1. Applicable Law
This engagement letter, the schedule of services and our standard terms and conditions of business are governed by, and should be construed in accordance with English law. Each party agrees that the courts of England will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning this engagement letter and any matter arising from it. Each party irrevocably waives any right to object to any action being brought in those Courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inappropriate forum, or to claim that those Courts do not have jurisdiction.
2. Client identification
As with other professional services firms, we are required to identify our clients for the purposes of the UK anti-money laundering legislation. We may request from you, and retain, such information and documentation as we require for these purposes and for making searches of appropriate databases.
3. Client money
We currently are unable to hold money on your behalf.
4. Commissions and other benefits
In some circumstances we may receive commissions or other benefits for introductions to other professionals or in respect of transactions which we arrange for you. Where this happens we will notify you in writing of the amount and terms of payment and receipt of any such commissions or benefits. The same will apply where the payment is made to or the transactions are arranged by a person or business connected with ours.
5. Complaints
We are committed to providing you with a high quality service that is both efficient and effective. However, should there be any cause for complaint in relation to any aspect of our service please contact any of the directors. We will respond to any complaint with 7 days of receipt. We agree to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and do everything reasonable to put it right. If you are still not satisfied you can refer your complaint to our professional body, the Institute of Financial Accountants.
6. Confidentiality
Communication between us is confidential and we shall take all reasonable steps to keep confidential your information except where we are required to disclose it by law, by regulatory bodies, by our insurers or as part of an external peer review. Unless we are authorised by you to disclose information on your behalf this undertaking will apply during and after this engagement.
We may, on occasions, subcontract work on your affairs to other tax or accounting professionals. The subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality terms.
We reserve the right, for the purpose of promotional activity, training or for other business purpose, to mention that you are a client. As stated above we will not disclose any confidential information. If you do not wish to be referred to in this connection, please write to us stating this preference.
7. Conflicts of interest
We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest in our relationship with you or in our relationship with you and another client. Where conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we regret that we will be unable to provide further services.
If there is a conflict of interest that is capable of being addressed successfully by the adoption of suitable safeguards to protect your interests then we will adopt those safeguards. Where possible this will be done on the basis of your informed consent. We reserve the right to act for other clients whose interests are not the same as or are adverse to yours subject of course to the obligations of confidentiality referred to above.
8. Data Protection
We confirm that we will comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 when processing personal data about you and your family. In order to carry out the services of this engagement and for related purposes such as updating and enhancing our client records, analysis for management purposes and statutory returns, legal and regulatory compliance and crime prevention we may obtain, process, use and disclose personal data about you.
9. Disengagement
Should we resign or be requested to resign we will normally issue a disengagement letter to ensure that our respective responsibilities are clear.
Should we have no contact with you for a period of 3 months or more we may issue to your last known address a disengagement letter and hence cease to act.
10. Electronic and other communication
Unless you instruct us otherwise we may, where appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties via email or by other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus checking emails and any attachments.
With electronic communication there is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties. We use virus-scanning software to reduce the risk of viruses and similar damaging items being transmitted through emails or electronic storage devices. However electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses nor for communications which are corrupted or altered after dispatch. Nor can we accept any liability for problems or accidental errors relating to this means of communication especially in relation to commercially sensitive material. These are risks you must bear in return for greater efficiency and lower costs. If you do not wish to accept these risks please let us know and we will communicate by paper mail, other than where electronic submission is mandatory.
Any communication by us with you sent through the postal system is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day that the document was sent.
11. Fees and payment terms
Our fees may depend not only upon the time spent on your affairs but also on the level of skill and responsibility and the importance and value of the advice that we provide, as well as the level of risk.
If we provide you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, then the estimate will not be contractually binding unless we explicitly state that that will be the case.
Where requested we may indicate a fixed fee for the provision of specific services or an indicative range of fees for a particular assignment. It is not our practice to identify fixed fees for more than a year ahead as such fee quotes need to be reviewed in the light of events. If it becomes apparent to us, due to unforeseen circumstances, that a fee quote is inadequate, we reserve the right to notify you of a revised figure or range and to seek your agreement thereto.
In some cases, you may be entitled to assistance with your professional fees particularly in relation to any investigation into your tax affairs by HMRC. Assistance may be provided through insurance policies you hold or via membership of a professional or trade body. Other than where such insurance was arranged through us you will need to advise us of any such insurance cover that you have. You will remain liable for our fees regardless of whether all or part are liable to be paid by your insurers.
