Once, in their first year with us, we asked a client for their articles of organization, FEIN letter, OA, etc. and they didn't have them.
So we went by the prior year tax return.
It turns out that the company had 2 FEINs and we were filing under the incorrect one for many years (the prior preparer was using the "incorrect" FEIN).
This led to payroll mismatches and all sort of serious, high dollar problems. It took a tax attorney to straighten it out.
The client more or less blamed us for not demanding the letter from them or disclaiming why we needed it.
Now-a-days of course, we demand it.
A new client, who is a successful and professional contractor - doesn't have it.
I wrote:
Allow me to disclaim that if there is an error in some way, I won't be able to catch that and this can lead to problems. We have seen clients who have filed incorrectly for years and have needed tax attorneys to fix things, etc.
Sorry for the hassle, but officially, I suggest that you track down the original letter.
But I can proceed without it based on the previous preparer's filings if you wish.
He came back with "I have been filing correctly I don't know what you are talking about" - and he was annoyed.
Am I being too careful? Could I have handled this better in hindsight?