Accy 1.301(1) (1) No person licensed to practice as a certified public accountant shall disclose any confidential information obtained in the course of a professional engagement except with the consent of the client or through the due process of law.

Accy 1.301(2) (2) This rule shall not be construed:

Accy 1.301(2)(a) (a) To relieve such a person of the obligations under ss. Accy 1.202 and 1.203.

Accy 1.301(2)(b) (b) To affect in any way compliance with a validly issued subpoena or summons enforceable by order of a court,

Accy 1.301(2)(c) (c) To prohibit review of such a person’s professional practices as a part of voluntary quality review under authorization of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or the Wisconsin Society of Certified Public Accountants, or

Accy 1.301(2)(d) (d) To preclude a certified public accountant from responding to an inquiry made by the Professional Ethics Division of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, by the duly constituted investigative or disciplinary body of a state society of certified public accountants, or under any state statutes or the standards of the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Accy 1.301(3) (3) Members of the ethics division and trial board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and professional practice reviewers under American Institute of Certified Public Accountants authorization, or their state society counterparts, shall not disclose any confidential client information which comes to their attention from such persons in disciplinary proceedings or otherwise in carrying out their official responsibilities. However, this prohibition shall not restrict the exchange of information with an aforementioned duly constituted investigative or disciplinary body.

Accy 1.301(4) (4) The prohibition in sub. (1) against disclosure of confidential information obtained in the course of a professional engagement does not apply to disclosure of such information when required to properly discharge the certified public accountant’s responsibility according to the profession’s standards. The prohibition would not apply, for example, to disclosure, as required by AU-C section 560 of Statement on Auditing Standards, regarding the subsequent discovery of facts existing at the date of the auditor’s report which would have affected the auditor’s report had the auditor been aware of such facts.

Accy 1.301 History History: Cr. Register, June, 1974, No. 222, eff. 7-1-74; cr. (4), Register, December, 1974, No. 228, eff. 1-1-75; corrections made under s. 13.93 (2m) (b) 5., Stats., Register, March, 1993, No. 447; CR 03-071: am. (1), (2) (a), (c), (d) and (3), cons. and renum. (4) (intro.) and (a) to be (4) and am. Register May 2004 No. 581, eff. 6-1-04; 2015 Wis. Act 217: am. (2) (d), (4) Register May 2016 No. 725, eff. 6-1-16.

Accy 1.302 Accy 1.302 Contingent fees, commissions and referral fees.

Accy 1.302(1) (1) Contingent fees. Except as provided in sub. (2), a certified public accountant may charge a contingent fee provided the accountant and the client make a contingent fee agreement in writing, signed by the client, which states the method by which the fee is to be determined and describes all costs and expenses to be charged to the client. Upon conclusion of the contingent fee matter, the accountant shall provide the client with a written statement showing the fee and all the costs and expenses charged to the client.

Accy 1.302(2) (2) Certain contingent fees prohibited. No certified public accountant may receive a contingent fee from any person for whom the accountant performs attest services during the period of the attest services engagement or the period covered by any historical financial statements involved in the attest services.

Accy 1.302(3) (3) Commissions. Except as provided in sub. (4), a certified public accountant may receive a commission provided that at the time the referral or recommendation is made, the accountant informs the client in writing of the amount and reason for the commission.

Accy 1.302(4) (4) Certain commissions prohibited. No certified public accountant may receive a commission from any person for whom the accountant performs attest services, or may receive a commission for any products or services sold to any person for whom the accountant performs attest services, during the period of the attest services or the period covered by any historical financial statement involved in the attest services.

Accy 1.302(5) (5) Referral fees. No certified public accountant may receive a referral fee unless all of the following apply:

Accy 1.302(5)(a) (a) The certified public accountant who accepts the referral fee discloses to the client, in writing, at the time the referral is made, the amount of and reason for the referral fee.

Accy 1.302(5)(b) (b) The certified public accountant who pays the referral fee discloses to the client, in writing, within 30 days after the referral is made, the amount of and reason for the referral fee.

Accy 1.302(6) (6) Exceptions. This section shall not prohibit payments for the purchase of an accounting practice or retirement payments to individuals formerly engaged in the practice of public accounting or payments to their heirs or estates.

Accy 1.302 History History: Cr. Register, June, 1974, No. 222, eff. 7-1-74; r. and recr. Register, February, 1990, No. 410, eff. 3-1-90; CR 03-071: r. (1) (intro.) and (a), renum. (1) (b) to (k) to be Accy 1.003 (2) to (14), renum (2) to (7) to be (1) to (6) and am. (1) to (5), Register May 2004 No. 581, eff. 6-1-04; 2015 Wis. Act 217: am. (1), (3) Register May 2016 No. 725, eff. 6-1-16.

subch. V of ch. Accy 1 Subchapter V — Other Responsibilities and Practices

Accy 1.401 Accy 1.401 Acts discreditable.

Accy 1.401(1) (1) No person licensed to practice as a certified public accountant shall commit an act discreditable to the profession.

Accy 1.401(2) (2) Interpretations of this section, not intended to be all-inclusive, are as follows:

Accy 1.401(2)(a) (a) Client’s records and accountant’s workpapers. A certified public accountant’s working papers are the property of the certified public accountant and need not be surrendered to the client. However, in some instances working papers will contain data that should properly be reflected in the client’s books and records but that for convenience have not been duplicated therein, with the result that the client’s records are incomplete. In such instances, the portion of the working papers containing such data constitutes part of the client’s records, and copies should be made available to the client upon request. If a certified public accountant is engaged to perform certain work for a client and the engagement is terminated prior to the completion of such work, the certified public accountant is required to return or furnish copies of only those records originally given to the certified public accountant by the client. Examples of working papers that are considered to be the client’s records would include all of the following:

Accy 1.401(2)(a)1. 1. Worksheets in lieu of books of original entry (e.g., listings and distributions of cash receipts or cash disbursements on columnar working paper).

Accy 1.401(2)(a)2. 2. Worksheets in lieu of general ledger or subsidiary ledgers, such as accounts receivable, job cost and equipment ledgers, or similar depreciation records.

Accy 1.401(2)(a)3. 3. All adjusting and closing journal entries and supporting details. (If the supporting details are not fully set forth in the explanation of the journal entry, but are contained in analyses of accounts in the accountant’s working papers, then copies of such analyses must be furnished to the client.)

Accy 1.401(2)(a)4. 4. Consolidating or combining journal entries and worksheets and supporting detail used in arriving at final figures incorporated in an end product such as financial statements or tax returns.

Accy 1.401(2)(b) (b) Working papers. Any working papers developed by the certified public accountant incident to the performance of an engagement which do not result in changes to the client’s records or are not in themselves part of the records ordinarily maintained by such clients are considered to be solely “accountant’s working papers” and are not the property of the client. For example, the certified public accountant may make extensive analyses of inventory or other accounts as part of the selective audit procedures. Even if such analyses have been prepared by client personnel at the request of the certified public accountant, they nevertheless are considered to be part of the accountant’s working papers. Only to the extent such analyses result in changes to the client’s records would the certified public accountant be required to furnish the details from the working papers in support of the journal entries recording such changes, unless the journal entries themselves contain all necessary details.