Legal Question in Business Law in California
I'm a self contracted accountant and keep the books for a company in quickbooks. I had to purchase the quickbooks myself. My question is, if I own the software, do I own the records I keep with in it. Could I charge them a fee for those records if they were to terminate my services due to a nepitism issue?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Ownership of the software is probably irrelevant. The answer to this question would probably depend upon the ethical rules applying to your profession. Lawyers, for example, are required to deliver client files to the former client (upon request) when a representation ends.
I agreevthat software is overhead for your business. I did a quick ckeck the American Institute of CPAs have a clear ethics rule
Client-provided records in the member's custody or control should be returned to the client at the client's request.
You were paid a fee to keep records, the records have their data, they need them for taxes and business. It may seem like you are extorting them to charge for the records. If you were sued over them you may not have a solid position to defend
It is their data that they paid you to organize in a particular fashion (presumably GAAP). You chose to organize that data using software. You have no obligation to provide them with a copy of the QuickBooks software, but the .qbb and .qbw files belong to the client.
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