Terms of Engagement

Terms of Engagement

RETURN TO CLIENT ENGAGEMENT FORM

Purpose:
The purpose of this Engagement Letter is to set out and confirm the terms of engagement between our firm and you. The Engagement Letter has been aligned with the standards of APES 110 Code of Ethics and APES 305 Terms of Engagement as published by the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board.

Objectives:
The objectives of the engagement are to perform the following services for you and will be limited to these services only:

Income Tax Return preparation
Financial Statement preparation
BAS Statement preparation
Taxation Advice and Compliance
Tax Planning
Business Services
Incl Individuals, Partnerships, Companies and Trusts

Please be aware that we will not conduct an audit or review unless specified above as a service to be performed for you and accordingly, no assurance will be expressed.

Unless specified above as a service to be performed for you, this engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities including fraud, other illegal acts and errors that may occur, however we will inform you of such matters if they come to our attention.

The recent changes to Section 225 (and 360) of APES 110 on Responding to Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations (NOCLAR) require us to report a non-compliance with laws and regulations or acts of omission or commission, intentional or unintentional by a client or by Those Charged with Governance, by management or by other individuals working for or under the direction of a client which are contrary to the prevailing laws or regulations. If we decide that disclosure of NOCLAR to the appropriate authority is the correct course of action, then such a disclosure will not be considered a breach of confidentiality under our code of ethics.

Scope:
The engagement period commences on the start date as specified in Form 1 and will continue until termindated by either party

Output:
All work will be completed in a timely manner for the services specified above.

Any reports including Financial Statements, Income Tax Returns and so on, will be prepared for distribution to the specific organisation, client or entity for the purpose specified in the report. There is no assumption of responsibility for any reliance on our report by any person or entity other than you and those parties indicated in the report. The report shall not be inferred or used for any purpose other than for which it was specifically prepared. Accordingly, our report may include a disclaimer to this effect.

As a member of the CPA and Tax Agents Board, we are part of the CPA Professional Standards Scheme and our liability is limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Relative responsibilities:
You are required by law to keep full and accurate records relating to your tax affairs. It is your obligation to provide us with all information that would be reasonably be expected to allow us to perform the services for you under this engagement as requested. This includes you providing accurate and complete responses to questions asked of you by us. Inaccurate, incomplete or late information may have a material effect on our services or reports.

The Taxation Administration Act 1953 now contains specific provisions that may provide you with “safe harbour” from administrative penalties for incorrect or late lodgement of returns. These safe harbour provisions will only be available to you if, amongst other things, you provide “all relevant taxation information” to us in a timely manner. Accordingly, it is to your advantage that all relevant information is disclosed to us as any failure by you to provide this information may affect your ability to rely on the “safe harbour” provisions and will be taken into account in determining the extent to which tax practitioners have discharged their obligations to clients. It is your responsibility to show that you have brought all matters to our attention if you want to take advantage of the safe harbours created under the new regime.

If we require any documents or information from a third party, we will contact you first to seek your approval to contact the third party.

In conducting this engagement, information acquired by us in the course of the engagement is subject to confidentiality requirements. That information will not be disclosed by us to other parties except as required or allowed for by law, or with your express consent.

We are bound by the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988 to maintain all records securely and in accordance with the provisions of that Act. Any breach of these requirements should be notified to the Privacy Commissioner.

Involvement of other members in professional practice:
At times we may outsource some of our work which involves us entering into an agreement with a third party to provide specific processes, functions, services or activities for us. If we decide to do this as part of performing the services for you, we will contact you first to seek your approval to engage other parties in professional practice.

This engagement is a contract between you and us, and you agree that none of the third parties we use will have any liability to you and you will not bring any claim or proceedings of any nature in connection with this engagement against any third party that we may use to provide the services. This exclusion will not apply to any liability, claim or proceeding founded on an allegation of fraud or other liability that cannot be excluded under law.

Fees and billing arrangements:
All professional fees for the services we provide you are based on the time and skill required to complete the agreed services and are charged at the hourly rates detailed below. At times, we will incur additional out of pocket expenses and statutory charges. Our professional fees are (subject to notification of changes):

Principal Accountant $ 176 per hour (incl GST)

For work undertaken for periods of less than an hour, the rate shall be charged in 6 minute blocks or part thereof.

Unless otherwise agreed, we will charge you as per the hourly rates above and in addition to the hourly rate, we will charge you for out of pocket expenses and statutory charges as we incur them.

If we provide you with a fee estimate and the actual costs vary due to unforeseen problems, delays, the cooperation of third parties or deficiencies in documentation, we will provide you with an additional engagement letter detailing the reasons for any variation.

Ownership of Documents:
Unless agreed to the contrary, source documents such as ledgers, receipts, invoices and journals, correspondence between the ATO and you, ATO notices of assessment, letters of advice, books of account, tax returns and financial statements prepared by us remain your property. Our working papers and documents remain our property.

Lien over Documents:
In the event of the termination of services, you are advised that we may invoke a lien over certain documents we have prepared and we will hold these documents until all outstanding fees have been paid, or satisfactory agreements have been made. A lien is a right to hold certain documents or property until the debt incurred in respect of those documents or property has been paid.

Confirmation of the terms in this Engagement Letter:
By completing the Form 1 is your acceptance of our services in conjunction with this information indicates that you understand and accept the arrangements. This information will be effective for future engagement unless we advise you of any change.