Retention: how long and where
How long till data and accounting records must be kept, where they must be held, and what Cmerce keeps for you – and what you must keep yourself.
Till data is accounting material. This means sales, receipts, the journal and Z-reports must be kept for several years – long after the goods have been sold. Here is what the law requires, what Cmerce keeps automatically, and what you must keep yourself.
How long?
The period runs from the end of the financial year, not from the date of the sale. A sale on 1 February 2026 must therefore be kept until at least the end of 2031 when the financial year follows the calendar year.
Where?
How Cmerce does it
Cmerce keeps your till data on servers in Norway, in a separate database for your shop, with daily encrypted backups.
| What | How long Cmerce keeps it | Can it be deleted? |
|---|---|---|
| Sales, returns and sale lines | At least 5 years | No, there is no function for it |
| Electronic journal | At least 5 years | No |
| Z-reports | At least 5 years | No |
| Grand total log | At least 5 years | No |
| Price history | At least 5 years | No |
| Audit trail (settings, logins and the like) | 5 years | Deleted automatically once older than 5 years, and the deletion itself is logged |
Everything can be retrieved at any time: Z-reports as PDF under «Kasse (POS)» → «Z-rapporter (dagsoppgjør)», the journal under «System» → «Logging», and everything together as a SAF-T Cash Register file. See SAF-T Cash Register.
When a customer asks to be deleted
Data protection rules give customers the right to have their data deleted, but the bookkeeping obligation takes precedence. If you delete a customer in Cmerce, the customer's details are removed or anonymised where that is allowed, while the sales themselves, the journal and the signatures stay untouched. A receipt shown again after the deletion reads «Anonymisert kunde» (Anonymised customer). See Customer data access and deletion.
What you must do yourself
Cmerce keeps what is in the system. You must keep these yourself:
- The daily settlement on paper, if you have one: counting sheet, signatures and the explanation of cash differences.
- The day reports from the payment terminal, together with the reconciliation and the Z-report for the same day.
- Return receipts with the customer's signature when the signature was taken on paper.
- Documentation of cash withdrawals from the drawer (bokføringsforskriften § 5-3-8).
- Invoices and vouchers held in your accounting system, such as Fiken.
If you stop using Cmerce, you must still have access to the till data for the whole retention period. Contact Cmerce in good time, and take out what you need – for example SAF-T files and Z-reports as PDF – before the subscription ends.
In short
- Till data is accounting material and must as a rule be kept for five years after the end of the financial year.
- The cash register system must be available in Norway.
- Cmerce stores the journal, sales, Z-reports and logs in Norway for at least five years, with no way to delete them.
- You must keep paper records yourself: cash counts, terminal reports, signed return receipts and documentation of cash withdrawals.
- If you are unsure about the periods, talk to your accountant or auditor.