Terms & Conditions
Limited Company
Customer service
We are committed to providing a high standard of customer service. We welcome suggestions on how our service to you could be improved. We hope that you will not have the need to complain but if you do, we will look into your complaint carefully and promptly and do all we can to explain the position to you and address your concerns.
Third parties
All accounts, statements and reports prepared by us are for your exclusive use within your business or to meet specific statutory responsibilities.
No third party shall acquire any rights under this agreement to provide professional services.
Applicable law
These terms are governed by, and construed in accordance with the law of the relevant UK jurisdiction as determined by law. Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have to object to any action being brought in Courts of the relevant jurisdiction.
Agreement of terms
Once agreed, these terms will remain effective from the date of signature until it is replaced. Either party may vary or terminate our authority to act for you at any time without penalty. Notice of termination must be given in writing.
If anything is unclear to you or you require any further information please let us know.
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS – LIMITED COMPANIES
Responsibilities of Directors
As director of the company, under the Companies Acts you are responsible for ensuring that the company maintains proper accounting records and you are ultimately responsible for preparing accounts.
You undertake to keep records of sales invoices, purchase invoices, receipts and payments, together with any other documents relating to the company’s transactions and activities. It will also be necessary for you to provide a record of stock at the company’s year end.
A private company is usually required to file its accounts at Companies House within 9 months of the year end. The company will be liable to fines if it fails to do so. In order to avoid this we will produce statutory accounts, suitable for filing, within the required period, provided all your records are complete and presented to us within five months of the year end, and all our queries are promptly and satisfactorily answered.
You will complete all other returns required by law, for example, confirmation statements and notifications of changes in directors and Persons of Significant Control (PSC’s), unless you have asked us specifically to deal with these for you. We shall, of course, be pleased to advise you on these and any other company matters if requested.
Responsibility of the accountants
We will prepare the company’s accounts on the basis of the information that is provided to us and some or all of this work may be undertaken by our subcontractors in the UK or abroad. We will also draft the accounts in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, and related Accounting Standards for approval by the Board.
Should our work lead us to conclude that the company is not entitled to exemption from an audit of the accounts, or should we be unable to reach a conclusion on this matter, then we will advise you of this.
You have instructed us to prepare your financial statements for the year(s) ended as agreed and subsequent years. It was agreed that we should carry out the following accounting and other services:
1. write up the accounting records of the company insofar as they are incomplete when presented to us;
2. complete the postings to the nominal ledger; and
3. prepare the accounts for approval by yourselves.
You agree that you will arrange to:
1. keep the records of receipts and balances;
2. reconcile the balances monthly with the bank statements;
3. post and balance the purchase and sales ledgers;
4. extract a detailed list of ledger balances; and
5. prepare details of the annual stocktaking, including prices and in a form which will enable us to verify the prices readily by reference to suppliers’ invoices.
6. prepare details of work-in-progress at the accounting date and make available to us the documents and other information from which the statement is compiled.
You are responsible for the detection of irregularities and fraud. We do not undertake to discover any shortcomings in your systems or any irregularities on the part of your employees or others, although we will advise you of any that we encounter in preparing your accounts, unless prohibited from doing so by the Anti Money Laundering Legislation.
We will report that in accordance with your instructions and in order to assist you to fulfil your responsibilities, we have compiled, without carrying out an audit, the accounts from your accounting records and from the information and explanations supplied to us.
We have a professional duty to compile accounts which conform with generally accepted accounting principles and which comply with the Companies Acts and applicable accounting standards.
BOOKKEEPING
If it is agreed that we should carry out the following accounting and other services:
1. keep the records of receipts, payments and balances;
2. reconcile the balances monthly with the bank statements;
3. post and balance the purchase and sales ledgers;
4. extract a detailed list of ledger balances;
5. prepare details of the annual stocktaking and work in progress, suitably priced and extended in a form which will enable us to verify the prices readily by reference to suppliers’ invoices;
6. complete the postings to the nominal ledger;
We will prepare the bookkeeping on the basis of the information that is provided to us and some or all of this work may be undertaken by our subcontractors in the UK or abroad.
You are responsible for the detection of irregularities and fraud. We would emphasise that we cannot undertake to discover any shortcomings in your systems or any irregularities on the part of your employees or others, although we will advise you of any that we encounter.
CORPORATION TAX
We will prepare a computation for corporation tax purposes adjusted in accordance with the provisions of the Taxes Acts for the relevant year end and all subsequent years. We will also prepare and file the corporation tax return (form CT600) required under the Corporation Tax Self Assessment regulations within 12 months of the year end. The corporation tax return, together with the supporting corporation tax computations, will be sent to you for approval and signature prior to submission to the Inspector of Taxes.
