Terms of Engagement
Drew Stephenson Pty Ltd operates under the standards of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand (‘ICAANZ’). The ICAANZ has issued standards and recommendations regarding the Terms of Engagement between accountants and their clients.
This document is prepared in accordance with those standards and recommendations. It sets out the terms of the engagement, the nature of the taxation and accounting services we will provide to you and how we will work with you in providing those services. It is intended to ensure there is a common understanding of how our relationship will work.
Drew Stephenson Pty Ltd is a registered tax agent under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (‘TASA 2009’). As a registered tax agent, we are required to abide by the Code of Professional Conduct and the civil penalties provisions under the TASA 2009.
This information is to confirm our understanding of the terms of our taxation & accounting engagement and the nature and limitations of the taxation & accounting services we will provide.
Purpose, Scope and Output of the Taxation & Accounting Engagement
This firm will provide taxation and accounting 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 and services 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 the income tax return/s will be prepared for lodgement with the Australian Taxation Office. 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.
Limitation of Scope
The scope of our engagement for taxation services will be limited to the performance of the services listed above. If the scope does not meet your requirements or if you would like to discuss on varying the scope, please contact us. The scope of our taxation service engagements excludes financial planning, auditing, Estate planning, Estate administration matters, Stamp duty advice, Social Security legislation and State revenue matters.
Tax Investigations and Audits
This engagement does not cover any inquiries made to us or investigations involving us conducted by the Australian Taxation Office (‘ATO’). Work of this nature will be charged to you based on the time spent and the level of personnel involved. This cost may be covered by an annual Tax Audit Insurance that you can purchase from us, through Accountancy Insurance. If you do not have Tax Audit Insurance cover and would like to obtain cover, please contact us for more details.
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 Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia which monitor 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.
We may collect Personal Information about your representatives, your clients and others when we provide services to you. You agree to work with us to ensure that we both meet the obligations that we each may have under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (as amended) (Privacy Act). The obligations may include notifying the relevant person to whom the personal information relates who we are and how we propose to use their personal information. Where you have collected personal information, you confirm that you have collected the personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act, that you are entitled to provide this personal information to us and that we may use and disclose the personal information for the purpose/s we provide our services to you. We will handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.
Clients are responsible for the reliability, accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, particulars and information provided and disclosure of all material and relevant information. 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. Any advice given to the Client is only an opinion based on our knowledge of the Client’s particular circumstances. Clients or their staff are responsible for maintaining and regularly balancing all books or accounts (where applicable), and the maintenance of an adequate accounting and internal control system. Clients have obligations under self assessment to keep full and proper records in order to facilitate the preparation of accurate returns. It is the responsibility of clients to keep those records for five (5) years.
A taxpayer is responsible under self assessment to keep full and proper records in order to facilitate the preparation of a correct return. Whilst the Commissioner of Taxation will accept claims made by a taxpayer in an income tax return and issue a notice of assessment, usually without adjustment, the return may be subject to later review. Under the taxation law such a review may take place within a period of up to four (4) years after tax becomes due and payable under the assessment. Furthermore, where there is fraud or evasion there is no time limit on amending the assessment. Accordingly, you should check the income tax return before it is signed to ensure that the information in the return is accurate.
Where the application of a taxation law to your particular circumstances is uncertain you also have the right to request a private ruling which will set out the Commissioner’s opinion about the way a taxation law applies, or would apply, to you in those circumstances. You must provide a description of all of the facts (with supporting documentation) that are relevant to your scheme or circumstances in your private ruling application. If there is any material difference between the facts set out in the ruling and what you actually do the private ruling is ineffective.
If you rely on a private ruling you have received, the Commissioner must administer the law in the way set out in the ruling, unless it is found to be incorrect and applying the law correctly would lead to a better outcome for you. Where you disagree with the decision in the private ruling, or the Commissioner fails to issue such a ruling, you can lodge an objection against the ruling if it relates to income tax, fuel tax credit or fringe benefits tax. Your time limits in lodging an objection will depend on whether you are issued an assessment for the matter (or period) covered by the private ruling.
Period of Engagement
This engagement will start upon acceptance of the terms of engagement by you, in line with this information. We will not deal with earlier periods unless you specifically asks us to do so and we agree.
Fees
The fee arrangement is based on the expected amount of time and the level of staff required to complete the Taxation services as agreed. Fee invoices will be issued in line with a billing schedule based on our current hourly rates. Our minimum fee for preparation of an Income Tax Return is $195 including GST.
