GoBD mode

GoBD (Grundsätze zur ordnungsmäßigen Führung und Aufbewahrung von Büchern, Aufzeichnungen und Unterlagen in elektronischer Form) is a German regulation for keeping business records in electronic form. Paperarchive supports GoBD-compliant archiving with the GoBD mode, which you switch on per space.

In GoBD mode, Paperarchive archives documents after processing, applies retention periods, locks archived documents and their key event details, records every change in a change history and checks the integrity of archived files regularly. Whether your record keeping as a whole meets the GoBD also depends on your own processes; your tax advisor can help with the procedural documentation.

Who needs GoBD

GoBD applies to all taxpayers in Germany who keep digital records. If you run a business, are self-employed, or manage tax-relevant documents digitally, GoBD rules apply to you. The key requirements are:

Documents must be stored unaltered for the legally required retention period.
Changes must be traceable.
Documents must not be deleted before the retention period expires.
The integrity of stored files must be verifiable.

How to enable GoBD mode for a space

GoBD mode is a per-space setting. Documents follow the rules of the space they belong to.

Go to Settings > Spaces.
Click the space you want to configure.
Expand the Advanced section at the bottom of the modal.
Turn on "GoBD mode (archiving with retention periods)".
Click Save.

GoBD mode can only be enabled on existing spaces, not during space creation.

When you switch GoBD mode on, every document in the space gets a retention period. GoBD mode cannot be switched off again while documents of the space are under retention or a retention hold is active, so in practice it stays on. The app tells you this before you switch it on. Every change of the setting is recorded in the change history.

A GoBD space can only be deleted when it holds no archived documents and no retention hold is active. Archived documents whose retention period has ended have to be moved to the trash first. Documents that were never archived move to the space you choose.

What happens in GoBD mode

Automatic archiving

A document is archived only when its processing (OCR, AI analysis, categorization) has completed and the SHA-256 hash of its original file exists. Right before archiving, Paperarchive checks the stored original against that hash. If they do not match, the document is not archived and the owner of the space is notified.

A document without open questions is archived right after processing.
If Paperarchive still needs your input on the document (Needs input), it is archived after you have reviewed it, at the latest 10 days after the upload.
An hourly run archives every completed document of the space that is at least 6 hours old and not archived yet, for example after you resolved a Needs input item or moved a document into the GoBD space.
The owner or an admin can also archive a document from its menu.

Warning: failed uploads and documents whose processing failed are not archived automatically. They need a decision: retry the processing, or archive the document explicitly with a written reason. A document that is still not processed after 10 days is not archived automatically either; the owner of the space gets a notice in the app every week until it is processed again or archived explicitly with a reason.

Every archiving is recorded in the change history with its reason: after processing, by the hourly run, after a review was confirmed, at the 10-day limit with an open question, manually, by a DATEV export, or explicitly for an incomplete document. Archiving cannot be undone.

Until a document is archived, users cannot change or delete its original file or the files derived from it; only Paperarchive's own processing (conversion, split, merge) can. You can still edit the document, move it to the trash, delete it, split it, merge it with other documents and move it to another space; every step is recorded in the change history with the person who did it.

From the moment of archiving, the recognized details (such as amount, date, sender and type) are locked, so check open Needs input items soon. The owner or an admin of the space can correct the index data with a mandatory reason: the document date, the sender, the category, the reference number, the extracted details and the values of the event (amount, currency, due date, reference number, type, period and cash discount); a missing event can be added. In the web app the edit form offers the date, the sender, the category and the due date. The change history keeps the old value, the new value and the reason. The file and the files derived from it, the file hashes, the date the document was added, the archive date and reason, the retention date, the space and the uploader never change. The original file is what counts; book from the original.

Retention periods

When a document is archived, Paperarchive sets its retention period based on the type of its event (invoice, contract, letter and so on). The retention period starts at the end of the calendar year of the document date, not the upload date.

For example, an invoice dated March 15, 2026 has a retention period that starts at the end of 2026 and expires on December 31, 2034 (8 years).