You accept that in law a taxpayer cannot contract out of his fiscal responsibilities and that computations and return forms are prepared by us as agent for the company. You also accept that you are legally responsible for making correct returns and for payment of tax on time. If we ask you for information to complete the tax return and it is not provided within the time-scale requested, so that the preparation and submission of the return are delayed, we accept no responsibility for any penalty or interest that may arise.
We will advise you of the corporation tax payments to which the company will be liable, together with the due date of payment. You must inform us immediately if the company pays or receives any interest, or transfers any asset to any shareholder.
Where necessary we will deal with any queries raised by the HM Revenue & Customs and negotiate with HM Revenue & Customs on any question of taxation interest or penalties which may arise.
Any time we need to spend over and above answering straightforward queries raised by the HM Revenue & Customs is additional work for which we will need to charge separately. We will inform you before undertaking any extra work in respect of HM Revenue & Customs enquiries.
To enable us to carry out our work you agree:
1. to make a full disclosure to us of all sources of income, charges, allowances and capital transactions and to provide full information necessary for dealing with the company’s affairs. We will rely on the information and documents being true, correct and complete;
2.to respond quickly and fully to our requests for information and to other communications from us;
3. to provide us with information in sufficient time for the company’s self-assessment tax return to be completed and submitted by the due date. In order to do this, we need to receive all relevant information within 5 months of the year end; and
4. to forward to us on receipt copies of all statements of account, letters and other communications received from HM Revenue & Customs and Companies House to enable us to deal with them as may be necessary within the statutory time limits.
5. we can approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs and undertake to authorise such third parties to communicate directly with us.
Payroll and year end returns
In order for us to prepare your payroll and HMRC payroll returns known as Real Time Information (RTI) returns we will need the following information from you:
Personal details of all employees (i.e. name, NI number, home address,) and other data as required by HMRC.
Notification of new employees or employees leaving your employment.
All P45's received by you.
1. If no P45 is received, you are required to provide Starter Check Lists, or equivalent, and pass that information to us for processing.
2. Notification of any employee who is ill for four or more calendar days, including weekends, bank holidays etc in time for the operation of payroll to enable us to operate statutory sick pay for you.
3. Notification of any employee who becomes pregnant or who adopts, or whose partner becomes pregnant or adopts. This will enable us to operate statutory maternity, adoption and paternity pay.
4. Details of any money or benefits made available to employees which arise directly or indirecty from their employment with you whether by you or by a third party.
5. Hours worked, rates of pay, bonuses, the amount of any pension deductions, etc.
6. Any notice of coding received by you.
Payroll returns must be received by HM Revenue & Customs on or before pay day otherwise significant penalties may be charged. Interest will be charged by HMRC if income tax and National Insurance contributions payments are late or less than indicated by the return.
We will assist in the preparation and submission of PAYE returns as required by HMRC and other authorities. However, our appointment as your agent does not absolve the company or its directors from their statutory responsibilities. It is essential that we receive full information from you promptly to enable us to file returns in time to avoid penalties.
We will provide a payroll service for the month ended as agreed and all subsequent months.
AUTO ENROLMENT
In respect of the “Automatic Enrolment” of pensions you will need to seek the advice of a person who is regulated to provide pension’s advice. We will assist you in processing your payroll based on the pension details that you provide if you have asked us to provide this service.
VAT RETURNS
We will prepare and file your VAT returns for the VAT Return as agreed and all subsequent VAT Returns.
We will not be responsible for any penalties or default surcharges arising from the late submission of VAT returns. However, we will endeavour to meet the relevant deadlines if we receive all the company’s VAT records within 14 days of the end of the VAT return period.
You will ensure that:
1. all relevant VAT records are forwarded to us within 14 days of the end of the VAT return period;
2. valid VAT invoices are received for all payments where VAT is being reclaimed;
3. the VAT rating of the goods or services you supply (“supplies”) is correct, i.e. between standard rate, reduced rate, zero rate and exempt supplies;
4. we are notified in writing of any standard or reduced rate own consumption;
any non-business expenditure is clearly marked on supporting invoices;
5. all supplies made by the business are shown in the records made available to us.
6. If you deal with your own VAT returns, we will not be responsible for checking the VAT treatment of supplies made, the deductibility of input VAT and the validity of supporting invoices unless specifically requested in writing to make a detailed review, and will charge separately for this work.