Credit policy
The credit policy of Drew Stephenson Pty Ltd is to offer clients fourteen (14) day terms from the date of the invoice. Where the 14 day terms are not adhered to, we reserve the right to apply the following conditions:
a. All accounts should be paid within fourteen days unless alternative arrangements have been agreed to by the Directors of Drew Stephenson Pty Ltd.
b. We reserve the right to levy an interest charge to all invoices that remain unpaid for greater than 60 days after the invoice date, at the rate prescribed in the Penalty Interest Rates Act 1983.
c. If you unable to meet these credit policy conditions, please contact this office immediately and we will be pleased to discuss alternative arrangements for payment of the account.
d. Should a mutually agreeable debt repayment arrangement not be met and/or a payment agreement not negotiated, the matter will be placed in the hands of our debt collection agency. In the event of a debt collection agency becoming involved it is inevitable that extra costs will be incurred by you, once the procedure is put in place.
Fee Queries, Disputes and Mediation
We do insist upon you contacting us immediately should you have a fee query. It is important for you to fully understand the scope, complexity, value provided, fees raised, in order to sustain a relationship based upon Trust. A meeting to discuss this is important.
Any dispute in respect of services provided that is not resolved within a reasonable period of time shall be referred (at our discretion) to the ICAANZ, for mediation at your expense.
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 and supporting schedules together with an electronic file, 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.
Your Rights and Obligations under the Taxation Laws
The Taxation Administration Act 1953 contains specific provisions that may provide you with ‘safe harbours’ from administrative penalties for incorrect or late lodgement of returns if, you give us ‘all relevant taxation information’ in a timely manner (the safe harbour provisions apply from 1 March 2010). Accordingly, it is to your advantage that all relevant information is disclosed to us as any failure by you to provide this information may affect your ability to rely on the ‘safe harbour’ provisions and will be taken into account in determining the extent to which we have discharged our obligations to you.
You are responsible under the self-assessment system to keep full and proper records in order to facilitate the preparation of a correct tax return. Whist the Commissioner of Taxation will accept claims made by a taxpayer in an income tax return and issue a notice of assessment, usually without adjustment, the return may be subject to a later review. Under the taxation law such a review may take place within a period of up to 4 years after tax becomes due and payable under the assessment. Furthermore, where there is fraud or evasion there is no time limit on amending the assessment. Accordingly, you should check the return before it is signed to ensure that the information contain therein is accurate.
Where the application of a taxation law to your particular circumstances is uncertain you also have the right to request a private ruling which will set out the Commissioner’s opinion about the way a taxation law applies, or would apply, to you in those circumstances. As relevant, we will provide further information to you concerning your rights under the Australian taxation laws during the conduct of the engagement contemplated by this document.
Our obligation to comply with the Laws
We have a duty to act in your best interests. However, the duty to act in your best interests is subject to an overriding obligation to comply with the law, even if that may require us to act in a manner that may be contrary to your interests. For example, we could not lodge an income tax return for you that we knew to be false in a material aspect.
We also have an obligation to ensure that we manage conflicts of interest as they arise. In this regard, we have arrangements in place to ensure that we manage potential or actual conflicts of interest. The effective operation of these arrangements depends, in part, on you complying with your obligation to disclose any potential conflicts of interest to us.
Our advice and/or service will be based on Australian taxation law in force at the date of the provision of the advice and/or services. It is your responsibility to seek updated advice if you intend to rely on our advice at a later stage. We note that Australian taxation laws are often subject to frequent change and our advice will not be updated unless specifically requested by you at the time of the change in law or announced change in law.
Privacy and Storage of Personal information
We may collect Personal Information about your representatives, your clients and others when we provide services to you. You agree to work with us to ensure that we both meet the obligations that we each may have under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (as amended) (Privacy Act). The obligations may include notifying the relevant person to whom the personal information relates who we are and how we propose to use their personal information. Where you have collected personal information, you confirm that you have collected the personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act, that you are entitled to provide this personal information to us and that we may use and disclose the personal information for the purpose/s we provide our services to you. We will handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.
The Privacy Act requires data be stored in Australia or in a country where the laws are substantially similar to Australia’s privacy laws.
Please also refer to our Privacy policy on this website for further details.
You also acknowledge and agree that your personal information may be stored overseas, due to the use of cloud based accounting software such as MYOB and Xero, or for other reasons.
Confirmation of Terms
By engaging our firm, you are accepting these terms and acknowledge that you understand the information conatin in these terms of engagement. This information will be effective for future engagements unless we advise you of any change.