Trekking Company Records and Paperwork in Nepal

Trekking is a regulated business in Nepal, and the paperwork multiplies with every client. We are a software company, not a legal adviser, so this article does not list fees, forms or rules. It explains how to organise your own records so that whatever the authorities require, you can find it quickly, and it points you to the right bodies to confirm current requirements.

Three families of records

Think of your paperwork in three groups: the company, the clients and the staff. Each has different owners and different retention needs.

• Company records: registration and renewal documents, tax registration, licences, insurance policies and bank details.
• Client records: booking, passport copy, emergency contact, insurance note, signed terms and payment receipts.
• Staff records: identification, training or licence documents where applicable, insurance, wage agreements and settlement.

Software helps because every record has an owner, a status and, where relevant, an expiry date that can trigger a reminder.

Tracking permit and registration work

For each trip, create a checklist of the permits and registrations you will need to arrange for the route and group. Keep the list as your own working document, updated when the authorities change requirements. Beside each item record who is responsible, the date submitted, the reference you were given and the current status. The tracker does not replace the official process; it prevents the late-night panic when someone realises a passport copy was never sent.

Field	Why record it
Client and trip	Links the paperwork to a person and departure
Item	The permit or registration you are arranging
Status	Pending, submitted, received, problem
Reference and date	Proof if something is questioned
Responsible person	Accountability inside your office

Fees and rules change, sometimes between seasons. Always confirm them with the relevant authority or your trade association rather than from last year's notes.

Client data and privacy

You hold passport scans, health remarks and family contacts for people from many countries. Treat this with care. Limit who can open client files, keep copies in one controlled place rather than in personal chats and decide when old scans are deleted. Some clients come from places with strong privacy rules, so a clear retention habit is also good for reputation.

Accounts and tax records

Your accounts follow the Bikram Sambat fiscal year starting in Shrawan, while clients book in AD and pay in foreign currency. Keep each receipt with the original currency, rate and NPR value. VAT at 13% applies to certain supplies, but how it applies to export-type tourism services and package components depends on specifics, so ask your accountant to confirm your treatment and configure the software accordingly. Keep invoices and credit notes in sequence and never delete a cancelled booking.

Staff wages, advances and tips

Guides and porters are the backbone of the business. Record the agreed wage, any advance paid before the trip and the settlement afterward, with the person signing or acknowledging it. Tips collected from clients and handed over should be recorded too. Fair, transparent records protect both the company and the staff, and they make it easier to rehire the best people each season.

Incident and safety records

Keep a short log of incidents, illness, evacuations and near misses for each trip. Note date, place, people involved, action taken and follow-up. This is not a legal document in itself, but it helps you review your routes, plan briefings and respond if an insurer or authority asks questions. Store emergency contact details where the office, not just the leader, can reach them at any hour.

Insurance, contracts and terms

Keep the signed or accepted booking terms with each client record, along with the date and the version of the terms they accepted. If you update your cancellation wording for next season, the old bookings should still point to the old version. Where clients are required or advised to hold travel or evacuation insurance, record the provider and policy reference, but remember that you are noting information they supplied, not verifying cover. For your own business insurance and for staff cover, note renewal dates so that nothing lapses unnoticed during a busy season.

Because these papers are sensitive and sometimes disputed, it helps that a system records who attached or changed a document and when. That trail is much stronger than a folder of scans on a shared computer where anyone can rename or delete files.

Retention and clean-up

Decide what you keep and for how long. Accounting records generally need to be kept for a period set by law, so ask your accountant for the correct duration. Client passport scans are different: you rarely need them long after the trip, so many agencies delete them a set time after the final settlement. Write the rule down, assign someone to run it each quarter and log the clean-up.

Where software fits

The WebsNP trekking system is designed to hold these records, remind you of expiries and pending paperwork, and keep a log of who changed what. We configure the checklists to match your own process and do not provide legal or permit advice. For general document filing, our document management software can hold the company-level papers.

Next step

List the ten documents you would hate to be unable to find tomorrow. Check that each is stored once, in one place, with an owner and a renewal date. Then message WebsNP on WhatsApp at +977 9846280400 to see how a system keeps those reminders for you.

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