I am a CPA hired by a client in Bankruptcy. Wil I get paid by the Trustee

Danger ahead and proceed with caution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If this client is already in bankruptcy, presumably a Chapter 11, you cannot get paid UNLESS you are first approved by the bankruptcy court to represent the debtor as his accountant. This is ordinarily done with an application that is made by the debtor's attorney.

Also, once you are approved, you may not get paid until you make a formal application to the bankruptcy court and have a hearing on the reasonableness of your fees. This is also customarily done by the debtor's attorney.

Be forewarned, however, that if the debtor goes belly-up or incurrs a large amount of post-petition administrative debt, the actual amount of fees that you may get, regardless of how much work you do, could be substantially less than what you are seeking.

Before doing any work, I urge you to talk to some of your CPA colleagues who have done this type of work for debtors previously. They would be the the best people who can advise you further.

For some detailed information about the Chapter 11 process, including several articles about Chapter 11 bankruptcy law, practice and procedure, click the link below:

How much is the expected refund? Get the client to sign a promissory note or pay you an upfront partial deposit or take out a loan from a bank or credit union to pay you in advance. tiekh@yahoo.com (Accountant)