According to Section 169 (1)-(2) of the Hungarian Accounting Act, companies must keep accounting records in legible form for at least 8 years. Accounting documents directly and indirectly supporting the bookkeeping, such as receipts, must also be kept in readable form for at least 8 years, in a way that can be retrieved by reference to the accounting records.
Electronic copy of accounting records
According to Section 169 (6) of the Hungarian Accounting Act, this obligation can be fulfilled with an electronic copy of a document that was originally issued in non-electronic form – taking into account the provisions of the legislation on the rules for digital archiving, in such a way that the method used ensures the production of all the data of the document without delay, continuous readability, and excludes the possibility of subsequent modification.
Regulations and requirements related to digitisation and electronic archiving
Electronic archiving is thus possible; on the legal side, it is further governed by Regulation 451/2016 on the detailed rules of electronic administration. (XII. 19.) Government Decree Chapter III. This regulation sets out requirements such as:
- The person making the electronic copy must ensure that the paper-based documents match the image.
- The person making the electronic copy must ensure that all modifications made to the electronic copy after the signature or stamp have been affixed and can be detected.
- The person making the electronic copy must provide the copy with an authentication clause – “identical to the original paper-based document” and with an electronic signature or stamp and if it is necessary to indicate the date, with an electronic time stamp.
- The company keeps procedural documentation about the digitisation process.