Terms and conditions:
- Members in Practice of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (“CIMA”) subscribe to the promotion of high standards, ethical awareness and best practice. As part of those standards, engagement terms are issued and agreed prior to any work being undertaken.
- In these terms and conditions, “we”, “us” and “our” relate to this accountancy practice and “you” and “your” relate to you, the client.
Responsibilities
- We will observe the laws set by CIMA.
- Where you give us confidential information we shall at all times keep it confidential, except as required by law or as provided for in regulatory, ethical or other professional pronouncements applicable to this engagement.
- We will send you your tax return, tax computations and supporting schedules for you to approve and sign. We will then submit the form to HM Revenue & Customs on your behalf.
- We will tell you how much tax and National Insurance Contributions you should pay and when. If appropriate we will initiate repayment claims when tax and/or National Insurance Contributions has/have been overpaid.
- We will deal with HM Revenue & Customs regarding any amendments required to your return and prepare any amended returns which may be required.
- We will advise as to possible claims and elections arising from the tax return and from information supplied by you. Where instructed by you, we will make such claims and elections in the form and manner required by HM Revenue & Customs.
- We will deal with all communications relating to your return addressed to us by HM Revenue & Customs or passed to us by you. However, if HM Revenue & Customs choose your return for enquiry this work may need to be the subject of a separate assignment in which case we will seek further instructions from you.
- We will provide regular reports on the progress of any work being completed on your behalf. We will also raise any issues or concerns that may be found during the term of the engagement.
- You will provide the following proof of identity, current address and business details as required by anti-money laundering regulations:
- A utility bill dated within the last three months for your current address,
- Passport or driving licence photocard of all named directors or partners,
- Certificate of incorporation (if a Limited company).
- You will ensure that records of your business activities are correct and maintained to meet the requirements of regulatory authorities.
- You will disclose all relevant information to enable us to complete the work within the agreed timescales and allow full and free access to financial and other records held by you or third parties.
Ethical conduct
- All CIMA members in practice work within the framework of the CIMA Code of Ethics (cimaglobal.com). The code requires accountants to comply with the principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour.
- As a member of CIMA we have a duty to observe the highest standards of conduct and integrity, and to uphold the good standing and reputation of the profession.
- Our duty is not exclusively to satisfy the needs of an individual client or employer. In complying with the ethical requirements of the CIMA code of ethics we may be obliged to act primarily within the public interest.
Fees:
- We reserve the right to increase our fees subject to prior notice by at least inflation on an annual basis.
- For self-assessments and company year ends a fixed fee will be agreed in our engagement letter/email. If it is necessary to carry out work outside the responsibilities outlined in our engagement letter it will involve additional fees. Our accountancy hourly rate is £55 per hour exclusive of VAT. Bookkeeping rates will be hourly and as per our engagement letter. Accordingly we would like to point out that it is in your interests to ensure that your records etc. are completed to the agreed stage.
- Our terms relating to payment of amounts invoiced and not covered by standing orders, where appropriate, are strictly 15 days net. We reserve the right to add an interest charge at a rate of 2% per month simple interest together with any solicitors and/or collection agent's costs incurred on any bills remaining unpaid 15 days after presentation. We reserve the right to not submit accounts to HMRC or Companies House until payment is received.
Retention of and Access to records:
- During the course of our work we will collect information from you and others acting on your behalf and will return any original documents to you following the preparation of your financial statements and returns. You should retain these records for at least seven years from the end of the accounting year to which they relate.
- Whilst certain documents may legally belong to you, we intend to destroy correspondence and other papers that we store which are more than seven years old, other than documents which we consider to be of continuing significance. If you require retention of any document you must notify us of that fact in writing.
- We reserve the right to use subcontractors to prepare aspects of our work and you acknowledge that your books and records may not necessarily be stored or located at this office for the duration of the assignment.
- Accounts need to be completed prior to submission of the tax return. Failure to submit the return on time will result in penalties and is likely to result in interest and surcharges. In order to avoid this, we must have your accounting records in good time before the statutory filing deadline and queries raised on those accounting records must be answered promptly, otherwise we cannot guarantee the completion of the accounts to ensure the tax return’s timely submission. We reserve the right to levy an additional fee where records are not received in good time.
