Engagement Letter
Thank you for instructing us to attend to the accounting and/or taxation requirements of yourself or business. This letter of engagement document is an agreement in which the terms of the engagement with us are specified in writing (hereinafter referred to as the “Engagement”). Please read it and make sure that you understand the scope of our engagement.
If the terms of Engagement are acceptable, please sign this Engagement Letter and return the signed copy to our office, alternatively, you can electronically sign the declaration made available via the ‘TCA Darwin Client Detail’ form. Do not hesitate to contact our office if you do not understand, or wish to discuss any aspect of the terms of the Engagement.
If you do not return the signed Engagement Letter yet you continue to provide us with instructions regarding your matter, the terms and information provided in this engagement letter will bind us both. For the purpose of this Agreement, any reference to “You” shall be read and construed as a reference to the Client or Clients herein. We are required by the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board (pursuant to APESB 305) to set out the terms of our Engagement as follows:
This is to confirm our understanding of the terms and objectives of our engagement and the nature and limitations of the services we will provide.
*“Client”* or *“you”* means the entity, acquiring goods or services from us in the Engagement Letter.
*“Engagement Letter”* means this document including the Terms and Conditions, schedules and annexures set out herein.
*“Services”* means the scope of the services specified in the Proposal, Engagement Letter, or as varied in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
Description of Services
TCA will provide tax, accounting; bookkeeping and related administration services and the services will be supplied:
To the best of TCA’s ability and knowledge;
In accordance with reasonable technical directions given by the Client to TCA;
In compliance with all applicable standards, awards, laws and regulations.
Scope of Work
The scope may be but not limited to the services as per the hourly rates or quoted amounts.
procedures to be performed will be limited exclusively to those related to the Engagement;
neither an audit nor a review will be conducted and accordingly, no assurance will be expressed (if applicable); and
unless otherwise agreed, the Engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities, including fraud, other illegal acts and errors that may occur.
TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers will provide professional services at your request. We will provide the Services to you in accordance with the relevant professional and ethical standards. The details of the services provided in this agreement are detailed herein.
We consider it appropriate to advise you of the following in relation to the Engagement Output as outlined above:
Liability is limited for by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation generally and with respect to you or another user of the results of the Engagement. We are not liable for any claim by you involving fraud, misrepresentation, willful default or other act of dishonesty by you or your employees, agents, assigns, representatives or purported employees, agents, assigns or representatives.
Relative Responsibilities, Privacy Protection and Confidentiality
You agree and acknowledge that you are solely responsible for the completeness and accuracy of the information supplied to us. You agree and acknowledge that we are responsible for ensuring that your confidential information acquired by us during the course of the professional work is not disclosed, except where consent has been obtained by you or where there is legal obligation to disclose the confidential information, or where there is professional duty to disclose the information, when not prohibited by law, and you have consented to the disclosure to:
Comply with the quality review program of a member body or professional body; or
Respond to an inquiry or investigation by a member body or regulatory body; or
To protect the professional interests of a member in legal proceedings; or
Comply with technical standards and ethics requirement.
We are required and committed to protecting your personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Disclosure of such information may be compelled by law (for example, under the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth)). We will deal with your personal information, in accordance with the TCA Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”), which can be found online at www.tcadarwin.com.au. By signing this Engagement Letter document, you confirm that, amongst other things, you consent for us to collect, hold, use and disclose such personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy (as amended from time to time) and in accordance with your acknowledgments, consents and other matters raised therein.
Unanticipated Services
Only the services which are listed in the attached schedules are included within the scope of our instructions. If there is additional work that you wish us to carry out which is not listed in the schedule, any additional work will be quoted to you before the commencement of said additional work. Once the scope of the additional work is agreed upon, we will issue an additional or updated letter of engagement via our online proposal system, and will ask you to sign the new agreement before we commence the new work.
Furthermore, you (the client) will agree that if an unanticipated need arises (such as an audit, an amended tax return or a personal financial statement required as part of a loan agreement), this additional work will be performed only after arriving at a mutually agreed-upon price and a Change of Service Request is accepted with a digital signature.
Period of Engagement
This engagement starts on the day you accept the terms of engagement or attend your scheduled appointment with us and is valid until it’s ended by mutual agreement or superseded by a newer engagement. We will not deal with earlier periods unless you specifically ask us to do so and we agree. You or we may agree to vary or terminate this agreement at any time without penalty. Notice of variation or termination must be given in writing.
