Who owns your company's data?
In plain terms, a firm may own records its people created in the ordinary course of running the practice, subject to contracts and professional rules. Having a file in your system doesn't automatically answer who can license a copy. Client materials and third-party licensed content are often a separate category.
I'm describing a process check, not giving a legal opinion on your files. Please have your own counsel look at the actual agreements and the type of record before you describe a set to anyone.
What's the difference between company-created records and client data?
Company-created records are materials the firm made for itself, such as internal process documents, templates, and scheduling workflows. Client data is information obtained from or about a client. Under the AICPA Code, confidential client information generally may not be disclosed without the client's specific consent.
See the definition of confidential client information and the rule at AICPA Code ET 0.400 and ET 1.700.001. Also read AICPA confidentiality and data licensing.
Does owning workpapers mean you can license them?
Not automatically. Working papers may be the firm's property under AICPA records-request rules, but property in a file is not the same as a right to license what's inside it. If those papers include confidential client information or tax return information, those rules still apply.
I unpack that in Who owns workpapers? and in Possession isn't title. This is not legal advice.
What usually stays out of a possible license?
What usually stays out, until the rights are clear, is someone else's data: client information, tax return information, vendor research, and content you only licensed. Passwords, logins, and bank or account numbers stay out. Your firm decides what's in, with its own advisors.
The privacy section on the home page lists the same categories in short form. A buyer's review still decides what it will accept.
FAQ
Who owns your company's data?
In plain terms, a firm may own records its people created in the ordinary course of running the practice, subject to contracts and professional rules. Having a file in your system doesn't automatically answer who can license a copy. Client materials and third-party licensed content are often a separate category.
What's the difference between company-created records and client data?
Company-created records are materials the firm made for itself, such as internal process documents, templates, and scheduling workflows. Client data is information obtained from or about a client. Under the AICPA Code, confidential client information generally may not be disclosed without the client's specific consent.
Does owning workpapers mean you can license them?
Not automatically. Working papers may be the firm's property under AICPA records-request rules, but property in a file is not the same as a right to license what's inside it. If those papers include confidential client information or tax return information, those rules still apply.
What usually stays out of a possible license?
What usually stays out, until the rights are clear, is someone else's data: client information, tax return information, vendor research, and content you only licensed. Passwords, logins, and bank or account numbers stay out. Your firm decides what's in, with its own advisors.