Terms of Engagement

Professional Services - Terms of Engagement

SRN Partners Chartered Accountants

This is to confirm our understanding of the terms of our engagement and the nature and extent of the services we will provide. Unless otherwise agreed between us in writing, this letter records the entire agreement between us in relation to our engagement.

Based on information you provide; we will prepare special purpose financial statements to meet the requirements of the Income Tax Act. You understand that they may not be suitable for other purposes and are not to be considered as general-purpose financial statements prepared under generally accepted accounting principles. We will compile:

Income Statement

Balance Sheet

Shareholder Current Accounts

Notes to the Accounts and your tax returns

In addition, the services to be provided will include all ancillary matters such as, but not limited to, the preparation of GST returns, the completion of relevant statutory records and responding to queries raised by the Inland Revenue Department.

This engagement will be performed in accordance with “Service Engagement Standard No 2 “Compilation of Financial Information” (SES-2)” issued by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Our procedures will not include verification or validation procedures. No audit or review engagement will be performed and accordingly no assurance will be expressed.

Our compilation report will be issued on completion of the engagement.

        I.            Extent of Services

We do not accept any responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the accounting records and other information you supply to us or for the reliability, accuracy and completeness of the financial information compiled based on those records and information. We also do not accept any responsibility for the maintenance of adequate accounting records, an adequate internal control structure and the selection and application of appropriate accounting policies within your organisation. In addition, you are solely responsible to users of the financial information we compile.

You will be required to review and approve the final statements and tax reports for reasonableness and correctness, and you will need to understand the importance and risks of signing the documents as being true and correct statutory records.

The information you are to supply and any other information that we consider necessary to complete the engagement must be provided on a timely basis in order that the engagement can be completed on a timely basis.

Our engagement does not include the investigation or discovery of internal control weaknesses, errors, illegal acts, or other irregularities, including without limitation, fraud, or non-compliance with laws and regulations. However, we will inform you of any such matters which come to our attention during our engagement.

If, for any reason, we are unable to complete the compilation of your financial information, or we consider the information to be misleading, we may refer to such matters within our compilation report or we may determine, at our sole discretion, not to issue a report.

     II.            Independence

Independence is not a requirement for a compilation engagement.

If we are aware that we are not independent, this fact will be stated in our report. However, we will not conduct a comprehensive review to determine whether we are, or are not, independent.

  III.            Use and distribution of the financial Information

We understand that the intended use and distribution of the financial information we will compile is only for the bank and for the special purpose of calculating taxable income. If this should change in any material respect, you will inform us immediately in writing. We will not accept any responsibility to any person, other than you, for the contents of the financial statements.

   IV.            Our Fee & Its Payment

a.      Post-Service Billing:

Our fees are based on hours worked and are charged at rates appropriate to the work performed and the levels of expertise required. Our accounting staff has varied skill sets and more complex tasks are performed by more senior staff. Invoices for all fees charged by us are raised once the work is completed or on regular basis in case of subscription service.

Due date for payment is detailed on the invoice which is generally within 14 days of receipt of invoice. We expect the payment of our invoices within the due date, however if an invoice is not paid on time, then it may result in our refusal, without further notice, to provide further services (professional and subscription) until full payment has been received. In exceptional circumstances, we may agree for a payment arrangement for the amount due to us. Unpaid accounts where no payment arrangement exists may be charged a non-payment fee each month the account remains unpaid. For overdue invoices, payment details available on file with us may also be charged without further notice. If we were to engage a debt collection firm or incur legal fees in recovering overdue payment from you, then any costs associated with the recovery action will be borne by you.

In the unfortunate circumstances that a disagreement arises between us over our fees, if the matter cannot be resolved amicably by discussion (which is our preferred option) then we both agree to use the Fees Resolution Service of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand to resolve the matter. Details of this service are available from the Institute. You should be aware that, like all other providers of services, we are entitled to retain possession of your records that have been used in relation to this engagement until all outstanding fees are settled.

b.      Steady Stream Plans:

Subscription Plans: We offer various monthly subscription plans for our products and services. These plans have different features, benefits, and pricing. Please review the details of each plan before subscribing. 

Subscription Period: All subscription plans are for a monthly period, which begins on the date of purchase and ends 30 days later. Your subscription will always be in advance, meaning you will pay for the next month's subscription fee at the time of purchase. 

Payment: You will be charged the monthly subscription fee in advance on the date of purchase and on each subsequent monthly renewal date. Payment can be made using a valid credit or debit card. We reserve the right to change the subscription fees at the beginning of each new financial year (starting from April 1st) or after 12 payments have been made, whichever comes first, without prior notice to reflect inflation, any additional work required, or a change in our input cost. 

Extra Work: If there is extra work done for any financial year, we reserve the right to change the subscription fee accordingly, and you agree to the new price. 

Cancellation: You may cancel your subscription at any time, but you will not be entitled to a refund for the remaining months in the financial year. Your subscription will remain active until the end of the current monthly period, and you will not be charged for any future periods. We do not offer refunds for partial months. 

