Q:

Subject: Corporations

We are a bookkeeping firm run by Enrolled Agents. Can we set-up corporations for our clients and charge them for the service without any type of legal license such as a LDA or Paralegal? Thank you for your help.

A:

There is no quick and easy answer to this because the environment regarding how aggressively the attorneys protect their "turf" varies by state and area of the country. You will need to do some research in your state to see it is safe for non attorneys to provide this service. The easiest way would be to see if there are other non-licensed people already doing this near you and they have been allowed to continue without prosecution from the state bar.

You didn't say where you are located, but the zealous protectionism demonstrated by some state bars can reach ridiculous levels. A perfect example was in Texas, where Nolo Press was prosecuted for practicing law without a license for merely selling books and software dealing with legal issues. They ended up winning their case, but they had to endure the cost and hassle of defending their position for two years, which is something that you would most likely want to avoid. They have a short summary of this on their website.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

Kerry Kerstetter

Labels: corp

- posted by Kerry M. Kerstetter, MBA~CPA~ATP~ATA @ 11/04/2007 12:27:00 PM Send this post: