61H1-23.002. Records Disposition Responsibility

(1) A certified public accountant shall furnish to a client or former client upon request and reasonable notice:

(a) Any accounting or other records belonging to, or obtained from or on behalf of, the client that were provided to the certified public accountant; the certified public accountant may make and retain copies of such documents of the client when they form the basis for work done by the certified public accountant.

(b) Any accounting or other records that the certified public accountant was not specifically engaged to prepare that are related to an issued work product of the certified public accountant and that are not in the client’s books and records or are otherwise not available to the client, with the result that the client’s financial information is complete.

(c) A copy of any deliverable as set forth in the terms of the engagement that has been issued by the certified public accountant.

(2) This rule shall not preclude a certified public accountant from making reasonable charges for costs incurred. Once the certified public accountant has complied with the requirements in subsection (1) above, the certified public accountant is under no obligation to comply with subsequent requests from the client to again provide such records or work products. However, if subsequent to complying with a request, a client experiences a loss of records due to a natural disaster or act of war, the certified public accountant shall comply with an additional request to provide such records or work products.

(3) Provisions of this rule apply to Licensed Firms and to all certified public accountants practicing public accounting.

Rulemaking Authority 473.304 FS. Law Implemented 473.318 FS. History–New 12-4-79, Amended 12-11-83, Formerly 21A-23.02, Amended 9-1-87, Formerly 21A-23.002, Amended 10-28-98, 10-26-09, 12-2-14, 12-21-15.