Texas Administrative Code › Title 22 - EXAMINING BOARDS › Part 22 - TEXAS STATE BOARD OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANCY › Chapter 501 - RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT › Subchapter C - RESPONSIBILITIES TO CLIENTS › Section 501.76 - Records and Work Papers

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Records.
(1) A person shall return original client
				  records to a client or former client within a reasonable time (promptly, not to
				  exceed 10 business days) after the client or former client has made a request
				  for those records. Original client records are those records provided to the
				  person by the client or former client in order for the person to provide
				  professional accounting services to the client or former client. Original
				  client records also include those documents obtained by the person on behalf of
				  the client or former client in order for the person to provide professional
				  accounting services to the client or former client and do not include the
				  electronic and hard copies of internal work papers. The person shall provide
				  these records to the client or former client, regardless of the status of the
				  client's or former client's account and cannot charge a fee to provide such
				  records. Such records shall be returned to the client or former client in the
				  same format, to the extent possible, that they were provided to the person by
				  the client or former client. The person may make copies of such records and
				  retain those copies.
(2) Unless the
				  person and the client have agreed in writing to the contrary:
(A) A person's work papers, to the extent
				  that such work papers include records which would ordinarily constitute part of
				  the client's or former client's books and records and are not otherwise
				  available to the client or former client, shall also be furnished to the client
				  within a reasonable time (promptly, not to exceed 20 business days) after the
				  client has made a request for those records. The person can charge a reasonable
				  fee for providing such work papers.
(B) Such work papers shall be in a format
				  that the client or former client can reasonably expect to use for the purpose
				  of accessing such work papers. The person is not required to convert records
				  that are not in electronic format to electronic format or to convert electronic
				  records into a different type of electronic format. However, if the client
				  requests records in a specific format, and the records are available in such
				  format within the person's custody and control, the client's request shall be
				  honored.
(C) The person is not
				  required to provide the client with proprietary formulas.
(D) The person is not required to provide the
				  client with other formulas unless the formulas support the client's accounting
				  or other records or the person was engaged to provide such formulas as part of
				  a completed work product.
(3) Work papers which constitute client
				  records include, but are not limited to:
(A)
				  documents in lieu of books of original entry such as listings and distributions
				  of cash receipts or cash disbursements;
(B) documents in lieu of general ledger or
				  subsidiary ledgers, such as accounts receivable, job cost and equipment
				  ledgers, or similar depreciation records;
(C) all adjusting and closing journal entries
				  and supporting details when the supporting details are not fully set forth in
				  the explanation of the journal entry; and
(D) consolidating or combining journal
				  entries and documents and supporting detail in arriving at final figures
				  incorporated in an end product such as financial statements or tax
				  returns.