Guide to... The legal ownership of, and rights of access to, books, files, working papers and other documents

This factsheet is concerned with the question of whether documents and papers belong to members, or whether they belong to members’ clients. This is a particularly relevant issue when an engagement ceases, and a member has to distinguish between the records belonging to the client and the records belonging to the former accountant (the member). In addition, the former accountant must provide ‘reasonable transfer information’ to the new accountants, which is the subject of a separate ACCA factsheet.