These plans cover only the transfer of clients. Another alternative is offered by some state CPA societies, which assist the spouse and heirs to perpetuate a CPA's practice. If a member CPA hasn't made other arrangements, these state society plans, also called emergency assistance plans, provide help for the practice's disposition. There are many elements to a practice continuation agreement. The key to creating effective terms and conditions involves basic definitions for the concepts of temporary disability , permanent or total disability and retirement.
Permanent disability is total disability due to ill health, either physical or mental.
In contrast, temporary disability is defined as a physical or mental disability that does not last more than approximately six months. Retirement is simply defined as the exit from public accounting on an immediate or phase-out basis. These definitions must be a part of any contract and must be addressed with care to allow flexibility. The employees generally would be supervisors, such as managers, so they can review staff work and provide the necessary experience and background to make management decisions. The manager would be in contact with and under the supervision of the temporarily disabled practitioner.