Tax Services
A taxpayer is responsible to keep full and proper records in order to facilitate the preparation of a correct return. The return may be subject to later review by the Commissioner of Taxation. Under the taxation law such a review may take place within a period of four (4) years after tax becomes due and payable under the assessment. Where there is fraud or evasion there is no time limit in amending the assessment. Accordingly, you should check the return before it is signed to ensure that the information provided is accurate.
Where you are uncertain about the application of the taxation law to your particular circumstances, you may request a private ruling which will set out the Tax Commissioner’s opinion about the way the taxation law applies or will apply to you in your specific circumstances. A detailed description of the facts with all the supporting documentation must be provided in your private ruling application. The private ruling is ineffective if there is any material difference between the facts, the private ruling and what you actually do.
The Commissioner must administer the law in the way set out in the private ruling, unless it is found to be incorrect. If you disagree with the private ruling, you can lodge an objection against the ruling if it relates to income tax, fuel tax credit or fringe benefits tax. The time limit in lodging an objection is dependent upon whether you are issued an assessment for the matter covered in the private ruling.
Service and Price Guarantee
TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers will always stand behind the quality and professional nature of the services that we offer. If at any point you are not completely satisfied with the services we have performed, we encourage you to bring this to our attention immediately. We’d love the opportunity to correctly address your concerns and allow us a chance to win your trust back and prevent similar problems from happening in the future.
If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of our services, we will work towards a mutual agreement regarding the payment for services completed. As an example, we may agree to either forgive the related payment or accept a portion of the originally agreed price that reflects your level of satisfaction.
You represent to us and promise to us that all information you provide to us is accurate and complete and that we can rely on same, for the purposes of carrying out the work. We will not accept responsibility for any matter or thing which is brought about or directly or indirectly arises (by act or omission or otherwise) as a result of any false representation that you have made to us or false information that you have provided to us.
Our advice and information is for your sole use, and we accept no responsibility to any third party, unless we have expressly agreed in the engagement letter that a specified third party may rely on our work.
Ownership of Documents
All original documents obtained from the client arising from the engagement shall remain the property of the client. However, we reserve the right to make a reasonable number of copies of the original documents for our records. We own any documents produced as a result of this Engagement or any copied documents provided by you for this Engagement including any electronic data. We will on completion of the work retain any paper documents for no more than seven (7) years on the understanding that we have your authority to destroy your file seven (7) years after the date of completion of the work. Documents deposited in safe custody with us will not be destroyed.
Client Responsibilities and Warranties
In conducting this engagement, information acquired by us in the course of the engagement is subject to strict confidentiality requirements. That information will not be disclosed by us to other parties except as required to provide the Services; as allowed for by law; or with your express written consent.
The Client is responsible for the reliability, accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, particulars and information provided and disclosure of all material and relevant information. Clients are also responsible for providing us with such materials and relevant information in a timely manner so that we may provide our Services to you in a timely manner. Clients are required to arrange for reasonable access by us to relevant individuals and documents, and shall be responsible for both the completeness and accuracy of the information supplied to us. Any advice given to the Client is only an opinion which is based on our knowledge of the Client's particular circumstances and is informed by the information, materials account records and particulars provided to us by the Client.
You agree that we are entitled to rely on the accuracy and completeness of any information you provide us under this agreement and in order to provide our services to you. TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers accepts no liability or responsibility for any loss, damage, claim or expense that you may suffer as a result of you providing us with inaccurate, incomplete, incorrect out of date or untimely accounting records, particulars or information, and you waive and release us from any and all such liability.
You agree to pay TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers the Fees in accordance with the Billing Schedule set out in this agreement. Unless otherwise agreed, terms are strictly seven (7) days from the date of invoice. Should the account be unpaid by the due date, we reserve the right to use a debt collection agency Commercial Credit Services Pty Ltd, or other legal means to recover outstanding fees. If we incur any costs for payment collection, such as solicitor fees and collection agency fees, you agree to indemnify us for all such costs. You consent to us sending our invoices issued to you electronically at your usual email address specified by you.
Before documentation is lodged on your behalf, drafts will be forwarded for your approval. Documentation will be lodged with the relevant departments by the due dates, provided all information and documentation is received promptly after the Financial Year End or once requested by TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers. This will allow us adequate time for preparation and lodgement. No responsibility will be accepted for any late lodgement penalties incurred.