The following retention periods apply:

Document type	Retention	Legal basis
Invoices	8 years	HGB 257, AO 147
Receipts	8 years	HGB 257, AO 147
Bank statements	8 years	HGB 257, AO 147
Credit notes	8 years	HGB 257, AO 147
Contracts	10 years	HGB 257, AO 147
Insurance policies	10 years	HGB 257, AO 147
Letters and correspondence	6 years	HGB 257, AO 147
Offers	6 years	HGB 257, AO 147
Notices and official documents	6 years	AO 147
Payslips	6 years	AO 147

Documents without an event, or with a type not listed above, get a retention period of 10 years.

A retention period is never shortened. Documents that were archived earlier keep the retention period they received at the time. Before a document is archived, a provisional retention period applies (end of the upload year plus 10 years); when the document is archived, it is replaced once by the period of its type. For contracts and insurance policies the owner or an admin can set the end of the contract; the period then starts at the end of that year.

An archived document can only be moved to the trash and deleted after its retention period has ended. Documents that are not archived yet can be deleted at any time, also while the provisional period runs.

60 days before the retention period of archived records ends, the owner of the space gets a notice in the app.

Retention hold (suspension of expiry)

Records can be needed after their retention period, for example for an announced tax audit, a pending tax assessment or a legal dispute (suspension of expiry, Ablaufhemmung under § 147 (3) AO). Paperarchive does not detect this on its own. Instead, the owner or an admin of a GoBD space can set a retention hold for the whole space (in the space settings) or for one document (on the document page), with a reason and an optional end date.

While a hold is active, no document it covers is finally deleted, also after its retention period has ended. You can still move such a document to the trash, but emptying the trash after 30 days skips it.
The values in the change history of the covered documents are kept.
The space cannot be deleted and GoBD mode cannot be switched off.
Setting and releasing a hold, each with its reason, are recorded in the change history of the space. An active hold also blocks the deletion of the space owner's account: the deletion is refused until the hold is released or the space is transferred.
Retention holds are set in the web app. The iOS and Android apps do not show them yet.

File integrity

A SHA-256 hash is computed for every uploaded file. This hash acts as a digital fingerprint: if the stored file were ever altered, the hash would no longer match. The hash is also used to prevent duplicate uploads.

When the app computes a hash during upload, the server compares it with its own hash of the stored file. If they differ, processing stops and you upload the file again.

For archived documents in GoBD spaces, Paperarchive recomputes the hash of the stored file once a month and compares it with the hash saved at upload. You can also run this check for a single document at any time: open the document, go to the History tab and click "Check integrity". Every result is recorded in the change history.

File hashing is active for all documents regardless of the GoBD setting.

Change history

Every change to a document is recorded together with who made it and when, with the previous and the new value. This includes:

Adding the document
Title, file name and document date
Reference number and the extracted details
Sender and category
Tags added or removed
Space assignment, trash and restore
Archiving with its reason, and the retention period
Corrections after archiving, with their reason
Splitting and merging
The document's event: amount, currency, due date, reference number, type and status
Integrity checks

For the space, the change history also records GoBD mode on and off, moves of documents with the old and the new space, retention holds, the transfer of the space to a new owner, auditor access, every file an auditor opens or downloads, GDPdU exports and DATEV exports.

The history cannot be edited or deleted through the app or the API. Entries are linked in a hash chain: each entry contains a hash of the previous one, so a changed or removed entry becomes detectable (tamper-evident). Paperarchive verifies this chain during the monthly integrity check.

The stored old and new values are removed only by fixed deletion rules: when a document is finally deleted after its retention period, when the retention period of the records has ended, and when an account is deleted. A retention hold keeps them. Every removal is itself recorded, and the monthly integrity check compares the removals with these rules. When a document that was never archived is deleted from a GoBD space, its values are kept until the end of the year it was added plus 10 years and stay in the change history of the GDPdU export; if the owner of the space deletes their own account, these values are removed. Values whose document no longer exists are erased after 10 years.

You can see the history of a document in the History tab of the document page (on mobile, in the History section below the document). Every member who can open the document sees its history from the time it has been in its current space. Only the person who uploaded it also sees the history from before.

The owner and the admins of a GoBD space can export the change history of the space for a period as CSV or JSON in the space settings, next to the GoBD mode switch. The export includes the hash chain values.

The change history is recorded for all documents regardless of the GoBD setting.

