Please scroll through and read the full engagement letter below before agreeing.
Engagement of Rider Accountants and Advisors for Ad-Hoc Advisory Services
This engagement letter, including the attached terms and conditions, sets out the basis of our engagement for ad-hoc advisory services.
We are acting for you and any of your associated entities only. Where you would like us to act for anyone else, we will issue a separate engagement letter to them.
1. Background
You have contacted this firm to obtain ad-hoc advisory services (which may include tax, accounting, business, finance or property advice). This formal engagement letter gives you the opportunity to review and accept this firm's terms and conditions as well as the fee schedule.
2. Period of Engagement, Objectives, Scope and Output of the Engagement
This engagement will commence on the date you sign and submit this form. It covers the specific advisory appointment(s) you have requested and will remain in effect until the agreed advisory services have been delivered, or until terminated by either party in accordance with the termination provisions below.
3. Scope of Services
You have engaged this firm to provide ad-hoc advisory services as discussed and agreed at the time of your appointment. This firm provides advice in the areas of tax, accounting, property advisory, superannuation and business finance. The scope of services for this engagement will be limited to what is specifically discussed and agreed at the time of the appointment.
This firm also provides investment property, superannuation and business finance services which you may require from time to time.
3.1 Persons or Entities Included Within the Scope
The individuals or entities we will be providing advice and support for: yourself, and any associated structure created for tax planning, SMSF or property investment purposes including trusts, companies or partnerships.
3.2 Scope Conditions
Only the agreed 'Services' are included within the scope of this engagement. You will be required to deliver relevant information to our firm in accordance with the scope. If there is additional work that you wish us to carry out which is not listed above, please let us know and we will discuss with you the basis upon which that additional work can be included in this engagement. If we agree to carry out additional services for you, we will provide you with a new or amended engagement letter.
We will provide the Services to you in accordance with the relevant professional and ethical standards issued by the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board (APESB). Our services are limited exclusively to those you have engaged us to perform.
4. Conditions of the Engagement
a) Further important conditions include that you agree to appoint this firm (and maintain the appointment) as your Tax Agent, Australian Securities Investment Corporation (ASIC) Agent and Xero Advisor where applicable. This is a strict and necessary requirement of this engagement.
b) To do our job effectively we must act as accountant and agent for all entities where you are a director, shareholder, member or proprietor.
The terms of this engagement letter will continue to apply for future engagements unless otherwise agreed.
5. Engagement Exclusions
Unless otherwise specified, this firm will not provide ASIC regulated financial advice, bookkeeping services, financial planning or audit services.
6. Fees
Our fees will be charged in accordance with the attached terms and conditions. Our firm's 'Professional Fee Schedule' is published on the website at https://rideraccountants.com.au/professional-fees/. By signing this engagement letter, you agree to be invoiced for services according to this fee schedule. The fees will change from time to time and you should always review the latest fee schedule before considering any engagement.
We charge in minimum 10-minute increments referred to as a Unit. For example, a 53-minute Zoom meeting will be billed at 6 x 10-minute units (i.e. 1 hour at the relevant billing rate). The rate for a Partner is $400 per hour and for a qualified accountant $240 per hour.
Invoicing will be on a time and billing basis including any out of pocket expenses. You are paying for services not results. Our payment terms are strictly upon the issuance of an invoice for individuals and within 14 days of the invoice date for business clients.
It is a responsibility of our registration with the Tax Practitioner's Board (TPB) to verify the identity of our new clients. Furthermore, Accountants in Australia face Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) obligations under the Tranche 2 Reforms. Our out of pocket costs for the software that conducts identity verification is up to $40 and this amount will be added to your first invoice.
Terms and Conditions of this Engagement
Who may instruct us
You confirm that you, and any other person you nominate in writing from time to time (provided we have acknowledged such nomination), are authorised to give us instructions and information on behalf of all persons we are acting for and to receive our advice and documents on their behalf.
