ATF Bound Book Requirements (A&D Record)
Every FFL dealer must record each firearm acquisition by the close of the next business day and each disposition within 7 days, in an A&D record with the fields in 27 CFR 478.125(e), and keep it until the business or licensed activity is discontinued (27 CFR 478.129(e)). The record can be a paper bound book or, under ATF Ruling 2016-1, electronic.
What has to go in the acquisition and disposition record, and the two deadlines that are easiest to miss because they are not the same length.
By Dana Fales, licensed FFL dealer and U.S. Army veteran · Published · Updated
Acquisitions: by the close of the next business day after you receive the firearm.
Dispositions: within seven days of the transaction.
Why the asymmetry catches people out
Most dealers remember that there are deadlines. Fewer remember that the two windows are different lengths, and that is where the trouble starts. A shop that treats both as "about a week" is late on every single acquisition entry.
Here is the acquisition rule as written:
"The purchase or other acquisition of a firearm shall, except as provided in paragraphs (g) and (i) of this section, be recorded not later than the close of the next business day following the date of such purchase or acquisition."
27 CFR 478.125(e)And the disposition rule:
"The sale or other disposition of a firearm shall be recorded by the licensed dealer not later than seven days following the date of such transaction."
27 CFR 478.125(e)The acquisition deadline is qualified by "except as provided in paragraphs (g) and (i)" of the same section. Those paragraphs address situations that do not follow the ordinary next-business-day rule. If your operation involves anything out of the ordinary on the receiving side, read those paragraphs directly rather than assuming the general rule applies.
What an acquisition entry has to contain
The regulation specifies the fields. An entry that is timely but incomplete is still a deficient record:
- Date of receipt
- Name and address, or name and license number, of the person from whom received
- Name of the manufacturer and the importer, if any
- Model
- Serial number
- Type
- Caliber or gauge
Two of these get shortchanged more than the rest. Importer is frequently left blank on foreign-made firearms where it is required, and manufacturer and importer are sometimes collapsed into one field when they are genuinely different entities. The regulation asks for both.
What a disposition entry has to contain
- Date of the sale or other disposition
- Name and address of the person to whom the firearm is transferred, or the name and license number if that person is a licensee, or the Form 4473 transaction number
That last option matters operationally. Where the disposition is to a non-licensee and you have a completed Form 4473, the regulation contemplates recording the 4473 transaction number rather than rewriting the full name and address into the book. Which of these you use is a workflow decision worth making deliberately and then applying consistently, because inconsistency is itself something an investigator will notice.
Quick reference
| Event | Deadline | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Firearm received (acquisition) | Close of the next business day | 478.125(e) |
| Firearm transferred (disposition) | Within seven days | 478.125(e) |
| Record retention | Until discontinuance of business | 478.129(e) |
Keeping it electronically
A paper bound book is not your only option, but electronic recordkeeping is a conditional allowance rather than a free choice. ATF Ruling 2016-1 sets out the conditions for keeping A&D records electronically, and those conditions have to actually be satisfied. A spreadsheet on a laptop is not automatically a compliant electronic bound book.
We break down what that ruling permits, alongside the electronic Form 4473 rulings, in Key ATF Rulings, Explained.
Paper or electronic? What changes
You can keep the A&D record on paper or electronically. Going electronic is allowed without applying for your own variance, but only while you follow every condition of ATF Ruling 2016-1. The ones that matter most day to day:
- Everything electronic, or nothing. If any A&D record is electronic, all of them must be, including gunsmithing and NFA records. No relying on invoices or paper for required information.
- Corrections are tracked, never silently overwritten.
- Searchable by serial number, acquisition date, manufacturer or importer, purchaser name and address, and 4473 transaction number.
- Backed up at least daily, and downloaded in an unencrypted format to a device at your premises at least every six months (daily if cloud-hosted), within 24 hours of an ATF request, and before you change software or close.
- Cloud-hosted records need a host with a U.S. business premises, subject to U.S. legal process, and notice to your ATF area office within 30 days of contracting with or changing a host. The same applies to off-site or cloud backup: If you use off-site or cloud backup, ATF Rulings 2016-1 and 2016-2 require notifying your ATF Area Office of the host facility within 30 days. We'll give you the details to include.
Every condition, in plain English: ATF Ruling 2016-1 checklist. Source: ATF Ruling 2016-1.
Is there an "ATF approved" bound book?
No. ATF doesn't approve or endorse commercial bound book software; Ruling 2016-1 sets conditions that the dealer, not the vendor, is responsible for following. In ATF's words, the Bureau "does not issue blanket approvals for commercially available software programs nor does it endorse any particular product." (ATF, Prescribed Requisites for Computerized A&D Software) More on this in the 2016-1 checklist.
How long you keep it
For dealers, the A&D record is retained until the business or licensed activity is discontinued, under 27 CFR 478.129(e). This changed in August 2022 and a lot of older guidance still gives the pre-2022 answer. See How Long Must an FFL Keep Form 4473s? for the detail, including why the number 20 still appears in the regulation without meaning what people assume.
Common questions
How fast must an FFL record an acquisition in the bound book?
How fast must an FFL record a disposition?
How long must an FFL keep the A&D bound book?
Can the bound book be kept electronically?
Is there an ATF approved bound book?
See electronic bound book software: the A&D record on your own Windows PC, with a read-only inspector login and a before-and-after trail on every correction.
Dana Fales holds an active Federal Firearms License and operates Fales Guns, a licensed dealership in Coral Springs, Florida. A U.S. Army veteran who served as a Blackhawk crew chief, with more than 30 years of firearm ownership, Dana built FFL Command Center after keeping these records by hand, and tested it in an operating gun shop before selling it to anyone else. More about Dana.
Related reading: How long must an FFL keep Form 4473s? · What to expect in an ATF compliance inspection · Key ATF rulings explained · Electronic bound book software · Best FFL software in 2026
See the Bound Book in Practice
FFL Command Center was built in an operating gun shop. If you want to see how acquisition and disposition entries actually behave day to day, ask for a walkthrough.