Terms of Business
1.1 Members in Practice of the Institute of Financial Accountants (“IFA”) subscribe to the promotion of high standards, ethical awareness and best practices. As part of those standards, engagement terms are issued and agreed upon prior to any work being undertaken.
1.2 This letter has been prepared following our email correspondence and together with Annex 1, set out the Terms on which our services will be provided. Please read all the information carefully and contact us if you have any concerns or require clarification.
1.3 In this letter, “we” and “us” and “our” relate to this accountancy practice and “you” and “your” relate to you, the client.
2. Scope of Services
2.1 Our services will be provided by Muhammad Akram and we will advise you of any proposed change. The services to be provided and fees are listed in Annex 3 attached.
3. Responsibilities
Our responsibilities are to:
3.1 observe the Laws of IFA.
3.2 keep and maintain records of work completed and make them available to you upon request.
3.3 provide regular reports on the progress of any work being completed on your behalf.
3.4 raise any issues or concerns that may be found during the Term of the Engagement.
3.5 return any information owned by you within 14 working days upon termination of the engagement and once payment for work carried out by the practice has been made.
3.6 keep records in compliance with the Data Protection legislation.
Your responsibilities as the client are to:
3.7 provide the following proof of identity, current address and business details as required by anti-money laundering regulations.
a. A utility bill dated within the last three months
b. Passport or driving licence of all named directors/partners/ principles.
c. Certificate of Incorporation (if a Ltd company)
3.8 ensure that records of your business activities are correct and maintained to meet the requirements of regulatory authorities.
3.9 disclose all relevant information to enable us to complete the work within the agreed timescales as set in Annex 3.
3.10 allow full and free access to financial and other records held by yourselves or third parties.
3.11 raise with us any queries or complaints regarding our service or fees as soon as they occur, and at the very latest within 15 days of receiving our fee note. If we do not receive a query within this timeframe, we will assume that you are happy with the service level and fee, and agree that the invoice is due to be paid.
4. Fees
4.1 Our fees are calculated on a fixed value basis and our Annex 3 lists the services we agree to supply on a fixed basis, and those on an hourly rate. Any additional work required which is not covered by these Terms will be agreed upon with you and will result in a new Annex 3 being issued.
4.2 Payment of fees rendered by invoice is due within 7 working days from the bill date. Interest may be applied to any overdue accounts at a rate of 5%. Where payment has not been received, we reserve the right to withhold services, documents and information, and have the right to cease to work on your account and to terminate the engagement if payments are unduly delayed.
4.3 Any expenses incurred whilst working on your behalf will be charged and appropriate records will be kept and will be available for inspection. Such expenses may include the use of meeting rooms and other facilities, courier charges, and international but not national telephone calls.
5. Holding Client Monies
5.1 Client money is held in an account separate from the practice and no Interest will only be paid on this.
6. Retaining and Accessing Records
6.1 Any information produced or relating to the work we undertake for you will be returned to you and should be kept for a period of no less than 6 years from the end of the tax year in question.
6.2 You agree that any work completed and work in progress for which payment is outstanding will be held by us until all fees relating to it have been paid.
7. Confidentiality and conflicts
7.1 We agree never to share information relating to your business with any third party without prior consent unless required to do so by law or to comply with regulations or quality control reviews. Likewise, you agree not to use or copy or allow the use of the output of the work we do with a third party without our prior permission.
7.2 You recognise that we may have to stop providing services to you in the event that a conflict arises between our duties to you and to another client. You will notify us if you have any reason to believe that such a conflict has arisen or may arise.
7.3 We may communicate with you electronically and you accept the risks associated with such communications, except anything arising through our negligence or wilful default.
8. Legislation and compliance
8.1 We are obliged by law and by IFA to undertake checks to ensure that you and your business are operating lawfully. By agreeing to our Terms of Engagement you accept that we are authorised to complete such checks as necessary.
8.2 Under Money Laundering Regulations it is a criminal offence if we do not report suspicious transactions or if we inform a client that a report has been made against them. Further information regarding our Anti-Money Laundering policy can be found on our website at https://www.atcrew.co.uk
9. Liability
9.1 As Certified Chartered Accountants, we have a duty of care to you and we must observe the highest standards of conduct and integrity. Our service to you will only be completed by an Accountant, fully competent to perform such work. We, therefore, accept liability to a maximum of £100,000 where any loss or damage has arisen as a result of negligence or a material breach of these terms of engagement.
9.2 Where any loss or damage occurs as the result of you providing misleading, incomplete or false information no liability will be accepted.
9.3 The advice we give you is not to be used by a third party without written consent. The practice also accepts no legal responsibility from third party use of the financial information provided by us.
Complaints and disputes
10.1 We want you to be entirely satisfied with the services provided to you. If, however, you are not, please refer to the Complaints Handling Procedure at Annex 2 of this letter.
10.2 Any disputes arising from our Engagement by you will be subject to the company policies and procedures at Annex 2, and be governed by English law.
11. Continuity Arrangement
11.1 In the event that we become unable to provide the services agreed through incapacity or death, a Continuity Arrangement has been made with Muhammad Usman of Usman & Co. Accountants, 23 Standfield Gardens, Dagenham, Essex, RM10 8JS. The purpose of this agreement is to look after your interests by providing continuity of services. You will be contacted in the event of such circumstances arising and you will have the option to decline to be covered by these arrangements.
12. Termination
12.1 You or we may terminate our engagement by giving 1 month written notice. All documents and information provided by you will be returned to you within 10 working days of receipt of the notice to us, provided that all outstanding fees have been paid.
