[Anonymous]

I just wanted to see, in your line of work, how often do you apply your knowledge of business law, review contracts, see if commercial paper is negotiable, etc?

The reason I ask is if I ever finish my CPA, I want to go back to certain topics in each 4 parts so that when it is time to work, I won’t go, oh $&#(#, what is a general ledger? what is he talking about? etc etc. Obviously things like info tech and certain other parts aren’t as common as others.

[Anonymous]

Basically never because a CPA can't provide legal advice to a client – it's considered unauthorized practice of law and is illegal in every state. If you're reviewing an operating agreement or sale agreement it's only to determine proper tax/accounting treatment of the transaction, not to determine the validity of the contract or determine possible defenses to contract formation, etc.

[Author]

Replies