The methods behind your firm, without the client files

The first question accounting firms ask is what happens to client and taxpayer information. In short, it can be left out.

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Where the value tends to be

An accounting firm's value to a model is in how its people review and check work. You can see it in the firm's own material:

Workpaper templates and engagement checklists
Close procedures for month end and year end
Review notes and the sign-off steps that clear them
The firm's internal guides and knowledge bases

The first concern: client files and taxpayer data

You can leave client files and taxpayer data out. Strict confidentiality rules apply to tax information, so whether any of it is in scope is for your firm and its own counsel to decide. Many firms keep tax software and client folders out altogether and include just their internal know-how. What your obligations allow is a legal question, and we do not advise on it.

You keep your templates

A license covers a copy, never your practice itself. Your original files stay in your systems, and you keep using them as before. If you regard a method or template as central to the firm, exclude it. You can exclude any system, folder, client or engagement.

Common questions from firm owners

Do we have to include every system?: No. A well kept practice management system or a library of firm procedures can be enough to start.
Who on our side should be involved?: Usually a managing partner, whoever runs your practice and document management, and the counsel your firm relies on.
Does busy season matter?: The call takes 15 minutes, and the rest moves at your pace, so you can pick a quieter month to review the sample.

A typical fit

A typical fit is a firm with 20 or more full-time staff and 3 or more years of procedures and templates kept in practice management or document management software. Smaller practices may qualify too if their history is long and well documented. Your service lines have no effect on the estimate.

Making and checking the copy

It all begins under NDA. In the de-identified copy made by License Your Data, our licensing partner, placeholders replace names and identifiers, including those of your staff. Nobody asks for a password, and none is shared. A sample comes to you for approval before anything goes out, and your firm pays nothing.

See what your records could be worth

A specialist from License Your Data calls within minutes to set up a 15-minute call.

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