You warrant that you have not relied on any representations or warranties made by TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers in respect of the Services which have not been expressly set out in this agreement.
Statutory Due Dates
Where client information is not provided to our firm within 5 business days of a statutory due date, we may impose an additional surcharge of 30% to complete works by the due date to ensure your compliance obligations are met. Where works are required to be completed by our firm within a 48-hour timeframe then a surcharge of 50% in addition to our standard fees may apply to complete works by the due date to ensure your compliance obligations are met.
Interests/Penalties
In the instance that we engage with Commercial Credit services Pty Ltd to retrieve any amounts unpaid by a client, a 10% surcharge will be added to the total invoice amount, which must be paid by you.
We reserve the right to charge interest at the maximum rate prescribed in Rule 75 of the General Rules on any amounts unpaid after the expiry of 30 days after a tax invoice is given to you. The maximum interest rate prescribed under the General Rules is the Cash Rate Target set by the Reserve Bank of Australia plus 2%. Our tax invoices will specify the interest rate to be charged.
Outsourced Services
We may involve third party contractors or outsourced service providers in providing various aspects of your accounting work. These services may include:
Accounting file preparation and/ or Data entry into our accounting systems
Auditing of accounts
Hosting of data on cloud based servers
Acceptance of our services in conjunction with this engagement document indicates your acceptance of the use of outsourced services as described above. Where the outsourced service requires the disclosure of personal information to an overseas recipient, a consequence of your consent is that TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers will be required to take reasonable steps to ensure that Australian Privacy Principles are complied with by the overseas recipients of the Personal Information. Where the outsourced service requires the disclosure of your personal information, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that any personal information is secure and is treated in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles.
TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers has taken all available measures to ensure the security and privacy of your data is protected and follows the notifiable data breaches scheme as outlined in the Privacy Act 1988.
Limitation of Liability
Our liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. Further information on the scheme is available from the Professional Standards Councils' website: "www.psc.gov.au":https://www.psc.gov.au/
Termination of this engagement
Subject to any statutory provisions that apply to the Services, and unless otherwise outlined in this Terms document, either party may terminate this engagement by giving not less than 28 days written notice expiring at the end of a month of the term. You will be required to pay our costs incurred up to the date of termination. Either party may terminate this engagement immediately if the other commits any material or persistent breach of its obligations under this agreement, in particular the Terms and Conditions set out in the Engagement Letter (which, in the case of a breach capable of remedy, has not been remedied within 7 days of discovery by the party in breach), or if the other becomes insolvent.
In addition, we may terminate this engagement on reasonable notice if any of the following circumstances occur:
you fail to pay our accounts on time;
You fail to provide us with requested information
you fail to provide us with adequate instructions;
your instructions involve acting contrary to the interests of another client;
a conflict of interest has arisen or it is not appropriate for us to continue to act on your behalf;
we are no longer be able to provide all or part of the Services to you because of applicable auditor independence rules or legislation without ceasing to be independent in relation to an audit client; or
for any other reasonable and just cause.
In addition to our other rights, upon termination you will be required to pay our charges for work done, and for any expenses incurred up to the date of termination together with our reasonable costs and expenses incurred in connection with the early termination of this engagement. For lump sum matters, you must pay the part of our lump sum fee that we reasonably estimated has been incurred in respect of the tax and accounting services provided to you up to the date of termination, plus charges, expenses and disbursements. On termination of this Engagement, we are entitled to retain possession of any documents while there is money owing to us for charges and expenses.
Termination of this engagement is without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued before termination. The Terms and Conditions of this agreement which expressly or by implication are intended to survive its termination or expiry will survive and continue to bind the parties.
Force Majeure
Neither party will be liable to the other for any delay or failure to fulfil their obligations under this agreement if that delay and/or failure arises from causes beyond their control, including but not limited to fire, floods, acts of God, acts or regulations of any government or supranational authority, war, riot, terrorist activities, strikes, lockouts and industrial disputes.