If you are not VAT registered and VAT registration becomes necessary, we will endeavour to ensure that you register in time provided that:
1. you notify us in writing within 14 days of the end of each month of the total value of supplies you have made in that month; and
2. you notify us immediately in writing if the value of taxable supplies that you will make in the next 30 days is likely to exceed the annual registration limit.
You or, if a company, the company and its directors remain responsible for their VAT Returns.
There are strict rules and time limits for the submission of returns and substantial penalties may arise if these are not followed. It is therefore essential that we receive full information from you promptly to enable us to ensure that the returns are submitted in time. Returns will be sent to you for approval prior to submission.
Terms & Conditions
Self Assessment & Partnerships
Anti money laundering legislation
All accountants must comply with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (the “Anti Money Laundering Legislation”), which are intended to stop the activities of terrorists and other criminals by preventing them using accountancy services. If we do not comply with this legislation, we risk imprisonment.
Before we can act for your company, we have to confirm the identity of the directors. At any time we may also need to obtain evidence confirming the identities of third parties, the source of any money or funding of property or other assets, and other matters.
We assume that our clients are honest and law abiding. However, if at any time we have grounds to suspect that crime is being committed, we are obliged to make a report to the National Crime Agency (NCA). We are prohibited by the legislation from telling you that we have done this. In such circumstances, we cannot do any work for your company without consent from NCA.
‘Criminal property’ is money, property, other assets, rights or any benefit derived from criminal activity. Activity is considered ‘criminal’ if it is a crime under UK law, no matter how trivial. Tax evasion is a criminal offence but an honest mistake is not.
It does not matter who carried out the criminal activity. Even if you are honest in your dealings, if your property represents a benefit from someone else’s crime, we must still make a report.
Disclaimer: We will not be liable for any loss suffered by you or any third party as a result of our compliance with the Anti Money Laundering Legislation or any UK law.
Client monies
We may, from time to time, hold money on your behalf. Such money will be held in trust in a client bank account, separate from our funds.
If there are grounds to suspect that any monies held in a client account are derived directly or indirectly from any criminal activity whatsoever, we may not release such monies until we receive permission to do so from NCA.
Fees
Our fees are computed on the basis of time spent on your affairs and the responsibility and skill involved by the partners and staff of this firm. Unless otherwise agreed, our fees will be charged separately for each main class of work and will be billed at appropriate intervals during the course of the year. Hourly rates are available on request.
We may agree to invoice you monthly for a proportion of your fees in which case these will be payable on a monthly standing order. These standing order payments will be applied to fees for work agreed in this letter of engagement.
If invoices are not subject to payment by standing orders, our terms for such invoices are strictly 7 days net. Interest will be charged on all overdue debts at the rate stated on the invoice or, at the rate applicable under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, whichever is the higher.
Should you have any disagreement concerning a fee, this must be notified to us within 7 days of the invoice date. In the absence of such notification, you are deemed to have accepted the invoice and it is payable in full accordance with our normal terms.
If this letter of engagement covers work for a limited company and the company is unable to meet our fees as and when they fall due then the company’s directors will be personally, jointly and severally liable in respect of our outstanding fees.
Commissions or other benefits
While we will notify you of any commissions received, you agree that we may retain any such commissions.
Ownership of records
In the event of non-payment of our fees, we may exercise a right of lien over the books and records in our possession and withhold the documents until such time as payment of our invoice is received in full.
File destruction
Correspondence and other papers that we may hold older than 6 years will be destroyed unless you request their return in writing. Documents can be collected FOC but a fee will be charged for returning documents by post.
Customer service
We are committed to providing a high standard of customer service. We welcome suggestions on how our service to you could be improved. We hope that you will not have the need to complain but if you do, we will look into your complaint carefully and promptly and do all we can to explain the position to you and address your concerns.
Third parties
All accounts, statements and reports prepared by us are for your exclusive use within your business or to meet specific statutory responsibilities.
No third party shall acquire any rights under this agreement to provide professional services.
Applicable law
These terms are governed by, and construed in accordance with the law of the relevant UK jurisdiction as determined by law. Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have to object to any action being brought in Courts of the relevant jurisdiction.
Agreement of terms
Once agreed, these terms will remain effective from the date of signature until it is replaced. Either party may vary or terminate our authority to act for you at any time without penalty. Notice of termination must be given in writing.
If anything is unclear to you or you require any further information please let us know.
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS – SOLE TRADERS/PARTNERSHIPS/LANDLORDS
Your responsibility for the preparation of accounts
1. You undertake to make available to us all the accounting records for the preparation of the accounts and make full disclosure to us of all relevant information. You will need to approve the accounts we prepare.
