We have 2 offices. One in Adelaide, and one in Perth. Our Perth office is pretty much just that - an office. My boss goes over for 3 days each fortnight to see clients, and all work is brought back to us in Adelaide. So naturally, all of our files and client documents are kept here also. There are very few clients who have an issue with this system, as my boss is always highly accessible and we are more than happy to help with any and all queries.
One of our Perth clients came to our Perth office this morning. We've had trouble with him before not getting back to us. I got a call from the Receptionist of the offices (there's a loan brokering company operating from the same lot of offices) saying Mr G had rocked up asking for his receipts. I was thoroughly confused as to what he was asking for, I knew we hadn't sent anything back to Perth awaiting collection for this particular client. After a little persistence we discovered he wanted his returns and info to take to another Accountant.
In the Accounting world before a client can officially change their new accountant has an obligation to ask the previous accountant whether there are any ethical or other obligations in taking on this new client. In the majority of cases there is no objection. But one thing that will be an objection is outstanding accounts. And our friend Mr G has an outstanding account. So not only can we not give his information to the new accountant, he has to pay us before we will do so.
He was not happy, but I don't care. And we don't care that he's leaving. He was a pain anyway.
