Boxes of invoices are under the desk, the shelf in the corner will not take another binder, and the accountant is asking where next year's paperwork will go. That is when a company starts looking at document archive storage outside the office.

We will say plainly which kind of unit paper survives and which it does not, what it costs today, and when you do not need one at all.

Paper does not belong in an unheated container

This is the most important sentence here, and it corrects what this article used to say. Our outdoor units are converted, ventilated shipping containers: they are not heated and not air-conditioned. They freeze in winter, they heat up in summer, and every sharp swing in temperature puts condensation on the walls.

A cardboard box of documents takes that badly. Paper draws in moisture and warps, ink on older forms fades, and in the worst case mould appears and travels from binder to binder.

So for an archive we recommend an indoor unit. They are in the buildings at Holíčska 7 in Petržalka and Tomášikova 50D in Nové Mesto, they hold a comfortable temperature summer and winter, and you will find them among our unit types and sizes. Leave the container for things that do not mind the cold, such as storing building materials.

How long to keep documents under Slovak law

The main periods come from two acts, and for an ordinary company they come down to ten years:

• Accounting documents, accounting books, inventory lists, the depreciation plan and the chart of accounts: ten years following the year they relate to (§ 35(3)(c) of Act No. 431/2002 Coll. on Accounting).
• Financial statements and the annual report: ten years following the year they relate to (§ 35(3)(a) of the same act).
• Invoices issued and received by a VAT payer: ten years following the year they relate to (§ 76 of Act No. 222/2004 Coll. on Value Added Tax).

The period runs from the end of the year the document relates to: an invoice from 2026 is kept until the end of 2036 and can go to the shredder from 2037 at the earliest. For payroll and personnel files and other records the law sets no single period; your company's records retention plan (registratúrny plán) does, under § 35(3)(e) of the Accounting Act and Act No. 395/2002 Coll. on Archives and Registries. Set those periods with your accountant, who confirms them for your company.

For storage this means one practical thing: an archive grows for ten years and only then stops growing, when the oldest year goes to the shredder. Plan room for ten years of documents, not one.

An archive is smaller than people expect

Documents are heavy but take little floor area if you go upwards. Indoor units are 2.60 m high, and a shelf turns a small footprint into a real archive.

• from 0.99 m²: a sole trader's or small company's archive of a few years, dozens of binders on a shelf. What such a small storage unit looks like inside is set out separately.
• 2.25 m²: unit H44 at Holíčska, to be exact: 5.85 m³, 1.25 × 1.80 m, height 2.60 m, door 0.80 × 1.95 m. The archive of a company with some history behind it.
• 5-7 m²: by our own size guide, roughly a hundred boxes. Room for the archive and the retired office furniture with it. If stock joins the paperwork, see storage for an e-shop, where the conditions differ.

Today Holíčska has 17 indoor units free from 0.99 to 4.0 m², and Tomášikova 24 from 2.56 to 6.6 m². If you need more than 6.6 m², no indoor unit is free today: either wait, or look at storage rental for businesses in another size.

What it costs today

Prices move daily with how full a location is, so treat this as a snapshot of 10 September 2026 and check the live figure in the storage price list.

• 0.99 m² at Holíčska: from 29€/month.
• 2.25 m² (H44): 71€ for a single month, 69€ on three, 66€ on six, 64€ on nine and 60€/month over twelve.
• 2.56 m² at Tomášikova: from 78€/month.

An archive is a long-term business, so a longer term earns its keep here more than it does for a house move: on H44 you save 132€ over a year against twelve separate months. On top of the rent there is a deposit of one month, returned within 5 working days once the unit is handed back.

Insurance replaces paper, not what was written on it

Cover up to 2 000€ is included (theft, robbery, fire, natural disaster, vandalism), and higher cover is bought by the month: up to 5 000€ for 4.50€, up to 7 000€ for 7.50€, up to 10 000€ for 12€.

For an archive that has a limit worth saying out loud. Insurance pays for the value of the goods; it does not give you back the contents of a contract you hold nowhere else. Scan anything irreplaceable before it leaves the office, and store the paper that has a digital twin.

The usual mistakes

1. A container instead of an indoor unit. A few euros saved each month, and warped, musty boxes after the winter.
2. Boxes straight on the floor. Put a pallet or the bottom shelf under them.
3. Unlabelled boxes. In two years you will open six of them looking for one invoice. Write the contents and the years on two sides.
4. Taking the shredding along too. Sort before the trip, not in the unit: you are paying for the space that waste paper occupies.
5. Nobody but the owner has access. Add the accountant's number in the account, or every trip for a box is yours.

When you do not need it

• When the archive fits in one cupboard. A cupboard in the office costs you nothing extra.
• When it has all been digital for years and your accountant says the paper need not be kept. The right answer then is shredding, not storage.
• When you look at the documents weekly. The drive across town does not pay for itself; keep them at hand.
• When you need somebody to find a box and send it to you. There is no office and no staff at our sites; you come yourself.

How to go about it

1. Sort the documents into three piles: keep long, keep briefly, shred.
2. Pack them into identical archive boxes and label the contents and years on two sides.
3. Estimate the volume: the number of boxes divided by what a shelf holds tells you the shelving height you need, not the floor area.
4. In the price list choose an indoor unit at Holíčska or Tomášikova, whichever is nearer to you.
5. Take a longer term: the archive is not going anywhere and the monthly rate falls.
6. Fill in the company details; a company is found by name in the business register.
7. Pay by card, bank transfer or QR payment. The contract is concluded with the first payment.
8. Add your accountant's phone number in the account, and buy the shelving before the boxes arrive.

What TOP SKLAD offers

We run seven sites, six in Bratislava and one in Nitra, 527 units in total. Indoor units from 0.99 m² are at Holíčska 7 and Tomášikova 50D; outdoor containers from 3.5 m² are at Dúbravka, Gessayova, Kaukazská, Pionierska and in Nitra.

You enter the building at Holíčska with a personal code from your account; at the other sites the gate opens on a call from a registered number, and nine more numbers can be added in the account. Access is 24/7 every day of the year, which is the point in the week before a tax deadline. Every payment has an invoice with IČO and DIČ in the account. You lock the unit with your own padlock and only you hold the key. The contract, the deposit and the payment terms are in the questions and answers.

Frequently asked questions

How much does storage for a company archive cost?

As of 10 September 2026, from 29€/month for 0.99 m² at Holíčska. A 2.25 m² unit is 60€/month on the twelve-month term, or 71€ for a single month.

Can I put the archive in a container, since it is cheaper?

We advise against it. Containers are not heated and not air-conditioned, and through winter and summer the paper suffers from damp and condensation. Take an indoor unit for an archive.

How many years must accounting records be kept?

Ten years following the year they relate to: § 35 of the Accounting Act sets this for accounting documents and § 76 of the VAT Act for a VAT payer's invoices. A document from 2026 is kept until the end of 2036. Periods for payroll and personnel files are set by the company's retention plan; agree them with your accountant.

Can I reach the documents at the weekend?

Yes, access is 24/7 every day of the year. At Holíčska you open the building with a personal code from your account; elsewhere the gate opens on a call from a registered number.

Can my accountant collect a box instead of me?

Yes. Up to nine additional phone numbers can be added in the account for that location.

Related articles

• how much a storage unit costs in Bratislava
• the Holíčska 7 site in Petržalka