Electronic Communications
You agree that we will communicate with each other by electronic means such as e-mail, SMS etc. We and you each recognise that e-mail and the internet are inherently insecure and that emails and data can become corrupted, are not always delivered promptly (or at all) and that other methods of communication may be appropriate. In addition, the internet is prone to viruses. We and you each recognise these hazards and so each of us will be responsible for protecting our own systems and interests and neither of you nor we will be responsible to the other on any basis for any loss or damage in any way arising from the use of electronic communication.
You hereby authorize us and request us to communicate with you by way of electronic communication, during and after termination of our services. You also understand that as such electronic communication is not secure it may be copied, recorded, read or interfered with by third parties while in transit and accordingly, you release us from any claim you may have as a result of any unauthorized copying, recording, reading or interference with any document that we send or receive by way of electronic communication, or for any delay or non-delivery of any document and for any damage caused to your system or any files by a transfer by way of electronic communication.
Storage of Personal Information and use of Cloud Service Providers
By signing this Engagement Letter, you acknowledge and agree that your personal information may be stored in Australia or overseas within the cloud service providers as set out in our privacy statement, which is accessible at the bottom of our website home page www.tcadarwin.com.au.
Disclosure
You must provide all information and documents relevant to the proper performance of the work at the outset of the Engagement and during the Engagement. This includes promptly advising us of anything that occurs subsequently to render information already provided misleading or incomplete, or advising us of any change in your circumstances relevant to the work.
Billing
Services may be billed on a fixed rate or hourly billing rate, as indicated herein. Where we cannot provide a fixed rate quote, we will quote an hourly rate in cases of project work where it is difficult to define the scope of the service required. In the case where you have been quoted an estimate based on an hourly rate, TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers will inform you (the client) of the amount of time used before we issue the final bill and collect payment. Our professional fees will be based on our regular billing rates, plus direct out-of-pocket expenses and applicable GST, and are due when rendered. Fees for additional services will be established separately.
Invoicing and Payment
We will submit our bill(s) as indicated herein. If an extension of our services is requested, we will discuss our fee arrangements at that time. Plan implementation as well as plan monitoring and updating, if needed, are separate engagements. If you choose one of these additional services, a separate engagement letter will be provided. These services will be billed separately.
We reserve the right to suspend our services or to withdraw from this engagement in the event that any of our invoices are deemed delinquent. In the event that any collection action is required to collect unpaid balances due to us, you agree to reimburse us for our costs of collection, including lawyers' fees.
More than one client
If we are acting for more than one of you, you irrevocably and unconditionally consent to any conflict (if any) that may arise and you hereby authorise us to accept instructions from one of you, as instructions coming from the other, without having to revert to the other. You will each be severally and jointly liable for any fees, charged or disbursements incurred. You understand that you may choose to receive independent advice, as to this agreement.
Privacy Act
We may collect Personal Information about your representatives, your clients and others when we provide services to you. If we do, you agree to work with us to ensure that we both meet the obligations that we each may have under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (as amended) (Privacy Act). The obligations may include notifying the relevant person to whom the personal information relates who we are and how we propose to use their personal information. Where you have collected personal information, you confirm that you have collected the personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act, that you are entitled to provide this personal information to us and that we may use and disclose the personal information for the purpose/s we provide our services to you. We will handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.
Appointment of Tax Agent/Australian Tax Office (ATO) Authorisation
By engaging with TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers, you agree to authorise us to add this entity to our ATO Tax Agent Portal (Online Services for Agents), using your entity/individual Tax File Number (TFN) you supply to us as the unique identifier.
We will act on your behalf in respect to your dealings with the Australian Taxation Office. As your authorised tax agent, we will be:
Adding you to our client list with the ATO ECI lodgement facility.
Adding you to our client list on the ATO Tax Agent view of the portal.
Adding you to our SBR-enabled software client list
Representing you in the dealings with the Commissioner in relations to a tax and BAS provision.
Preparing and lodging activity statements, payment summary Information and Tax returns
Having access to activity statements and related information that may be provided.
This letter will be effective for future years unless you advises us in writing, or if we are removed from being your authorised tax agent within the ATO Tax Agent Portal.
Confirmation of Terms
Please review and digitally sign this letter below to indicate that it is in accordance with your understanding of the arrangements. This letter will be effective for future years unless we advise you of any change.
Yours sincerely,
Sarah Giannikouris
Director
TCA Accountants & Bookkeepers
I, {{ contact.name }}, of {{ client.name }} confirm that I understand and agree to the terms of engagement.
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Client Name Client Signature Dated