Force an Accounting in Brazil: Make a Partner, Manager, Agent, or Executor Show the Books

Forcing an accounting in Brazil for foreign clients

You trusted someone in Brazil with your money, your property, your business, or an estate — a partner, a rental manager, someone holding your power of attorney, the administrator of a family estate — and now you cannot get a straight, documented explanation of what came in and what went out. Brazilian law gives you a direct way to force that person to open the books and, if a balance is owed to you, to recover it. This guide, for foreign clients, explains how it works and which situation is yours.

Reviewed by Luciano Oliveira, Esq., LL.M — licensed in Brazil, Texas, and California. Last reviewed July 2026.

This page is general information about accounting and financial-management disputes in Brazil. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Procedures and requirements change over time, and only a formal consultation with a lawyer licensed in Brazil, reviewing your specific facts, can tell you how the law applies to your situation.

What “forcing an accounting” means in Brazil

The tool is the ação de exigir contas — an action to demand accounts (still widely called by its older name, ação de prestação de contas). It compels a person who managed money or assets that were not their own to produce a detailed, documented account: what they received, what they spent, what they kept, and what is left. It is built precisely for the situation where you suspect something is wrong but cannot see the records yourself.

Who has a legal duty to account to you

Not everyone owes you an accounting — but almost anyone who administered your money or assets does. That duty can come from a contract or directly from the law, and it typically covers:

a business partner or company administrator (sócio / administrador) who runs the business or holds its money;
someone holding your power of attorney (procurador) who managed or sold assets on your behalf;
a property or rental manager collecting rent and paying expenses on your Brazilian property;
the administrator of an estate (inventariante), who must account to the heirs;
a court-appointed guardian (tutor or curador) managing another person’s assets;
and, more broadly, anyone who in fact held and managed your funds.

Brazil does not have the common-law “trust,” so the duty here attaches to whoever actually administers the assets — not to a “trustee.”

Two directions: demanding accounts vs. rendering them

The same mechanism runs both ways. You, as the person owed an explanation, can demand accounts to force disclosure. The person who did the managing can instead render accounts on their own initiative, to have them approved and clear themselves. A useful feature: this action is two-sided — the court awards any resulting balance to whichever party it favors, so you are not limited to proving a number in advance.

How it works: the two phases (and why it can recover money)

An accounting action unfolds in two stages:

First, the court decides a narrow question: does this person owe you an accounting at all? You do not have to prove wrongdoing to get here — only that a duty to account exists.
Then, if the duty is confirmed, the accounts themselves are examined line by line, checked against receipts and statements, and the court fixes a balance.

That second-stage decision is an enforceable judgment. If it shows money is owed to you, it becomes a title you can collect on — so the action can actually recover a proven balance, not only produce transparency.

Find your situation

“My Brazilian business partner won’t show me the books.”

You co-own a business in Brazil, the other partner runs it, and you cannot get the financials or a clear picture of the money. You can compel an accounting of the company’s management — and where it reveals diverted funds, pursue recovery and, if needed, a partner exit or removal.

“The manager collecting my rent won’t account for it.”

You own property in Brazil managed by an agency or an individual who collects the rent and pays the bills. They owe you a periodic, documented account of what came in, what was spent, and their fees. When the rent stops arriving or the numbers don’t add up, the accounting action forces the itemized truth.

“My power-of-attorney holder misused or won’t explain my funds.”

You gave someone a power of attorney (procuração) to handle a sale or manage assets in Brazil, and money is missing or unexplained. A person acting under your power of attorney must account for every amount handled. This often pairs with revoking the power of attorney and, where funds were diverted, recovering them.

“The estate administrator won’t account to the heirs.”

A relative or co-heir is running a family estate in Brazil as inventariante and won’t tell the other heirs what the estate holds or where the money has gone. Heirs can demand an accounting — and, where the administrator won’t account or has mismanaged the estate, seek their removal.

“A guardian is managing a relative’s assets without accounting.”

Where a court-appointed guardian (tutor or curador) manages the assets of a minor or an incapacitated relative, they must account for that management. Failing to do so can trigger both the accounting and their replacement.

Related paths, when an accounting isn’t quite the right tool

Sometimes a different action fits better, and we choose the right combination:

to simply see specific records — an action to produce documents;
to exit or expel a partner and value the stake — a partial dissolution and buyout;
to remove an estate administrator who won’t account — their removal;
to stop ongoing harm — revoking the power of attorney;
and where you already know a sum was taken — a straight collection or fraud claim with asset tracing.

Why this is different when you are abroad

Distance is the whole problem: you can’t walk into the office, you don’t have the records, and the person managing your money knows it. We act for clients in the United States and elsewhere — filing and running the action in Brazil, gathering the financial evidence, and coordinating with your home-country advisors, including when a recovered balance has to be enforced or moved across borders. We drive it; you do not have to be in Brazil to make someone account for your money.

What wins these cases

Evidence. The contract or power of attorney that created the duty, bank statements, transfer records, message trails, and a clear timeline of what you entrusted and what you received. Assembling this early — even from abroad — is often what turns a vague suspicion into an enforceable balance.

Someone in Brazil won’t account for your money? We can help.

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Frequently asked questions

Can I force someone in Brazil to show me the books?

Yes. If they managed your money or assets, they generally owe you a documented accounting, and the ação de exigir contas compels it. You do not have to prove wrongdoing first, only that a duty to account exists.

Do I have to be in Brazil to bring an accounting action?

No. We file and run it for you in Brazil, gather the evidence, and keep you informed. Clients abroad handle these entirely through counsel.

Can I actually get my money back, or just see the accounts?

Both are possible. If the accounts show a balance owed to you, the decision is enforceable and can be collected, so the action can recover money, not only produce transparency.

The other side won’t respond at all. Does that help or hurt me?

Silence generally works against them. The duty to account does not disappear because they ignore you, and a refusal can lead to the accounts being taken against them and, in some roles, to their removal.

Is this a fraud case or a civil one?

It is a civil action to compel accounts and fix a balance, but if it uncovers diversion of funds it can run alongside recovery and, where warranted, criminal exposure. We assess both.

A partner, agent, or executor in Brazil who won’t account? We can help.