is expressed in linear metres, and for electronic documentation, the volume of which is expressed in megabytes.
- The E-Archive application has been established as a single electronic platform for the submission of the List of Categories of Archival Material and Documentary Records, as well as the archival book, in Excel format. Access to the application is available at E-Archiv.
- Registration of a legal entity in the E-Archive system is performed using the qualified electronic certificate of the legal representative, who is assigned the role of system administrator and appoints an authorised person, archivist, responsible for administrative and technical tasks related to data entry and submission of documentation. Depending on the internal organisation of the business entity, all of the above roles may be performed by the same person.
- Business entities are required to upload the archival book for the current year into the E-Archive system, with the option to additionally upload the complete archival book for all previous years of operation, enabling a systematic overview of retention periods, notifications on expiry of retention periods, and future obligations relating to the transfer of archival material.
Submission of the archival book for 2025:
- The Law on Archival Material and Archival Activities prescribes the final deadline for submission of a transcript of the archival book for the previous year. Accordingly, archival books for the year 2025 must be submitted no later than 30 April 2026.
- Together with the archival book, the following general acts must be submitted to the competent public archive:
– The General Act on the Method of Recording, Classification, Archiving and Safekeeping of Archival Material and Documentary Records;
– The List of Categories of Archival Material and Documentary Records with Retention Periods, adopted by the responsible person and
– He General Act on the Method of Recording, Protection and Use of Electronic Documents.
- Archival material of the greatest, i.e. permanent, significance for the operations of business entities is retained permanently, in particular: acts relating to incorporation and status changes, registration decisions and decisions of the governing bodies of the business entity, general and normative acts, documentation relating to employment of permanent legal significance (employee book, personnel files), as well as the archival book and the list of categories. Other documentation is retained in accordance with prescribed retention periods, which, depending on the type and legal significance of the document, most commonly amount to 20 years (final accounts and financial statements), 10 years (tax returns, litigation files upon finalisation of proceedings), 5 years (the majority of accounting, financial and employment-related documentation), and 3 years (auxiliary office records and fiscal documentation).
For additional information or consultations, the Tasić & Partners team is at your disposal.