2. You are responsible for ensuring that, to the best of your knowledge and belief, financial information is reliable.
3. You are also responsible for ensuring that the activities of the business are conducted honestly and that the business complies with the laws and regulations applicable to its activities, and for taking steps to deter fraudulent or other dishonest conduct and to detect any that occur.
Our responsibilities for the preparation of accounts
1. We will prepare your annual accounts from your accounting records and the information and explanations you give us. We shall prepare draft annual accounts for your approval.
2. We will advise you on the adequacy of your records for preparation of the annual accounts and recommend improvements which we consider necessary. We shall not be responsible if, as a result of you not taking our advice, you incur losses or penalties.
3. We will use reasonable skill and care in the preparation of your accounts but will not be responsible for errors arising from incorrect information supplied by you.
4. We will report that, in accordance with your instructions and without carrying out an audit, we have prepared the accounts from your accounting records and from the information and explanations supplied to us.
5. We have a professional duty to compile accounts which conform with generally accepted accounting principles.
BOOKKEEPING
It is agreed that we should carry out the following accounting and other services:
1.keep the records of receipts, payments and balances;
2.reconcile the balances monthly with the bank statements;
3.post and balance the purchase and sales ledgers;
4. extract a detailed list of ledger balances;
5. prepare details of the annual stocktaking and work in progress, suitably priced and extended in a form which will enable us to verify the prices readily by reference to suppliers’ invoices;
6. complete the postings to the nominal ledger;
You are responsible for the detection of irregularities and fraud. We would emphasise that we cannot undertake to discover any shortcomings in your systems or any irregularities on the part of your employees or others, although we will advise you of any that we encounter.
PAYROLL PREPARATION AND PAYE
Payroll and year end returns
In order for us to prepare your payroll and HMRC payroll returns known as Real Time Information (RTI) returns we will need the following information from you:
Personal details of all employees (i.e. name, NI number, home address,) and other data as required by HMRC.
Notification of new employees or employees leaving your employment.
All P45's received by you.
1. If no P45 is received, you are required to provide Starter Check Lists, or equivalent, and pass that information to us for processing.
2. Notification of any employee who is ill for four or more calendar days, including weekends, bank holidays etc in time for the operation of payroll to enable us to operate statutory sick pay for you.
3. Notification of any employee who becomes pregnant or who adopts, or whose partner becomes pregnant or adopts. This will enable us to operate statutory maternity, adoption and paternity pay.
4. Details of any money or benefits made available to employees which arise directly or indirecty from their employment with you whether by you or by a third party.
5. Hours worked, rates of pay, bonuses, the amount of any pension deductions, etc.
6. Any notice of coding received by you.
Payroll returns must be received by HM Revenue & Customs on or before pay day otherwise significant penalties may be charged. Interest will be charged by HMRC if income tax and National Insurance contributions payments are late or less than indicated by the return.
We will assist in the preparation and submission of PAYE returns as required by HMRC and other authorities. However, our appointment as your agent does not absolve the company or its directors from their statutory responsibilities. It is essential that we receive full information from you promptly to enable us to file returns in time to avoid penalties.
We will provide a payroll service for the month ended as agreed and all subsequent months.
AUTO ENROLMENT
In respect of the “Automatic Enrolment” of pensions you will need to seek the advice of a person who is regulated to provide pension’s advice. We will assist you in processing your payroll based on the pension details that you provide if you have asked us to provide this service.
VAT RETURNS
We will prepare and file your VAT returns for the VAT Return %VATQUARTEREND% and all subsequent VAT Returns.
We will not be responsible for any penalties or default surcharges arising from the late submission of VAT returns. However, we will endeavour to meet the relevant deadlines if we receive all the company’s VAT records within 14 days of the end of the VAT return period.
You will ensure that:
1. all relevant VAT records are forwarded to us within 14 days of the end of the VAT return period;
2. valid VAT invoices are received for all payments where VAT is being reclaimed;
3. the VAT rating of the goods or services you supply (“supplies”) is correct, i.e. between standard rate, reduced rate, zero rate and exempt supplies;
4. we are notified in writing of any standard or reduced rate own consumption;
5. any non-business expenditure is clearly marked on supporting invoices;
6. all supplies made by the business are shown in the records made available to us.
If you deal with your own VAT returns, we will not be responsible for checking the VAT treatment of supplies made, the deductibility of input VAT and the validity of supporting invoices unless specifically requested in writing to make a detailed review, and will charge separately for this work.
