AI agents for business finance: what they can and can't do
What AI agents can do in bookkeeping, close, collections and compliance today, where a person must stay in charge, and how to judge a product.
The short answer
Keep every receipt, invoice, bank statement, payroll record and contract for at least six years after the tax year it relates to in Nigeria, which is the minimum in section 31 of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025. The UK, Canada and US have similar or shorter defaults, so a single six-year rule, kept longer for anything under dispute, covers most cross-border businesses. Store records so you can produce them in English, quickly, from either country.
Why both sides matter
A business with a company abroad and operations in Nigeria answers to two sets of record-keeping rules, and sometimes three if there is a subsidiary. A Lagos supplier's receipt may support a cost in the Nigerian company's accounts and, through an intercompany charge, in the parent's accounts abroad. If either tax authority asks, you need to produce the same document. The safe approach is to keep one copy that satisfies the stricter rule.
The rules side by side
| Where | What the official source says | Minimum period |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria, tax | NTAA 2025 s.31: books and records sufficient to determine tax, in English, in any prescribed format | At least six years after the year of assessment |
| Nigeria, assessments | NTAA 2025 s.36: additional assessment within six years; no limit for deliberate misstatement | Six years, or longer if fraud is alleged |
| Nigeria, wages | Labour Act s.75: wage records and a record for each worker, including NSITF number | Three years |
| UK, limited companies | GOV.UK: records of money in and out, receipts, invoices and bank statements; fine up to £3,000 | Six years from the end of the last financial year they relate to |
| Canada | CRA: keep records six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, in Canada unless CRA agrees otherwise | Six years |
| United States | IRS: three years by default; four for employment tax; six or seven in some cases; indefinitely if no return was filed | Three to seven years, or more |
The Canadian rule has a twist that catches diaspora businesses: CRA says records must be kept at your place of business or residence in Canada unless it gives written permission, and records outside Canada accessed electronically from Canada are not treated as kept in Canada. A Canadian company that stores everything on a Lagos office computer may not meet the rule.
What to keep
- Sales invoices and credit notes, with the customer's details and Tax ID where relevant.
- Supplier invoices and receipts, including petty cash slips; see expense claims and receipts from staff.
- Bank statements for every account in every currency, plus the confirmation for each currency conversion.
- Withholding tax receipts issued and received, and VAT returns.
- Payroll: payslips, PAYE and pension remittance evidence, and the annual return of emoluments.
- Contracts, board resolutions and loan agreements, including stamped copies where duty applies.
- Fixed asset purchases, which may matter for longer than six years if the asset is still in use.
What a good receipt shows
A receipt is only useful if it identifies who was paid, for what, how much and when. The Ledger lists the fields in what a Nigerian business receipt should include. The NTA 2025 Ninth Schedule, as summarised in an April 2026 law journal article, sets stamp duty of ₦50 on receipts of ₦10,000 or more, so large paper receipts may carry a duty line.
Digital records and evidence
Most records now exist only as PDFs, emails or app screens. The NTAA section 57 lets the tax authority require records held on computers, devices or cloud services. If a record ends up in a Nigerian court, the Evidence Act 2011 section 84 sets conditions for computer-generated evidence, usually proved with a certificate, and the 2023 amendment extended this to electronic records. Practical steps:
- Save original files (PDF, CSV), not screenshots, wherever you can.
- Name files by date, counterparty and amount so they can be found.
- Keep two copies in different places, for example cloud storage and an offline drive.
- Restrict deletion rights so a departing staff member cannot remove records.
- Note who in the business can certify the records if needed.
Agree who keeps what
Where a manager in Nigeria handles day-to-day spending, write down who is responsible for collecting each type of record, where it is stored and who checks it each month. Ask for receipts to be uploaded within a set number of days of each payment, not at year end. Gaps are far easier to fill while the supplier still remembers the sale.
Worked example (illustration only)
A UK-registered company buys a ₦1,500,000 laptop for its Lagos manager in March 2026 and charges the cost to its Nigerian subsidiary. The supplier's receipt, the bank statement line, the conversion confirmation and the intercompany invoice should all be kept by both companies until at least the end of 2032 for the Nigerian side (six years after the 2026 year of assessment) and six years after the end of the UK company's financial year for the UK side. Keeping all four together means either authority's question can be answered from one folder.
Where Pryme fits
Pryme accounts give a dated record of every transaction, and customers can generate a regular or a verifiable receipt or statement through Pryme's partner VerifyDoc.ai; see receipts and why verifiable receipts matter. The Finance agent can match receipts to payments for a person to review.
Questions people ask
How long must a Nigerian business keep records?
At least six years after the year of assessment, under section 31 of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025.
How long should a UK company keep receipts?
GOV.UK says six years from the end of the last financial year they relate to, or longer in some cases.
Can I keep my records in the cloud?
Yes, but the Nigerian tax authority can require records held in cloud services, and Canada has rules on where records are kept. Make sure you can produce them quickly.
Are scanned receipts acceptable?
Digital records are generally accepted if complete and legible; keep originals where a law or contract requires them, and keep files in their original format.
Sources
- Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 (gazette copy) · accessed Oct 2026
- Labour Act, Cap L1 LFN 2004 (PLAC) · accessed Oct 2026
- GOV.UK: Running a limited company, company and accounting records · accessed Oct 2026
- CRA: Where to keep your records, for how long · accessed Oct 2026
- IRS: How long should I keep records? · accessed Oct 2026
- NAU Journal of Private and Property Law: stamp duties under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 (Apr 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.