Who keeps your finalized work, and for how long
The Firm permanently owns finalized evidence and workpapers. Finalized Studies remain downloadable in TracePrep for three years after the subscription ends.
That's the whole commitment this page makes, and it answers the question a firm owner asks before uploading a single client file: who keeps it?
Who owns the Reasonable Compensation Study work a firm finalizes in TracePrep?
Key Takeaways
Ownership doesn't expire
The Firm permanently owns finalized evidence and workpapers.Three years after the subscription ends
Finalized Studies remain downloadable in TracePrep for three years after the subscription ends.Then the window closes
After that, TracePrep may delete them. Three years is how long TracePrep keeps them available, not how long your firm may need to keep its workpapers.Three artifacts, not "your data"
A branded PDF, the structured data behind it, and an immutable evidence manifest.Finalized is the line
The commitment attaches to finalized evidence and workpapers, not to a Study still in progress.What this page leaves out
It doesn't describe security controls or name any certification, and it says so below.
The question behind the question
Your firm keeps its workpapers for as long as its own record-keeping duty requires, and that duty doesn't care what software you were paying for when you did the work. A reasonable compensation conclusion is only as good as the file behind it. If the file lives somewhere you can't reach, the conclusion is just a number.
So the useful question isn't whether a platform stores your work. It's whether the work stays yours when the platform relationship ends. Here is TracePrep's answer, and nothing more than we can stand behind.
What your firm owns
"Your data" is too vague to be a promise. The commitment is about a defined set of finalized artifacts. When a Reviewer signs off and a Study is finalized, the Firm holds:
- A branded PDF.
- The Study as delivered.
- The structured data behind it.
- The data the PDF was built from.
- An immutable evidence manifest.
- The record of the evidence the Study rests on.
The Firm permanently owns finalized evidence and workpapers. Finalized Studies remain downloadable in TracePrep for three years after the subscription ends.
One boundary, stated plainly: the commitment attaches to finalized evidence and workpapers. A Study that's still in progress isn't the same object, and this page doesn't make the same promise about it.
For how this shows up inside the product, see firm-owned workpapers.
What happens when you cancel
Finalized Studies remain downloadable in TracePrep for three years after the subscription ends.
After that, TracePrep may delete them. Three years is how long TracePrep keeps them available, not how long your firm may need to keep its workpapers.
So: download each Study when it's finalized and file it with the rest of that client's workpapers.
What this page does not claim
This page covers retention and data ownership, and nothing else.
- No description of security controls.
- This page does not describe how the system is protected.
- No certification claim.
- This page does not name or claim any certification or attestation.
- No reassurance in place of a source.
- A retention page that fills the gap with reassuring language would be making claims it can't back. We'd rather tell you what's missing than paper over it.
Frequently asked questions
What does my firm own?
How long does a finalized Study stay downloadable after I cancel?
What happens to a Study that's still in progress?
Does this page answer questions about security controls?
Keep the work you finalize
See what a finalized Study contains before you commit a client file to it. See how a Study is built.
TracePrep is a software product from TracePrep Inc., not a CPA firm. This content is operator experience for educational purposes; it is not tax advice and has not been reviewed by a licensed CPA. Consult a qualified tax professional for guidance on your specific situation. Source citations in TracePrep workpapers support audit defense but do not guarantee IRS outcomes.