- Our work will not be an audit of the financial statements in accordance with Auditing Standards. Accordingly, we will not obtain any evidence relating to entries in the accounting records, or to the financial statements or to the disclosures in the financial statements. Nor will we make any assessment of the estimates and judgments made by you in the preparation of the financial statements. Consequently our work will not provide any assurance that the accounting records or the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud, or other irregularities or error. In addition, we have no responsibility to determine whether you have maintained proper accounting records in accordance with section 221 of the Act and we will not address this point.
Data Protection:
- The Data Protection Act gives you rights in respect of information held about you ("Personal Data"). We will obtain, use, and process Personal Data about you in order that we may discharge the services agreed under this engagement letter. Your Personal Data will typically include your name, address, details of your financial affairs and other information about you relevant to providing you with the services. We may also use your Personal Data for related purposes including updating and enhancing client records, analysis for management purposes and statutory returns, crime prevention and legal and regulatory compliance. We may also use your Personal Data for marketing purposes so that we can keep you up-to-date about issues relevant to our services and to provide you with information about our services.
- You have a right of access, under the data protection laws, to copies of the Personal Data that we hold about you. If you wish to exercise your right there is not a fee usually. However, a fee will be payable if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
- We will aim to provide the information requested within one calendar month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests, in this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
- A copy of our data protection policy is available on request and is held on our website. You should contact us if you have any queries about data protection or about the Personal Data we hold about you.
Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999:
- Persons who are not party to this agreement shall have no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement. This clause does not affect any right or remedy of any person which exists or is available otherwise than pursuant to that Act.
- The advice that we give to you is for your sole use and does not constitute advice to any third party to whom you may communicate it. We accept no responsibility to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them.
Money Laundering:
- We are obliged by law and by CIMA to undertake checks to ensure that you and your business are operating lawfully. By agreeing to these terms and conditions you accept that we are authorised to complete such checks as necessary.
- The offence of money laundering includes concealing, converting, using or possessing 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 a benefit. This definition is very wide and would include such crimes as:-
- Deliberate tax evasion
- Deliberate failure to inform the tax authorities of known underpayments or excessive repayments
- Fraudulent claiming of benefits or grants; or
- Obtaining a contract through bribery
- We are obliged by law to report any instances of money laundering to NCIS without your knowledge or consent. In fact, we may commit the criminal offence of tipping off if we were to inform you that a report had been made. In consequence, neither the firms' principals nor staff may enter into any correspondence or discussions with you regarding such matters.
- We are not required to undertake work for the sole purpose of identifying suspicions of money laundering. We shall fulfil our obligations under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in accordance with the current guidelines.
Limitation of Liability:
- We will provide our professional services with reasonable care and skill. However, we will not be held responsible for any losses arising from the supply by you or others of incorrect or incomplete information, or your or others’ failure to supply any appropriate information or your failure to act on our advice or respond promptly to communications from us or other relevant authorities.
- You agree to hold harmless and indemnify us against any misrepresentation, whether intentional or unintentional, supplied to us orally or in writing in connection with this agreement. You have agreed that you will not bring any claim in connection with services provided to you by the firm against any of our employees on a personal basis.
Complaints and disputes
- If you are not entirely happy with the services provided to you please refer to our complaints handling procedure that has been given to you. Any disputes arising from our engagement by you will, subject to the procedure in our complaints handling procedure, be governed by English law.
- If a complaint cannot be resolved through our internal complaints handling procedures, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 we are required to point you towards alternative dispute resolution (ADR) providers. There are many ADR providers listed on the Chartered Trading Standards Institute website but CIMA has an arrangement with CEDR for the provision of ADR.
Continuity
- In the event that we become unable to provide the services agreed through incapacity or death, a Continuity Arrangement is in place. The purpose of the 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.
Termination
- You or we may terminate this engagement by giving 30 days written notice. All documents and information provided by you will be returned to you within 30 days of receipt of notice provided that all outstanding fees have been paid.