Suspension and Termination: We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your subscription if you violate these terms and conditions or if we suspect fraudulent or abusive activity. We will provide you with notice before doing so, and we will not refund any fees already paid.  Privacy Policy: We take your privacy seriously and will use your personal information in accordance with our privacy policy. By subscribing to our plans, you agree to our privacy policy.  Intellectual Property: All intellectual property rights related to our products and services are owned by us or our licensors. You may not reproduce, modify, distribute, or create derivative works based on our products or services without our prior written consent. 

     V.            Limitation of Liability

We will not be liable for any indirect, special, or consequential damages arising out of your use of our products or services, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Our liability to you for any direct damages will be limited to the amount of fees paid by you for the subscription period in which the damages occurred. 

   VI.            Governing Law

These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which we are located, without giving effect to any principles of conflict of laws.  By subscribing to our monthly subscription plans, you agree to these terms and conditions. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us before subscribing.

VII.            Information and Disclosure

The conduct of this engagement is in accordance with the professional standards, rules and ethical requirements of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. Information we obtain during this engagement is subject to confidentiality requirements, in addition to our obligations under the Privacy Act 1993.

We will not disclose that information to other parties, without your express consent, except as required by law or professional obligations. However, as members of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, we are subject to and bound by their disciplinary procedures and rules, and our work and files are also subject to their practice review rules under which compliance with professional standards by members is monitored. These procedures and rules require us to disclose to them, their reviewers and/or its disciplinary bodies our files and work papers including client information.

By allowing us to undertake this engagement, you acknowledge that, if requested, our files relating to this engagement will be made available to Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, its reviewers and/or its disciplinary bodies. We assure you that the same ethical standards regarding confidentiality that we adhere to apply equally to the reviewers.

VIII.            Customer Due Diligence

Chartered Accountants must comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act). Our work for you may be captured under the Act in conducting certain activities. If you request us to perform any captured activities, we will only perform such work after we have conducted customer due diligence required under the AML/CFT Act and satisfied ourselves that we can proceed with the work.

When we conduct customer due diligence required by the AML/CFT Act, the information we request from you will differ depending on the entity (for example individuals, companies and trusts are subject to different requirements) and the level of assessed risk. Information required may include passports, address verification by way of recent utility bill, bank statement or government agency letter, Certificates of Incorporation or Registration, Trust Deeds or Partnership Agreements, proof of authority of persons acting for you and proof of source of funds.

As well as our obligations to undertake due diligence, the AML/CFT Act requires us to report suspicious activity or prescribed transactions to the relevant authority. Under such circumstances, we may not disclose information to you about suspicious activity reports or prescribed transactions, in accordance with FIU Suspicious Activity Reporting Guidelines.

   IX.            Complaints

We maintain a procedure for handling any complaints by clients. This is designed to ensure that a client complaint is dealt with promptly and fairly. If you have a complaint about our services or charges, you may refer your complaint to any of our partners.

      X.            Oral advice

From time-to-time you may solicit our advice orally (be it in person, by phone or otherwise).

Note that any advice provided orally does not constitute SRN’s final considered view on a matter and should not be relied upon without first seeking confirmation of the advice in writing.

   XI.            SRN’s liability

SRN’s liability to you for a breach of any duties owed to you by SRN or any other matter in relation to SRN’s services to be provided to you by SRN, will not exceed 5 times the fees SRN has charged for the services.

XII.            Ownership of work papers & accounting software

Material that you provide to us remains yours and will be returned to you when the engagement is completed. Work papers and XERO Organization that we create remain our property.

However, if your affairs at some time in the future are handled by another Chartered Accountant, we will make available, as required by the Code of Ethics, such information regarding your affairs that is essential to enable your new Chartered Accountant to perform the services we previously provided. This does not include your XERO Organization.

Our work may involve the collection of personal information relevant or incidental to the engagement. Any such information will be held at our office and will be retained for as long as may be relevant to the engagement and except where otherwise noted in this letter, will only be used, or disclosed for the purposes related to the engagement. Individuals concerned will be able to contact us to access information held concerning them and, if necessary, seek correction to that information.

We will store tax records that we hold on to your behalf for a period of seven years after the applicable balance date. At the end of that period, unless you ask us to send that information to you, the records will be destroyed using a secure document destruction service.

XIII.            Authority for communications and to obtain information

By signing this engagement letter, you confirm we have authority to communicate with and obtain information from any third party (including the Inland Revenue Department, Accident Compensation Corporation, and your bank) if the information sought is relevant to our engagement or any other instructions you may give to us. In relation to your authority for us to act as agent with Inland Revenue, we attach a separate authority to be signed as an addendum to this letter of engagement.

XIV.            Outsourced Services

We may involve third party contractors or outsourced service providers in providing various aspects of your accounting work. These services may include:

Accounting file preparation and/ or Data entry into our accounting systems

Auditing of accounts (including Self-Managed Super Funds)

Financial Planning & Dealing with Financial Institutions

Home Loan, Business Loan & Personal Loan Services

Investment and Insurance Services

Non accounting advice and financial advice

This firm does not provide legal or financial advice. Any opinion expressed should be confirmed by the appropriate professional. Any comment made about legal or investment matters should be interpreted as only a personal view and not professional advice.