Illinois CPA Society – “Illinois Supreme Court Upholds Accountant’s Privilege”

Fascinating update on an important court case for Illinois CPAs. The Illinois Supreme Court recently upheld that:

1) The accountant is the holder of what is known as Accountant’s Privilege (similar to attorney-client privilege), not the client;

2) That a particular common law exception — which for attorneys permits a breach of the privilege — does not breach the accountant’s privilege; and,

3) That the accountant’s privilege can be waived when the accountant discloses information to a party.  This means that if subpoenaed, CPAs must carefully consider from the beginning whether to disclose documents, as it could lead to inadvertently waiving the privilege.

Thanks to the Illinois CPA Society for bringing this important Regulatory Bulletin to my attention.  It’s big news!