If you are not VAT registered and VAT registration becomes necessary, we will endeavour to ensure that you register in time provided that:
1. you notify us in writing within 14 days of the end of each month of the total value of supplies you have made in that month; and
2. you notify us immediately in writing if the value of taxable supplies that you will make in the next 30 days is likely to exceed the annual registration limit.
You or, if a company, the company and its directors remain responsible for their VAT Returns.
There are strict rules and time limits for the submission of returns and substantial penalties may arise if these are not followed. It is therefore essential that we receive full information from you promptly to enable us to ensure that the returns are submitted in time. Returns will be sent to you for approval prior to submission.
PERSONAL TAX – INDIVIDUALS AND SOLE TRADERS
Your spouse or Civil Partner under the Civil Partnership Act is legally responsible for his/her own tax affairs and must be dealt with independently and separately. We will assume that you agree that we can disclose to your spouse/Civil Partner details of your financial affairs so we can consider your combined tax position, unless you tell us in writing that you do not wish us to do this.
We shall be pleased to act as your personal tax advisers in the UK with effect from the date of this Letter of Engagement
We will prepare your personal income tax and capital gains tax return together with all supporting schedules and check any HM Revenue & Customs’ calculation of your self-assessment of tax and Class 4 National Insurance contributions for %SATAXYEAR% and all subsequent years
We will send you your tax return and supporting schedules for your written approval. Once the return has been approved, we will submit it together with any other necessary information to HM Revenue & Customs.
We will tell you the amounts of tax and National Insurance contributions to be paid and the dates by which you should make the payments, including payments on account and the balancing payment, and we will make repayment claims when tax and National Insurance contributions appear to have been overpaid.
We will correspond with HM Revenue & Customs on your behalf. You will need to send us any correspondence received from HM Revenue & Customs as soon as you receive it.
HM Revenue & Customs can charge both interest and penalties if there is a delay in submitting a tax return or making tax payments. Such charges are automatic if the tax return is submitted after 31st January following the end of the tax year, or if any payments are made after the dates that the tax and National Insurance contributions are due.
It is therefore important that all details required for the preparation of your tax return are forwarded to us as soon as possible after 5th April each year and by 30th June at the latest. If the information is received after that date, we will not accept responsibility for any penalties or surcharges charged by HM Revenue & Customs.
HM Revenue & Customs make enquiries into a number of tax returns each year. Any time we need to spend over and above answering straightforward queries regarding entries on the tax return is additional work for which we will need to charge separately. We will inform you before undertaking any extra work in respect of HM Revenue & Customs enquiries.
We will provide our professional services outlined in this letter with reasonable care and skill. However, we will not be responsible for any losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities arising from the supply by you or others of incorrect or incomplete information, or from the failure by you or others to supply information or your failure to act on our advice or respond promptly to communications from us or the tax authorities.
You agree that we can approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs and undertake to authorise such third parties to communicate directly with us.
PARTNERSHIP TAX
We will prepare the income tax and capital gains tax computations based on the partnership Accounts and from information and explanations provided by you.
We will prepare the firm’s annual partnership return, including the partnership statement of total income, gains, losses, and charges of the firm for each period of account ending in the return period.
We will send you the income tax and capital gains tax computations and the tax return and supporting schedules for your written approval. Once the return has been approved, we will submit it together with any other necessary information to HM Revenue & Customs.
We will advise all the partners who were partners of the firm during the period of their respective shares of the firm’s total income, gains, losses, charges and any other information they need to be able to file their personal self-assessment tax returns.
We will correspond with HM Revenue & Customs on your behalf. You will need to send us any correspondence received from HM Revenue & Customs as soon as you receive it.
HM Revenue & Customs can charge both interest and penalties if a tax return is submitted late. Such charges are automatic if the tax return is submitted after 31st January following the end of the tax year. For partnership penalties, the amount due is multiplied by the number of partners. Delays in submitting the partnership return may affect the returns of all the partners, with the possibility of penalties, interest and surcharges being payable by each individual partner.
It is therefore important that all details required for the preparation of your tax return are forwarded to us as soon as possible after 5th April each year and by 30th June at the latest. If the information is received after that date, we will not accept responsibility for any penalties or surcharges charged by HM Revenue & Customs.
HM Revenue & Customs make enquiries into a number of tax returns each year. Any time we need to spend over and above answering straightforward queries regarding entries on the tax return is additional work for which we will need to charge separately. We will inform you before undertaking any extra work in respect of HM Revenue & Customs enquiries.
You agree that we can approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs and undertake to authorise such third parties to communicate directly with us.