Helping Clients with legal services.

• Position: CAMICO INSURANCE TIP OF THE MONTH:

Some clients will ask their CPA to assist them with the preparation of documents pertaining to the formation or liquidation of corporations, partnerships, estates, trusts or other entities that require organizational documents. At other times clients will ask for help with documents pertaining to mergers, acquisitions, dissolutions, employment, severance, compensation or stock option plans.

Accounting and law professionals have long debated how much assistance a CPA should provide a client in this area. The pertinent laws differ by state and are constantly changing. From a risk management perspective, CPAs who help clients with legal forms and documents can inadvertently expand their liability exposures when they should be trying to limit exposures. Further, the CPA helping a client with activity outside the typical CPA functions may hamper an...