Introduction to our new Engagement Letter

As members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia we are bound by and adhere to standards of conduct that may be long-held or are more recently developed for our changing professional environment.

One such recent development has been the commencement of a new Tax Agent Services Regime by the Australian Taxation Office; more details may be found at www.ato.gov.au.  Consistent with the new regime, the Institute of Chartered Accountants’ standards now stipulate that we must issue you, our client, with an Engagement Letter.  Simply put, this Engagement Letter will set down in a formal way the accepted terms of our professional relationship from both our and your viewpoint.  Please be assured this Letter is not intended to change our valued interaction, but merely provide clarification for mutual benefit.

To minimise cost and intrusion, it is our decision to provide open access to this Engagement Letter on the DFK Gray Perry website or to send you a paper copy upon request.  Naturally, your comments and feedback are welcome.  For some circumstances or particular clients, a personalised Letter will be issued.

This information is to confirm our understanding of the terms of our general client engagement and the nature and limitations of the services that we provide.  This information is relevant to all non audit engagements where no specific client engagement letter is provided.

ENGAGEMENT LETTER

Purpose, Scope and Output of the Engagement
This firm will provide Accounting and/or taxation and/or business advisory services as agreed, 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 and services will be limited exclusively for this purpose only. 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.

Any reports including Financial Statements, Income Tax Returns etc, will be prepared for distribution to the specific organisation, client or entity for the purpose specified in the report. There is no assumption of responsibility for any reliance on our report by any person or entity other than yourself and those parties indicated in the report. The report shall not be inferred or used for any purpose other than for which it was specifically prepared. Accordingly, our report may include 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 draw your attention to our firm’s system of quality control which 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 the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia which 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 shall be responsible for both the completeness and accuracy of the information supplied to us.

Fees
The fee arrangement is based on the expected amount of time and the level of staff required to complete the services, at the respective hourly rates.

Sole Recourse
This contract is between you and DFK Gray Perry.  You agree that your relationship is solely with DFK Gray Perry, the entity contracting with you to provide the Services. Certain Services under the contract may be carried out by other DFK parties, but you agree that none of these parties will have any liability to you and that you will not bring any claim or proceedings of any nature in connection with this contract against any DFK party that we may use to provide the Services other than DFK Gray Perry. This exclusion will not apply to any liability, claim or proceeding founded on an allegation of fraud or other liability that cannot be excluded under law.

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 output documents, such as financial statements and tax returns. 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.

Confirmation of Terms
Acceptance of our services in conjunction with this information indicates that you understand and accept the arrangement.  This information will be effective for future engagement unless we advise you of any change.