Two days ago, the Committee on the Authorized Practice of Law appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey issued an opinion which settles the debate if helping or filing a BOI report by a CPA Certified Public Accountant or EA Enrolled Agent constitutes unauthorized practice of law in NJ. Note that we expect other States to come to similar conclusions for CPAs (State license issued by the Board of Accountancy) and EA (Federal license issued by the IRS).

From a detailed review of the Opinion, we highlight the following extract out the five page document:

Corporate entities that have straightforward filings would have a cost savings if they do not need to hire a lawyer to file the report. The remaining factors to consider whether corporate entities are aware of the risks of using a nonlawyer for the services and voluntarily forego a lawyer for this task – are not known since the Act is so new.

Given that most filings are likely to be straightforward, the Committee finds that a licensed CPA can engage in this conduct provided the CPA notifies the client that it may be advisable to consult with a lawyer. The Committee relies on the professionalism of CPAs to ensure that such licensees will recognize when a filing is more complex and it is in the client’s interests for a lawyer to be retained in the matter.

While small businesses are now faced with retaining a lawyer or a CPA (or Enrolled Agent) to submit such reports, the businesses with straightforward filings should be able to do the task themselves, with guidance from FinCEN, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other entities. Corporations may file the forms on their own, but if they hire someone to do it on their behalf, it must be a lawyer or a CPA/Enrolled Agent.

We are glad that other license professionals like CPAs and EAs (in addition to lawyers) are able to assist with the BOI filings and that other States will probably follow this guidance.

NJ Supreme Court –  Committee on the unauthorized practice of law –  Opinion – CPA inquiry response 

NJ CPA article – NJ Supreme Court Committee Issues Opinion on CPAs Providing BOI Services