Know your customer (KYC)
We may be required to verify your identity for the purposes of the anti-money laundering laws. We may request from you such information as we require for these purposes and make searches of appropriate databases. By Law we are required to identify you in order to comply with our accounting and tax obligations; you will be asked to show 100 points of ID such as Passport, Driver's Licence and/or Medicare card.
Your Responsibilities
You must provide us with all information necessary for dealing with your affairs including information which we reasonably request, in sufficient time to enable our services to be completed before any applicable deadline. We will rely on such information being true, correct and complete and will not audit the information. You authorise us to approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs. You must pay our invoices when they fall due. You must keep us informed on a timely basis of changes in your circumstances that may affect our services.
Qualifications on our services
You must not act on advice given by us on an earlier occasion without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid. Our services are limited exclusively to those you have engaged us to perform. Unless otherwise specified in the engagement letter, our services cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities and errors, including fraud and other illegal acts, in your affairs.
Reliance on advice
We will endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. Advice given verbally is not intended to be relied upon unless confirmed in writing. If we provide verbal advice (for example during a meeting or telephone conversation) that you wish to rely on, you must ask us to confirm the advice in writing.
Investment and financial advisory advice
We will not provide you with investment or financial advice regulated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) unless we have expressly agreed to do so in writing, specifying an applicable Australian Financial Services Licence number.
Professional obligations
We will comply with the professional and ethical standards of the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board, available at apesb.org.au. This includes APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards).
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 will be unable to provide further services to some or all of the persons to whom this engagement applies.
Fees and payment
Our fees will be charged on the basis set out in the engagement letter and have been set based on the level of skill, responsibility, importance and value of the advice, as well as the level of risk. If we have provided you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, this is an estimate only and our actual fees may vary. We may charge interest on late paid invoices at the rate of 4% above the RBA cash rate. We may also suspend our services, outsource debt collection to a third party, report non-payment to Credit Reporting Agencies or cease to act for you on giving written notice if payment of any fees is unduly delayed.
We may receive referral fees or commissions from partner businesses or suppliers. We receive a small referral fee from the Quantity Surveying firm that prepares the depreciation reports as well as up to 5% commission from our property marketing supplier. Our associated finance firm will earn commissions that will be separately disclosed in any credit proposal.
Lien
If permitted by law or professional guidelines, we may exercise a lien over all materials or records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.
Confidentiality
We will take all reasonable steps to keep your information confidential, except where we need to disclose your information to our service providers or regulatory bodies in performing the services, our professional advisers or insurers or as part of an external peer review. Our files may also be subject to review as part of the quality review program of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and CPA Australia. We may mention that you are a client for promotional purposes.
Privacy
We collect and use personal information for the purposes of providing the services described in this engagement letter and we will comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) when processing that personal information.
Ownership of materials
We own the copyright and all other intellectual property rights in everything we create in connection with this engagement. All working papers prepared by us remain our property.
Limitation of liability
Our liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. You agree not to bring any claim against any of our principals, partners, directors, shareholders or employees in their personal capacity. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, special or consequential losses or damages of any kind.
Termination
Each of us may terminate this agreement by giving not less than 21 days' notice in writing to the other party, except where a conflict of interest has arisen, you fail to cooperate with us, or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or any other person with misleading or factually inaccurate information, in which case we may terminate this agreement immediately. Termination will not affect any accrued rights, nor will it deny our rights to invoice for any work-in-progress.
Communication
You must advise of any changes to your contact details. We may, where appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties via email or by other electronic means. There is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties in any form of communication. We are not responsible for any such matters beyond our control.
Applicable Law
Our engagement is governed by New South Wales law. The courts sitting in that State will have non-exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any dispute between us.
Disputes and complaints
If you have any concerns about our costs or services, please speak to the person responsible for this engagement. We have policies and procedures in place to deal appropriately with complaints. If your complaint concerns a Tax Agent service or BAS agent service, you also have the right to make a complaint to the Tax Practitioners Board.
Outsourcing / 3rd Party Responsibilities
We utilise the services of Xero and other third parties from time to time for cloud based accounting and bookkeeping services. We use 3rd party identity verification software and you will be required to consent to your personal information being shared and verified with Government agencies and 3rd parties providing the verification service.
