(a) All statements, records, schedules, working papers, and memoranda made by a certified public accountant or public accountant incident to or in the course of professional service to clients by the accountant, except reports submitted by a certified public accountant or public accountant to a client, shall be and remain the property of the accountant, in the absence of an express written agreement between the accountant and the client to the contrary. No statement, record, schedule, working paper, or memorandum shall be sold, transferred, or bequeathed, without the consent of the client or the personal representative or assignee of the client, to anyone other than one or more surviving owners or new owners of the firm of the accountant. All statements, records, schedules, working papers, or memoranda prepared by a certified public accountant or public accountant in the performance of a practice monitoring program or peer review, conducted by the board shall be and become the property of the board immediately upon preparation or compilation, and shall be remitted to the board promptly upon completion of the review. The board may retain, archive, or destroy all or any portion of same. The information shall be deemed confidential. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting the disclosure of information required to be disclosed by the standards of the public accounting profession in effect from time to time with respect to reporting on the examination of financial statements or as prohibiting the disclosure in court proceedings, in investigations or proceedings conducted by the board or the designees of the board, or in ethical investigations conducted by private professional organizations. In addition, nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting any temporary transfer of workpapers or other material necessary in the course of carrying out peer reviews.
(b) A licensee shall furnish to a client or former client, upon request and reasonable notice:
(1) A copy of the licensee's working papers, to the extent that such working papers include records that would ordinarily constitute part of the client's records and are not otherwise available to the client.
(2) Any accounting or other records belonging to, or obtained from or on behalf of, the client that the licensee removed from the client's premises or received for the client's account; the licensee may make and retain copies of such documents of the client when they form the basis for work done by the licensee.
Structure Code of Alabama
Title 34 - Professions and Businesses.
Section 34-1-3 - State Board of Public Accountancy.
Section 34-1-4 - Granting of Certificates to Certified Public Accountants.
Section 34-1-5 - Registration of Foreign Accountants.
Section 34-1-6 - Registration of Firms of Certified Public Accountants.
Section 34-1-7 - Practice Privilege for Nonresident Certified Public Accountants.
Section 34-1-8 - Registration of Public Accountants.
Section 34-1-9 - Registration of Firms of Public Accountants.
Section 34-1-10 - Registration and Supervision of Offices.
Section 34-1-11 - Annual Permits to Practice; Inactive Status; Continuing Education.
Section 34-1-12 - Suspension, Revocation, etc., of Certificate, Registration, or Permit; Fines.
Section 34-1-14 - Hearings; Judicial Review.
Section 34-1-15 - Reinstatement of Certificate, Registration, or Permit.
Section 34-1-16 - Acts Declared Unlawful.
Section 34-1-17 - Acts Not Prohibited.
Section 34-1-18 - Injunctions Against Unlawful Acts.
Section 34-1-19 - Misdemeanors; Penalties.
Section 34-1-20 - Evidence of Unlawful Practice.
Section 34-1-21 - Ownership of Accountants' Working Papers.
Section 34-1-22 - Disposition of Fees and Charges; Disbursements.