Our fees are subject to annual review and you will be advised prior to any changes in rates.
We will bill monthly and our invoices are due for payment within 7 days of issue, unless otherwise agreed in advance in writing. Our fees are exclusive of VAT which will be added where it is chargeable. Any disbursements we incur or your behalf and expenses incurred in the course of carrying out our work for you will be added to our invoices where appropriate.
All payments should be made by BACS or Sterling cheque (drawn on a UK branch).
Unless otherwise agreed to the contrary our fees do not include the costs of any third party, counsel or other professional fees.
It is our normal practice to issue Applications for Payment when dealing with continuous or recurring work. The payment terms for Applications for Payment are the same as for invoiced fees. A VAT invoice will be issued to you upon receipt of your payment.
We reserve the right to charge interest on late paid invoices at the rate of 8% above the applicable bank of England base rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 as amended in 2002. We also reserve the right to suspend our services or to cease to act for you on giving written notice if payment of any fees is unduly delayed. We intend to exercise these rights only where it is fair and reasonable to do so.
If you do not accept that an invoiced fee is fair and reasonable you must notify us within 7 days of receipt, failing which you will be deemed to have accepted that payment is due.
If a client company, trust or other entity is unable or unwilling to settle our fees we reserve the right to seek payment from the individual (or Group Company) giving us instructions on behalf of the client and you agree that we shall be entitled to enforce any sums due against the Group Company or individual nominated to act for you.
We reserve the right to recover compensation for late payment under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act 1998.
We reserve the right to recover the costs incurred through the event of a bounced cheque, returned standing order or any other financial default.
We reserve the right to recover all costs (including the cost of legal advice and representation) incurred in action taken by us or on our behalf, including legal action, for the recovery of overdue amounts.
12. Implementation
We will only assist with implementation of our advice if specifically instructed and agreed in writing.
13. Intellectual property rights
We will retain all copyright in any document prepared by us during the course of carrying out the engagement save where the law specifically provides otherwise.
14. Interpretation
If any provision of the engagement letter or enclosed schedules is held to be void, then that provision will be deemed not to form part of this contract.
In the event of any conflict between these terms of business and the engagement letter or appendices, the relevant provision in the engagement letter or schedules will take precedence.
15. Internal disputes within a client
If we become aware of a dispute between the parties who own or are in some way involved in the ownership and management of the business, it should be noted that our client is the business and we would not provide information or services to one party without the express knowledge and permission of all parties. Unless otherwise agreed by all parties we will continue to supply information to the normal place of business for the attention of the directors/proprietors. If conflicting advice, information or instructions are received from different directors/principals in the business we will refer the mailer back to the board of directors/the partnership and take no further action until the board/partnership has agreed the action to be taken.
16. Investment advice (including insurance mediation services)
Investment business is regulated under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
If, during the provision of professional services to you, you need advice on investments, including insurances, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised by the Financial Services Authority or licensed by a Designated Professional Body as we are not.
17. Lien
Insofar as we are permitted to so by law or professional guidelines, we reserve the right to exercise a lien over all funds, documents and records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.
18. Limitation of liability
We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill. Our liability to you is limited to losses, damages, costs and expenses caused by our negligence or wilful default.
a) Exclusion of liability for loss caused by others
We
will not be liable if such losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or
additional tax liabilities are due to the acts or omissions of any other person
or due to the provision to us of incomplete, misleading or false information or
if they are due to a failure to act on our advice or a failure to provide us
with all relevant information in a timely fashion.
We are only responsible for such work as is detailed in our engagement letter.
b) Exclusion of liability in relation to circumstances beyond our control
We
will not be liable to you for any delay or failure to perform our obligations
if the delay or failure is caused by circumstances outside our reasonable
control.
c) Exclusion of liability relating to the discovery of fraud etc
We
will not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage or expense incurred or
sustained if information material to the service we are providing is withheld
or concealed from us or misrepresented to us. This applies equally to
fraudulent acts, misrepresentation or wilful default on the part of any party
to the transaction and their directors, officers, employees, agents or
advisers.
