Engagement Letter Business Clients NEW PDF
Engagement Letter Business Clients NEW PDF
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dearcasual,
Thank you for your instructions to attend to the accounting and taxation requirements for your
business entities and for your family. A list of the entities and individuals for whom we are to act
(the Group) is set out in the accompanying Schedule A and our comments below are directed to
all those persons.
This letter sets out our terms of engagement and the scope of the work to be performed by us
within that engagement. Please read it carefully and if you have any queries or wish to discuss
any aspect, do not hesitate to contact us.
We set out below our understanding of the terms of the engagement.
Basis of engagement
We shall now outline the basis of our engagement. It should be noted at the outset that as a
general proposition we rely upon our clients to provide us with accurate and timely information to
enable us to properly perform our engagement obligations. Consequently, any rectifying work
performed by us on the basis of incorrect or late information will be work which is additional to
the scope of our engagement.
1.
Accounting & record keeping
In undertaking this engagement, it is understood that you will generally ensure that:
The bookkeeping for all business entities is maintained on a regular basis. In fact, we
recommend that bookkeeping and record-keeping tasks to be attended to each week.
Reconciliations for the bank accounts, debtors and creditors are performed at the end of
each month for each of the business entities.
A stocktake will be performed during the last weekend in June for each entity that deals
in trading stock.
In respect of the personal tax returns for you and your family, it is expected that all relevant
information will be collected and forwarded to our office by 30 October each year. We shall detail
more specific requirements in respect of the individual tax returns later in this letter.
2.
Taxation Services
In engaging us to provide taxation services, it is important for you to understand that:
You are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the particulars and information
provided to us by you.
Any advice we provide is only an opinion based on our knowledge of your particular
circumstances.
You have obligations under the self-assessment regime to keep full and proper records in
order to facilitate the preparation of accurate returns.
3.
No statutory financial audits are conducted
You are responsible for the maintenance of the accounting systems and internal controls for all
the business entities. Our firm is not being engaged to conduct a statutory audit of the financial
records.
4.
Documentation
Before we lodge any returns on your behalf, we will forward the documents to you for approval.
We will endeavour to ensure that the returns are lodged by the due dates and will advise you at
the beginning of the financial year when documentation should be provided to us. If you are late
in providing information, we will do our best to meet the time limits, but we will not be responsible
for any late lodgment penalties and/or general interest charges you may incur.
5.
Ownership of documents
The financial statements, tax returns and any other documents which we are specifically
engaged to prepare, together with any original documents given to us by you, shall be your
property. Any other documents brought into existence by us, including general working papers,
the general ledger and draft documents will remain our property at all times.
If our services are terminated, we shall be entitled to retain all documents owned by you until
payment in full of all outstanding fees. Where copies of any documents released to you are
required for our records, you will be charged for the cost of photocopying at our normal rates.
6.
Document Retention
All records are kept at our premises for a period of 1 year and then archived for a further 4 years.
Documents will be destroyed after 5 years unless we are specifically requested not to do so.
There will be a cost for both retrieving documents from archives and for holding the documents
for more than 5 years.
7.
Previous Returns
We note we are not engaged to review the accuracy of any previous returns lodged by your
organization including that of the trustee/s and/or beneficiaries and therefore disclaim all
responsibility.
8.
Overdue Returns
We will forward any correspondence received from the Australian Taxation Office that relates to
overdue and outstanding Income Tax Returns to you. Unless specifically requested by you, if
returns remain overdue for a period of two years or more (including the current tax year), then we
reserve the right to, without notice, remove the file and any related parties from our tax agent
listing.
9.
Additional services
Our agreed fee is only for the preparation and lodgment of the accounting and taxation matters
detailed above. Naturally, this fee includes the checking and forwarding of original assessments
and original payment notices that are received from the Australian Taxation Office and the
Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).
However, any additional services or advice that your request is not included in this agreed fee.
