The archive book (Form AK): what it is, what it contains, and the April 30 deadline
The archive book is an obligation many firms ignore — until the deadline hits. What Form AK is, what it must contain, and how to prepare it in time, without panic.
The archive book is one of those obligations many firms don’t even know exists — until they get a notice or a fine. Yet it’s a legal obligation of every legal entity: you keep a record of the archival material the firm creates and stores. It sounds serious, but once set up, it runs itself.
What Form AK is
Form AK is an inventory of archival material — a list of all document categories the firm holds, with retention periods for each. It’s not a pile of paper but a tidy register: which documents exist, from which year, and how long they’re kept. From it you know what may be destroyed and what must stay.
A deadline that’s easy to miss
The archive book is filed with the competent archive by April 30 of the current year, for the previous year. That deadline is easy to miss because it „isn’t urgent" until it is. So it’s wise to keep the archive tidy all year, rather than doing it all in the last week of April amid stress and mistakes. A tidy archive means an easier inspection and calmer sleep.
How to keep it painless
The hardest part is when documents are scattered across drawers and emails, so you compile the inventory by hand. When they’re neatly in a digital archive with retention periods, Form AK practically assembles itself. Fascikla keeps documents by category with retention periods, so the archive book is a report, not a project.
Key takeaways
- The archive book (Form AK) is a legal obligation of every legal entity
- AK is an inventory of archival material with retention periods per category
- It’s filed with the competent archive by April 30 for the previous year
Frequently asked questions
Yes — the obligation applies to legal entities regardless of size. The volume of material differs, not the obligation itself.
Missing it risks a fine. It’s best to keep the archive tidy through the year, so filing is just a formality in time.
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