Accountant's guide: help your clients with legal documents

The accountant as an all-round adviser

Your clients trust you, not just for the annual accounts and tax, but to keep the whole business in order. Yet there is one area many accountants leave to chance: the legal documents.

You see the consequence in the accounts: unresolved ownership matters, defective employment contracts and missing data processing agreements. These are problems that could have been prevented with simple documents, and that can now cost the client dearly.

This guide is for you as an accountant: what to be aware of, and how you can help your clients effectively.

The 5 legal documents accountants should check

1. The shareholders' agreement

Does the client have a company with two or more owners? Then ask: is there a shareholders' agreement?

Without a shareholders' agreement, nothing is settled about:

• What happens if an owner wants to sell
• Who has a pre-emption right to the shares
• How decisions are made in the event of disagreement
• What happens on death or divorce

A shareholders' agreement can save the parties a long and expensive dispute and is cheap to put in place compared with what a conflict can cost.

2. Employment contracts

The rules on employment certificates were tightened in 2023. Check whether your clients' employment contracts are up to date. The common mistakes:

• Missing information about training rights and flexible arrangements
• Too long a deadline for provision (the law requires the essential terms no later than 7 calendar days after the start and the rest no later than 1 month after)
• An old template without the new mandatory elements

A defective employment contract can trigger compensation to the employee, typically up to 13 weeks' pay and more in serious cases.

3. Data processing agreements (GDPR)

Does the client use an accounting program, a payroll system, a CRM or cloud storage? Then a supplier probably processes personal data on the client's behalf. That requires a data processing agreement (GDPR Article 28).

The Data Protection Agency carries out checks and can recommend fines. The data processing agreement is mandatory, and many businesses lack it.

4. Cooperation agreements

Many of your clients work with freelancers, subcontractors or business partners. Check whether there is a written agreement. Typically missing:

• Clear payment terms
• Termination terms
• Regulation of intellectual property rights

5. Articles of association and general-meeting documentation

The articles of an ApS must reflect the actual ownership and management structure. Check whether the articles are up to date, especially if there has been a change of ownership or a capital change.

What you can do as an accountant

You do not need to draft the documents yourself. It is not your core competence, and it can raise liability questions. But you can:

1. Check whether the necessary documents exist, as part of your onboarding or your year-end checklist
2. Recommend that the client put the missing documents in place, either via a lawyer or via a reliable document platform
3. Position yourself as an all-round adviser who helps the client with more than the figures

This strengthens your relationship with the client and reduces the risk of legal problems toppling an otherwise healthy set of accounts.

How a document platform can help

Digital document platforms such as LegalDock offer legally reviewed templates adapted to Danish law. The client can typically create and adapt a document quickly and download it as a PDF. That makes it easy to get the standard documents in order, while the more complex agreements should still be reviewed by a lawyer.

As an accountant, you can point out the option as part of your advice. It helps the client and strengthens your reputation as the adviser who thinks holistically.

Practical checklist for accountants

Use this checklist in your next client review:

• Company with 2 or more owners: is there a shareholders' agreement in place?
• Employees hired: are the employment contracts updated to the 2023 rules?
• Use of third-party systems with personal data: are data processing agreements signed?
• Cooperation with freelancers or subcontractors: are there written agreements?
• Articles: do they match the current ownership and management structure?

Conclusion

The legal documents are a natural extension of the work you already do with the client's figures. By building a few simple checks into your year-end, you can catch missing shareholders' agreements, outdated employment contracts and missing data processing agreements before they turn into expensive problems. It costs you little and gives the client a lot.

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The content of this article is for guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a lawyer for advice on a specific situation.