These services will be charged on the basis of the time and degree of skill and acumen required
to complete the task undertaken by us, including any direct out of pocket expenses. Please note,
any correspondence from the Australian Taxation Office or ASIC that does not relate to initial
assessments nor original payment notices, will be treated as additional services.
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10. Professional Fees and Payment
Our professional fees for the services provided will be based on the time and degree of skill and
acumen required to complete the tasks undertaken by us, including any direct out-of-pocket
expenses.
Each client in the Group in jointly and severally liable to pay our fees in respect of all work
performed for all members of the Group.
Accounts for services provided will be forwarded monthly for payment as work in progress.
Payment is required within 7 days, unless special alternate arrangements are made with us.
Any accounts unpaid after 30 days will incur an administration fee to recover costs associated
with telephone calls and reminders for request of payment. Any accounts unpaid after 60 days
may be referred to an independent debt collection service. Any associated collection fees
(including gst) charged are to be paid by the Group. It is acknowledged and agreed that in
keeping with our normal policy we will list all defaulting accounts (including all directors and other
signatories to this agreement) with our credit agency, which could result in this default remaining
on your credit file for a period of up to five years if unpaid.
11.
Credit Assessment
It is acknowledged and agreed that Zimsen Partners Pty Ltd may conduct a Credit Assessment
on any entity or individual listed in the Group.
12.
Quality Review
As a Fellow of the National Institute of Accountants (NIA) I am subject to periodic quality
assurance reviews. Unless otherwise advised by yourself, by engaging our firm, you are
consenting to your files possibly being part of such a quality review.
13.
Information relating to your affairs
Our firm may from time to time use the services of third party contractors to perform some of the
services we are engaged to perform for you. Each client in the Group hereby authorises us to
disclose information relating to that clients affairs to all such third party contractors as we may
choose to engage to perform such work.
Where we use the services of third party contractors, we are nevertheless responsible for the
conduct and activities of those contractors and for the delivery of the services we are engaged to
perform for you.
From time to time our firm and our third party contractors may engage external IT service
providers (including in relation to cloud computing services) in the performance of services
under this engagement. Each client in the Group hereby authorises us and our third party
contractors to disclose information relating to those clients' affairs to all such external IT service
providers as we or our third party contractors may choose to engage.
We may also need to disclose information relating to one clients affairs to other clients in the
Group to assist in performing our work, or to a professional body of which we are a member in
relation to a quality review program undertaken by that body. Each client in the Group hereby
authorises us to do so when we consider it appropriate to further our performance of work for the
Group, or when required by that professional body.
14.
Safe Harbour
With effect from 1 March 2010, a new regime for the regulation of tax agents has taken effect
under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 and accompanying legislation (TASA). The new regime
has implications for registered tax agents and their clients.
An important feature of TASA is the provision of a safe harbour protection from penalties in
certain circumstances for taxpayers who engage registered tax agents.
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To obtain the benefits of safe harbour protection, the legislation requires the taxpayer to provide
the registered tax agent with all relevant taxation information to enable accurate statements to
be provided to the Australian Taxation Office. This requirement may be important to both parties
in identifying and understanding the purpose and scope of the engagement as set out below and
may also affect other matters discussed below.
You will find further discussion on the safe harbour protections in the document titled Safe
Harbour Clients rights and obligations under the taxation laws available on our website
www.zimsenpartners.com.au
15.
Limitation of liability
Our firms liability may be limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards
Legislation.
16.
Standards
We aim to provide the highest standard of professional service and are focused on the concerns
of our clients. If for any reason you feel you have not received the level of service expected or
have an issue to raise, please contact myself to discuss how the problem may be resolved.
17. Changes to Terms of Engagement
We advise that our terms of engagement are available on our website. Any future changes
to these terms will not be advised in writing but will instead be uploaded on our website
www.zimsenpartners.com.au
We advise clients to check our website for any changes to these terms and contact us if they
have any questions.
