From the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy:

The following rules establish requirements for licensees to follow when selling, transferring, or discontinuing their practice and provides guidance regarding the proper disposal of client records. These rules are effective as of 12/15/22.

30-X-6-.04 Responsibilities To Clients.

(3) Sale or Transfer of Licensee’s Practice. A licensee that sells or transfers all or part of the licensee’s practice to a successor firm or individual and will no longer retain any ownership in the practice shall comply with all of the following:

• (a) send a written notice regarding the sale or transfer of the practice via first class mail to the last known address of each client that may be subject to the sale or transfer. The notice shall contain, at a minimum, the following: a request for the client’s consent to transfer that client’s files or records to the successor firm or individual and a notice that the client’s consent will be presumed if it does not notify the licensee that it objects within 90 days from the date of the written notice. The licensee may not transfer any client files or records to the successor firm or individual until either the client’s consent is obtained, or the time indicated in the licensee’s written notice has lapsed without any objection from the client, whichever is shorter. The licensee is required to retain a copy of the written notice and any document reflecting the client’s consent or objection to the transfer. The written notice and any document reflecting the client’s consent or objection to the transfer of the client’s files shall be retained for not less than five years from the sale or transfer of the licensee’s practice.
• (b) if the client objects to the transfer of their files or records, client records as defined in 30-X-7-.07(2), to the successor firm or individual, the licensee shall return the files or records in a reasonable period of time or as agreed upon with the client; and
• (c) with respect to files or records not subject to the sale or transfer, a licensee shall return the client’s files or records in a reasonable period of time or as agreed upon with the client.
• (d) If the licensee is unable to contact a client, that client’s files or records, if not transferred or returned, shall be retained by the licensee for a period of not less than five years from the date of sale or transfer of the licensee’s practice. After the five-year retention period required by this section, the licensee shall dispose of or arrange for the disposal of client records that are no longer to be retained by the licensee by shredding, erasing, or otherwise modifying the personal information in those records to make it unreadable or undecipherable through any means.

(4) Discontinuance of Licensee’s Practice.

• (a) In the case of a discontinuance of a licensee’s practice without a sale or transfer of the practice to a successor firm or individual; a licensee shall send a written notice via first class mail regarding the discontinuance of the practice to the last known address of each client. The licensee shall also return the client’s files or records, client records as defined in 30-X-7-.07(2), in a reasonable period of time, or as agreed upon with the client.
• (b) If the licensee is unable to contact a client, that client’s files or records shall be retained for a period of not less than five years from the date the licensee’s practice discontinues. After the five-year retention period required by this Section, the licensee shall dispose of or arrange for the disposal of client records that are no longer to be retained by the licensee by shredding, erasing, or otherwise modifying the personal information in those records to make it unreadable or undecipherable through any means.