FBAR recordkeeping: what documents must you keep?

For each foreign financial account: (1) the name in which it is maintained, (2) the account number or other identifying designation, (3) the foreign institution's name and address, (4) the type of account, and (5) the maximum value during the reporting period. Those five items are what you must keep. You don't need to keep every transaction.⁠^{[2]Source 2}⁠^{[4]Source 4}

The information can appear in one statement or several records, such as a bank statement plus a separate institution-address note and a maximum-value calculation. If the account is joint, document the holders. If closed, preserve its last statements before the bank removes online access.⁠^{[1]Source 1}⁠^{[2]Source 2}⁠^{[4]Source 4}

• Account register: reporting year, account owner(s), institution/branch location, account identifier and type.⁠^{[1]Source 1}⁠^{[4]Source 4}
• Value evidence: periodic statement(s) reasonably reflecting the highest year value, including securities and cash where held in a brokerage account.⁠^{[1]Source 1}⁠^{[2]Source 2}⁠^{[4]Source 4}
• Calculation notes: date and basis of maximum, original currency amount and Treasury year-end rate or documented alternative, with USD figure.⁠^{[1]Source 1}⁠^{[2]Source 2}
• Submission evidence: the filed FBAR, the BSA acknowledgement and any amended FBAR. Not required, but a useful record of what you reported.⁠^{[2]Source 2}⁠^{[5]Source 5}

Keep the records for five years. The Form 114 instructions count from April 15 of the year after the reporting year, or from the filing date if you filed after April 15. IRS guidance counts from the FBAR due date; counting from the later date satisfies both. Count from the reporting year's FBAR, not from the date an account closed.⁠^{[1]Source 1}⁠^{[2]Source 2}⁠^{[4]Source 4}⁠^{[5]Source 5}

The IRS has six years from a violation to assess an FBAR penalty, so keeping records for six years or longer is sensible.⁠^{[6]Source 6}

If an audit, administrative matter or other proceeding concerns the records, do not destroy relevant material solely because your routine deletion date has arrived; check applicable preservation requirements with an adviser.⁠^{[2]Source 2}⁠^{[4]Source 4}

Employees and officers who report only signature authority over their employer's foreign accounts don't need to keep records for those accounts personally; the employer keeps them. This doesn't apply to accounts they own.⁠^{[1]Source 1}⁠^{[2]Source 2}

A foreign brokerage statement shows €28,400 at a June valuation date and €20,100 at year end. Save statement evidence for the June peak and the account's identifying details. Convert the reported maximum using the applicable reporting-year rate; do not simply record the December balance. See how to report securities balances.⁠^{[1]Source 1}⁠^{[2]Source 2}⁠^{[4]Source 4}

If the account closed in September, preserve the closing statement too. A closed account still goes on that year's FBAR if you must file. See closed foreign accounts.⁠^{[1]Source 1}⁠^{[2]Source 2}

Organize by reporting year, then one subfolder per institution/account. Use predictable file names such as YYYY-bank-account-statement-period.pdf, a notes file for the maximum and conversion, and copies of BSA submission confirmation. Consider encrypted storage and backups appropriate to the sensitivity of account numbers.⁠^{[1]Source 1}⁠^{[4]Source 4}

Do not upload statements or personal account numbers to public calculators merely to check the FBAR threshold. You can use non-sensitive totals for self-help calculations and retain the underlying documents privately.⁠^{[1]Source 1}⁠^{[4]Source 4}