When a suit for accounting is filed, the appointment of an auditor under Tex. R. Civ. P. 172 can make the case much easier to handle. The auditor’s report is admissible into evidence under Tex. R. Civ. P. 706. The auditor’s fees should be paid by the parties and are generally taxed as a cost against the losing party. Tex. R. Civ. P. 172, 131, 141. However, the Court has discretion to apportion the cost otherwise if the Court has good cause, stated on the record. Tex. R. Civ. P. 141; Villiers v. Republic Financial Services, Inc., 602 S.W.2d 566, 571 (Tex. Civ. App.—Texarkana 1980, writ ref’d n.r.e.) (Court had discretion to tax one-half of the auditor’s fee to each party when the Court stated appropriate reasons for doing so in the Court’s order). Because the trial judge may choose to accept the auditor’s conclusions as correct as a matter of law, the auditor’s findings and conclusions can carry great weight. See Young v. Gumfory, 322 S.W.3d 731, 738 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2010)
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