Mistakes in any profession can proceed from becoming overworked—and those in professions with “crunch times,” many of whom perhaps make the bulk of their yearly income during a certain time of year, are at particular risk for accidentally violating best practices or for being wrongfully accused of doing so. For some CPAs, this season is tax season—harvest time for the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy.
While there are a number of breaches of best practices that unscrupulous CPAs make intentionally—like charging fees for services that have not been performed, filing fraudulent tax returns on behalf of clients, engaging in acts of fraud or behaving dishonestly while performing duties as a tax professional, or being convicted of a felony criminal offense — some of these can be made unintentionally as well.
Add to these acts that are performed unintentionally, such as negligence in performance of work for client businesses or individuals, or accidentally failing to file tax returns on behalf of clients, and you have a cluster of both intentional and unintentional violations of best practices that may result in a CPA losing their license and the livelihood that comes along with it. And then there are those times when a CPA is accused of having committed some sort of act that, in fact, they did not.
CPAs practicing in Texas are governed by Title 22, Part 22 of the Texas Administrative Code. These rules establish the standards and practices that are expected of practitioners in the field, and outline the disciplinary process for their violation. This includes the complaint process, which some CPAs are put through unfairly by vindictive former clients or as result of misapprehension of properly-performed work.
The practice of Accountancy has a great number of gray-zones — many of which come from the fact that CPAs must rely on information given them by clients, some of whom may be hiding information or feeding the CPA incorrect information. While some CPAs decide to face a disciplinary proceeding alone, this is never recommended. In order to mount a sufficiently vigorous defense, a CPA should contact a professional license defense attorney as soon as they become aware of the complaint lodged against them.
Our law firm helps professionals, like you, keep their licenses when those licenses are under attack by the TSBPA.
With offices in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio, we serve clients all over the state. As experienced attorneys, well-versed in state and federal laws, we know how to win. Our results speak for themselves!
If you are facing disciplinary action from the Board, contact us today or call (512) 476-5757 and schedule a case evaluation.
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