Short answer. Yes. The Civil Code gives a partner the right to a formal account whenever that right exists under the terms of any agreement, which is a separate ground from wrongful exclusion. If your partnership agreement grants you that right at defined times, you can invoke it on its own, without showing you were excluded from the business.
What the law says
Any partner shall have the right to a formal account as to partnership affairs: (1) If he is wrongfully excluded from the partnership business or possession of its property by his co-partners; (2) If the right exists under the terms of any agreement; (3) As provided by article 1807; (4) Whenever other circumstances render it just and reasonable.
Civil Code, Article 1809 — Right to a Formal Account. Read the full provision →
Four separate grounds, not one
Article 1809 of the Civil Code does not make wrongful exclusion the only door to a formal account. It lists four independent grounds, and a partner needs only one of them to invoke the right: wrongful exclusion from the business or its property, the right existing under the terms of any agreement, the situation described in Article 1807, or other circumstances that make an accounting just and reasonable. Because these are separate grounds joined by structure rather than made cumulative conditions, satisfying the second one on its own is enough, regardless of whether the first applies to you at all.
Why your agreement's own terms are enough
If your partnership agreement itself grants a right to an accounting at certain times, that is exactly the second ground the article describes: the right existing under the terms of any agreement. The statute treats the partners' own contract as a valid and independent source of the right to a formal account, on the same level as the statutory grounds. You do not need to show wrongful exclusion, or fit your situation into Article 1807's trustee-of-benefits scenario, or argue that circumstances make it just and reasonable, because your case is squarely covered by the second ground standing alone.
What Article 1807 adds, for contrast
Article 1807, the third ground the article cross-references, requires a partner to account to the partnership for any benefit and to hold as trustee any profits he derived without the other partners' consent from a transaction connected with the partnership. That is a distinct scenario involving a partner's own undisclosed gain, and it is not what your question raises. It is mentioned here only to show that the statute keeps these grounds separate: satisfying one does not require also satisfying another.
What to check in your own agreement
Because this ground depends entirely on what your partnership agreement actually says, the scope of your right to demand an accounting, including when it may be exercised and what it must cover, will be governed by the specific wording the partners agreed to. If the agreement ties the right to particular times or triggering events, invoking it outside those terms may require falling back on one of the other three grounds instead, such as showing that the circumstances make an accounting just and reasonable.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Marjori Tocao and William T. Belo vs. Court of Appeals and Nenita A. Anay, G.R. No. 127405, October 4, 2000 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1809 — Right to a Formal Account
- Civil Code, Article 1807 — Partner as Trustee of Benefits