Who Should Have Access to a Company's Bank Statements?

The only parties that can check your bank statements or your account information are the account owners, authorized account managers, and bank professionals. Banks take great care to maintain the privacy and security of their customers' personal information.

Corporate Setup and Access Rights

Whether founders, major shareholders, or any other individuals should have access to a company's bank statements depends entirely on the setup of the corporation. Generally, founders merely by being founders have no rights at all in the corporation.

However, if a founder happens to be an officer or director, the founder may have access to such information. Typically, shareholders merely by being shareholders do not have access to corporate documents. A corporation is run through a board of directors who appoint officers to operate the company. Bank statements would be business records of the company, and neither directors nor shareholders generally have access to day-to-day documents.

Directors have a fiduciary duty to shareholders to ensure the corporation is well-run. This includes receiving financial information sufficient to perform their fiduciary duties. Such information may be in the form of profit and loss statements, audits, asset and liability reports, revenue and expense reports, and other types of reports. These may be provided to shareholders directly or in summary. There are laws regarding publicly traded companies that address the type and form of financial reports that are provided to shareholders and to the general public. Many of these reports rely on the accuracy of bank statements.

Situations Where Directors Can Review Financial Records

Directors can ask to examine any of the corporate book accounts that may be required for them to perform their duties to shareholders. Obviously, many directors are often also shareholders, founders, or officers. The directors are the ones who have both the responsibility and, therefore, the access to review corporate financial records in detail.

Authorized Signers and Access Control

Well, it could be your business partners, your bookkeeper, your company accountant, someone in accounts payable, or another employee working in a financial role. Anyone who regularly deals with money coming in and out of your business might make sense as an authorized signer. Access control is crucial in maintaining the security and privacy of financial information within a company.

Conclusion

While bank statements are critical for the day-to-day operations and financial health of a company, access to these statements is tightly controlled. Directors and other authorized personnel play a vital role in ensuring the company's financial transparency and accountability. Understanding who should have access to bank statements is essential for any business looking to maintain the trust and confidence of its stakeholders and regulatory compliance.