We shall now outline the basis of our engagement in the context of the specific services to be
provided:
BAS returns
As the BAS returns are prepared monthly or quarterly and lodged during the financial year, it is
not possible for this firm to review the correctness of the underlying financial information as part
of the preparation of the monthly or quarterly BAS return.
Therefore, for the BAS returns preparation, we will rely on and process financial information
provided to us without any review of the primary source documents. In doing that, we will make
the following specific assumptions:
You have the necessary supporting documentation to satisfy the Australian Taxation
Office for GST purposes.
You hold valid tax invoices and adjustment notes for all expenditure incurred by you in
respect of which an input tax credit is being claimed.
Should any discrepancies arise between the monthly or quarterly lodgements and the year end
reconciliations, we will discuss the need to correct either the BAS returns and/or financial
accounts.
Financial Accounts
This firm has been engaged to prepare the annual financial accounts of the business entities in
your group. This service includes the preparation of:
A profit and loss statement;
A balance sheet; and
This service includes maintenance of the charts of accounts for the general ledgers of your
business entities.
These accounts are prepared specifically for your taxation services use only and should not be
provided to third parties.
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It is necessary to revert to the source documentation to allow this firm to analyse the FBT
implications of any transaction.
Superannuation
This firm has also been engaged to attend to the income tax compliance work for your
superannuation fund.
With respect to the annual audit of the SMSF this office will make arrangements for the audit to
be undertaken by an external party whereby you will be billed directly and liable for all costs
associated with the completion of the audit.
In addition to the basic financial information required to complete these requirements, it is
expected that the source documentation will be available to allow this firm to analyse the
implications of any superannuation related transaction.
You should also note that the deeds of the fund should be annually reviewed by a
superannuation specialist to ensure they continue to comply with the requirements of the SIS
Act. Our engagement does not extend to the provision of such legal advice and our fee does not
include this service. We are happy to recommend the services of a superannuation specialist for
this task.
Our fee does not include financial planning services for the investments of the superannuation
fund or for any planning advice for your future retirement planning needs.
This service does not cover any inquiries made by or investigations conducted by the Australian
Taxation Office.
ASIC
The directors consent to the registered office of the company being changed to care of Zimsen
Partners Pty Ltd, Factory 7, 31 Fiveways Boulevard, Keysborough, Vic 3173 and understand that
by giving this consent, the Annual Review will be electronically sent to Zimsen Partners Pty
Ltd. The annual fee for this service is $160.00 plus gst and includes the safekeeping and
maintenance of the corporate register including notifying asic of change of business addresses
and officeholder/shareholder addresses.
Confirmation of Engagement
We thank you for the opportunity to provide accounting and taxation services to you and your
business and we look forward to developing a close accounting relationship with you for many
years to come.
If you are in agreement with the engagement and the guarantee as set out herein, please
arrange to sign and return the attached duplicate letter to us.
Yours faithfully,
partnrName
For Zimsen Partners Pty Ltd
Enc
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contact
bizname1 bizname2
contact
bizname1 bizname2
Schedule A
Member 1
Member 2
Company 1
Company 2
Super Fund
Bare Trust
Director/shareholder of trustee company
Schedule B
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YES
YES
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YES
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YES
YES
NO
NO
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NO
NO
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NO
NO
NO
NO
NO
NO
NO
NO
Disclosure
Zimsen Partners Pty Ltd hereby discloses that it has direct/indirect equity and financial interest in
the undermentioned business ventures and as such may receive income by way of a fee, benefit,
commission, reward or profit distribution in addition to accounting fees that Zimsen Partners Pty
Ltd may charge you.
Zimsen Partners Pty Ltd may also (unless specifically requested not to) exchange information
with these associated firms as and when needed to in the provision of services to yourself/your
business.
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Should you wish to access accurate and current information, please visit our website
www.zimsenpartners.com.au
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contact
bizname1 bizname2
contact
bizname1 bizname2