What is locked after archiving

Once a document is archived in a GoBD space, the following can no longer be changed:

The document content (extracted text)
The title (original name) and the document date
The assigned sender and category, also the sender and category names stored with the document
The reference number and the extracted details (structured data)
The file hashes, the stored file itself and the references to its files
The archive date, who archived it, the reason, the retention period and, for records passed to the space owner, the time of the transfer
The space: an archived document cannot be moved out of a GoBD space

The event of an archived document is locked as well: amount, currency, due date, reference number and type cannot be changed directly, and the event cannot be deleted. You can still change its status, for example mark an invoice as paid; status changes are recorded in the change history.

Wrong index data is corrected only through the correction with a mandatory reason (owner or admin, see above). Tags and other non-core metadata stay editable. When you try to change a locked detail, Paperarchive shows a message that the document is archived in GoBD mode.

Deletion rules

Documents that cannot be deleted

An archived document whose retention period is still running cannot be moved to the trash or deleted.
An archived document without a retention date cannot be deleted.
A document covered by an active retention hold is not finally deleted, also after its retention period.

These rules are enforced in the database and apply to the app, the API and the internal service access. The only path past them is deleting your account: after you explicitly confirm that you keep the records yourself, archived documents in your own GoBD spaces are deleted with your account. An active retention hold blocks this: the deletion is refused until the hold is released or the space is transferred. Archived documents you uploaded to a GoBD space of another owner are not deleted; they pass to the owner of that space with their tags, sender and category, and your IP address and browser are removed from their change history.

Documents that can be deleted

A document that is not archived yet can be moved to the trash, deleted, split and merged, also while its provisional retention period runs. Every step is recorded in the change history.
Once its retention period has expired, an archived document can be moved to the trash, restored and deleted again. Its other archived details stay locked. The deletion is recorded in the change history.
Documents in spaces without GoBD mode can always be deleted.

When you move a document between spaces

Archived documents cannot be moved out of a GoBD space. Documents that were never archived can be moved out; their retention ends, the GoBD rules no longer apply to them, and the move is recorded with the old and the new space.

If you move a document into a GoBD space, it gets the provisional retention period and follows the GoBD rules from then on. The hourly run archives it once its processing has completed; if it is not processed, the owner gets the weekly notice described above.

Source emails

When the attachments of an email land in a GoBD space, Paperarchive also keeps the original email (.eml) and links it to every document created from it. If another email later brings an attachment that already exists in the space, Paperarchive creates no new document; it links the new email to the existing document as a further source email. Source emails are protected like the document and are part of the GDPdU export and of your data export.

If an email fails the sender check of its domain (SPF, DKIM or DMARC), a GoBD space does not drop it: Paperarchive keeps it and marks it with a Needs input item for your review.

For an upload into a GoBD space, only a document in that same space counts as a duplicate; a copy in another space does not.

Plan limits

Archived documents in GoBD spaces stay readable, downloadable and exportable (including the DATEV export) even if your account is over its plan's document limit, for example after a downgrade. They still count towards the limit.

Things to know

GoBD mode is per space, not per document. All documents in a GoBD space follow the same rules.
Archiving happens automatically after successful processing and cannot be undone. Failed or unprocessed documents need your decision.
Retention periods are 6, 8 or 10 years depending on the document type. A retention hold keeps records beyond that.
File hashing and the change history are always active for all documents. GoBD mode adds archiving, retention periods, locks, deletion protection and the monthly integrity check.
GoBD mode cannot be switched off while documents of the space are under retention or a retention hold is active.

Tax audits

For a tax audit you can give an auditor time-limited, read-only access to a space and create a GDPdU export with index.xml, the tables and the original files. For your tax advisor there is the DATEV export. See Auditor access & tax exports.

Your process documentation

The GoBD require a process documentation (Verfahrensdokumentation) that describes how you capture, keep and check your records. Paperarchive cannot write it for you, but two documents help:

The system description of the GoBD mode explains what Paperarchive does technically, including its limits (for example: no independent backup copy of the files yet, read access of members is not recorded).
The process documentation template (German) covers responsibilities, document types, capture, scanning, retention, access, auditor access and controls. Fill it in and have your tax advisor review it.