Consumer Data Rights
You may consent for an Accredited Data Recipient under the Consumer Data Right (CDR) to disclose your CDR data to us. You may nominate us as your Trusted Adviser for this purpose. As your Trusted Adviser, we will only access the data necessary to provide the services in this engagement letter.
Register of Tax Agents and BAS Agents
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) maintains a register with details of registered, suspended and deregistered tax and BAS agents. This register is available to the public to search at https://www.tpb.gov.au/public-register.
Professional Fees and Payments
The professional fees for services are charged in accordance with the schedule which can be found at the Published Fee Schedule. Fees may vary from the Schedule where extra work is involved and this work will be billed at the "Ad Hoc" hourly rate listed in the Schedule. Any fees quoted will exclude GST and are based on the work performed not the result. All fees for advisory work are payable via invoice and any outstanding fees will be sent to a debt collection agency. We will disclose any commissions or other fees received as a result of work undertaken.
Referral Fees and Payments
The firm may receive referral fees of up to $100 per report from Quantity Surveyor firms and some level of commission from mortgage broking referrals.
Documents
Before documentation is lodged on your behalf, drafts will be forwarded for your approval.
Professional Standards Scheme
As a member of CPA/CAANZ, this firm is part of the Professional Standards Scheme and liability is limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. For more information please refer to: www.psc.gov.au.
Privacy Statement
We are bound by the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988 to maintain all your records securely and in accordance with the provisions of that Act. As a Tax Agent, we are subject to the code of professional conduct established by the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA); this Code requires that unless legally required to do so, we cannot disclose information to a third party without your permission.
Third Party Involvement
In providing our services to you, we utilise cloud computing systems provided by Xero Accounting and Tax. If you would like more information about how Xero protects your privacy and data, please visit https://www.xero.com/au/legal/privacy/.
Lien over Documents
If permitted by law, we may exercise a lien over all materials or records in our possession to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.
Client's Responsibilities – Records and Information
It is your obligation to provide us with all information we require to allow us to perform work under the engagement within a timely manner or as requested. This includes providing accurate and complete responses to questions asked. Inaccurate, incomplete or late information could have a material effect on services and/or conclusions. You must declare all relevant income and financial information applicable to the advisory services requested.
Tax Practitioners Obligations (NOCLAR)
We have a duty to act in our clients' best interests. However, Chartered Accountants and CPAs are bound by ethical obligations so if during the course of our engagement we identify Non-Compliance with Laws or Regulations (NOCLAR) we will inform you of our intention to disclose the matter to an appropriate authority before disclosing the matter.
Information Required to be Disclosed Under Tax Agent Services Act 2009
As a Tax Agent and BAS Agent appointed by the Tax Practitioner's Board (TPB), our work for you is performed in accordance with the Tax Agent Services Act 2009. Under this Act, the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024 requires that we make the following disclosures to you:
- Matters that could significantly influence your decision to engage us (or continue to engage us) for a Tax Agent Service from 1 July 2022 onward: None Applicable.
- The Tax Practitioner's Board maintains a register of Tax Agents and BAS Agents available to search at: https://www.tpb.gov.au/public-register
- If you have a complaint about our Tax Agent / BAS Agent services, contact your Accountant at Rider Accountants and Advisors in the first instance. If they are unable to resolve your complaint within 3 business days, please contact Steven P. Rider – Practice Director. We will provide email acknowledgement of receipt of your complaint and will attempt to resolve your complaint within 14 days. If you are unhappy with the outcome, you can make a complaint to the Tax Practitioners Board at the link listed above.
Firm Memberships and Registrations
Our firm is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (Member number 3177200), CPA Australia (Member number 2012560) and as such we are bound by the APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. Furthermore, we are registered with the Tax Practitioners Board as a Tax Agent (Registration number 26194902) and BAS Agent (Registration number 26192777). We are registered with the Australian Securities Investments Commission (Agent number 49365).
This document sets out the terms of the engagement for ad-hoc advisory services. Any additional work will be by written agreement of both parties.
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