This exclusion shall not apply where such misrepresentation, withholding or concealment is or should (in carrying out the procedures which we have agreed to perform with reasonable care and skill) have been evident to us without further enquiry.
d) Indemnity for unauthorised disclosure
You
agree to indemnify us and our agents in respect of any claim (including any claim
for negligence) arising out of any unauthorised disclosure by you or by any
person for whom you are responsible of our advice and opinions, whether in
writing or otherwise. This indemnity will extend to the cost of defending any
such claim, including payment at our usual rates for the time that we spend in
defending it.
e) Limitation of aggregate liability
Where
the engagement letter specifies an aggregate limit of liability, then that sum
shall be the maximum aggregate liability of this company, its directors, agents
and employees to all persons to whom the engagement letter is addressed and
also any other person that we have agreed with you may rely on our work. By
signing the engagement letter you agree that you have given proper
consideration to this limit and accept that it is reasonable in all the
circumstances. If you do not wish to accept it you should contact us to discuss
it before signing the engagement letter.
19. Limitation of Third Party rights
The advice and information we provide to you as part of our service is for your sole use and not for any third party to whom you may communicate it unless we have expressly agreed in the engagement letter that a specified third party may rely on our work. We accept no responsibility to third parties, including any group company to whom the engagement letter is not addressed, for any advice, information or material produced as part of our work for you which you make available to them. A party to this agreement is the only person who has the right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of its terms.
20. Period of engagement and termination
Unless otherwise agreed in the engagement covering letter our work will begin when we receive your implicit or explicit acceptance of the engagement letter. Except as stated in that letter we will not be responsible for periods before that date.
Each of us may terminate this agreement by giving not less than 21 days notice in writing to the other party except where you fail to cooperate with us or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or HMRC with misleading information, in which case we may terminate this agreement immediately. Termination will be without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued to either of us prior to termination.
In the event of termination of this contract, we will endeavour to agree with you the arrangements for the completion of work in progress at that time, unless we are required for legal or regulatory reasons to cease work immediately. In that event, we shall not be required to carry out further work and shall not be responsible or liable for any consequences arising from termination.
21. Professional rules and statutory obligations
We will observe and act in accordance with the bye-laws, regulations and ethical guidelines of the Institute of Financial Accountants and will accept instructions to act for you on this basis. In particular you give us the authority to correct errors made by HMRC where we become aware of them. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost arising from our compliance with statutory or regulatory obligations.
22. Reliance on advice
We will endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. Advice given orally is not intended to be relied upon unless confirmed in writing. Therefore, if we provide oral advice (for example during the course of a meeting or a telephone conversation) and you wish to be able to rely on that advice, you must ask for the advice to be confirmed by us in writing.
23. Retention of papers
You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your tax affairs. During the course of our work we may collect information from you and others relevant to your tax affairs. We will return any original documents to you, if requested. Documents and records relevant to your tax affairs are required by law to be retained as follows:
Individuals, trustees and partnerships
- with trading or rental income: 5 years and 10 months after the end of the tax year;
- otherwise: 22 months after the end of the tax year;
Companies
- 6 years from the end of the accounting period;
Whilst certain documents may legally belong to you we
may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store, electronically or
otherwise, which are more than 7 years old. You must tell us if you require the
return or retention of any specific documents for a longer period. We reserve
the right to charge for documents held by us on your behalf and for retrieval
of documents (including our working papers) from deep storage.
24. Money Laundering
In common with all accountancy and legal practices the firm is required by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 to:
- maintain identification procedures for all new clients;
- maintain records of identification evidence obtained, and
- report, in accordance with the relevant legislation and regulations.
A duty under section 330 of the
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) is imposed upon us to report to the Serious
Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) if we know, or have reasonable cause to suspect,
that you, or anyone connected with your business, are or have been involved in
money laundering. Failure on our
part to make a report where we have knowledge or reasonable grounds for
suspicion constitutes a criminal offence.
The offence of money laundering is defined in the POCA and includes concealing, converting, using or processing the benefits of any activity that constitutes a criminal offence in the UK. It also includes involvement in any arrangement that facilitates the acquisition, retention, use or control of such benefit.
The law obliges us to report any suspicion of money laundering to SOCA without your knowledge or consent. We may commit a criminal offence of tipping off if we were to inform you that a report had been made. As a result, neither the firm’s principals nor staff may enter into any correspondence or discussion with you regarding such matters.
We are not obliged to undertake work for the sole purpose of identifying suspicions of money laundering
Cholij Accounting Limited
