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Council Interpretation 303
Cooperation with Successor
303/1 When a client decides, for any reason, to change from one practitioner to another, the change should be facilitated on the basis of the following fundamental assumptions:
(a) the client's interests should be placed ahead of the personal interest of the member;
(b) the client is free to have work performed by the practitioner of his or her choice; and
(c) professional courtesy and cooperation should be maintained between members in complying with the client's wishes.
303/2 A member should supply reasonable information to the successor about the work being assumed. Where the time and inconvenience in giving the information to the successor is not significant there should normally be no charge for this work.
303/3 A reasonable request for information includes an opportunity for the successor to discuss with the predecessor the following:
(a) the client's accounting policies and consistency of application;
(b) the work carried out by the predecessor with respect to material balances in the client's financial statements; and
(c) the financial statement groupings and account balance composition (for example, deferred income taxes) where the client does not have the information).
The following may be considered unreasonable requests:
(a) supplying copies of more than the previous year's financial statements and applicable tax returns, unless the member is remunerated for time and expenses; or
(b) supplying copies of audit programs, internal control documentation (including flow charts) and audit working papers, since the successor should complete his or her own investigation of the client's internal controls and then prepare his or her own audit programs.
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