As part of the quality assurance procedures at TCK Accountants Pty Ltd, we provide you with this document to confirm our understanding of the terms of our engagement and the nature and limitations of the services we will provide.
Purpose, Scope and Output of the Engagement This firm will provide taxation services which will be conducted in accordance with the relevant professional and ethical standards issued by the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board Limited (APESB). The extent of our procedures will be limited exclusively for this purpose. As a result, no audit or review will be performed and, accordingly, no assurance will be expressed. Our engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities including fraud, other illegal acts and errors that may exist. However, we will inform you of any such matters that come to our attention.
Our professional services are conducted and income tax returns will be prepared for distribution to the relevant specific organisation or party for the purpose specified in the report or as agreed. We disclaim any assumption of responsibility for any reliance on our professional services to any party other than as specified or agreed, and for the purpose which it was prepared. Where appropriate, our report will contain a disclaimer to this effect.
Responsibilities In conducting this engagement, information acquired by us in the course of the engagement is subject to strict confidentiality requirements. That information will not be disclosed by us to other parties except as required or allowed for by law, or with your express consent.
We wish to advise that our firm’s system of quality control has been established and maintained in accordance with the relevant APESB standard. As a result, our files may be subject to review as part of the quality control review program of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, monitors compliance with professional standards by its members. We advise you that by accepting our engagement you acknowledge that, if requested, our files relating to this engagement will be made available under this program. Should this occur, we will advise you.
Clients are required to arrange for reasonable access by us to relevant individuals and documents, and to be responsible for both the completeness and accuracy of the information supplied to us.
The responsibility for providing accurate financial information, including documentation to substantiate any deduction claimed, rests with you. It is important to remember that you are personally responsible for the information contained in any statutory return and that you must retain all necessary supporting documentation to substantiate any claim. We will not take responsibility for any failure on your behalf to maintain adequate records. By signing this engagement, you are agreeing to check your income tax return as well as any other work prepared by us and inform us of any errors or omissions.
We also remind you that it is your responsibility to inform us immediately if you change your home, postal or email address or telephone number.
Limitation of Liability Our liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. Further information on the scheme is available from the Professional Standards Councils’ website: http://www.professionalstandardscouncil.gov.au.
Fees Our fees are reviewed every year on 1st July. Any additional work may be performed at your request and these fees can be discussed and quoted by your accountant. The fee for the preparation of a standard salary/wage earner taxation returns for the 2020 year are as follows (all fees are inclusive of GST):
Salary/Wage Earner Tax Return – Single – $250
Rental Properties (new or first year we have prepared) – $200 per property
Rental Properties (existing) – $150 per property
Sole Trader – $400-$600
Additional fees will apply to prepare Business Profit & Loss Statement, share or dividend trades, rental property schedules, capital gains schedules and/or any other work required outside the salary/wage earner tax return requirements.
Additional fees will also apply if you engage our firm during the year to attend to other matters eg. evaluation of rental property purchase, evaluation of salary sacrifice arrangement, provision of documents and declarations to third parties.
Client Information and Follow-Up Policy In order to complete your work efficiently and within agreed timeframes, we rely on the timely provision of all necessary information and documentation. If we are required to follow up with you more than twice for the same outstanding information, we reserve the right to charge additional fees to cover the extra time and administrative effort involved. These fees will be applied at our standard hourly rates and will be added to your final invoice.
Billing Arrangements We require full payment on the day of your appointment or prior to lodgement of the Tax Return. We prefer payment by direct credit into our bank account, details of which are printed on our invoices, however credit card facilities are also available.
Ownership of documents All original documents obtained from the client arising from the engagement shall remain the property of the client. However, we reserve the right to make a reasonable number of copies of the original documents for our records.
Our engagement will result in the production of income tax return(s). Ownership of these documents will vest in you. All other documents produced by us in respect of this engagement will remain the property of the firm.
The firm has a policy of exploring a legal right of lien over any client documents in our possession in the event of a dispute. The firm has also established dispute resolution processes.
Cloud services: We utilise cloud computing services providers, including:
- Microsoft Office 365 (data hosted in Australia)
- Xero (utilise data centers in countries outside of Australia, including the United States of America)
- Quickbooks (utilises data centers in countries outside of Australia, including the United States of America)
- BGL Pty Ltd (data hosted in Australia)
- ReceiptBank Limited (utilises data centers within and outside of Australia)
- and other third parties from time to time and as reasonably required to provide services to you.
Your data will be stored in servers physically located in Australia (unless otherwise specified) and in accordance with the security practices of the third party service provider and our Privacy Policy.
Tax agent You agree to appoint TCK Accountants Pty Ltd as your tax agent.
Register of Tax Agents and BAS Agents available for you to search 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.
For details of other information which we consider may be relevant to your decision to engage us to provide relevant services, please visit www.tckaccountants.com.au
Disputes and complaints If you have any concerns about our costs or services, please speak to the person responsible for this engagement, who is identified in our engagement letter. To resolve your concerns we have policies and procedures in place to deal appropriately with complaints and will use best endeavours to resolve a complaint or dispute to the mutual satisfaction of the parties involved. We may require you to detail your complaint in writing to allow us to fully investigate any concerns that you raise.
Where your complaint concerns a tax agent service that we have provided, you also have the right to make a complaint to the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) in accordance with their complaints process described here https://www.tpb.gov.au/complaints.
More information is also contained in a TPB factsheet here.
Confirmation of Terms Acceptance of our services in conjunction with this information document, indicates that you understand and accept the arrangements. This information will be effective for future engagements unless we advise you of any change.