Mayday Accountants Terms of Engagement – Summary
Summary
Fee’s
- Services are limited to those provided in the quotation
- Additional services outside those included within this engagement will be charged at our hourly rates that are communicated upon request.
- This agreement will automatically renew each year unless cancelled in writing by either party.
- The fee’s quoted will increase annually by the higher of inflation (CPI) or 5%.
Our commitment to you
- Respond to any questions, concerns or queries within a timely manner.
- All work performed by us will be conducted to the standard expected of any competent accountant.
- Work is performed with the skill, care and standards expected by our governing professional body – The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Our expectations of you
- Provide us with all the information required to complete our services in a timely manner at least two full weeks prior to any reporting deadlines.
- Provide all information to us as accurate and complete as possible to your best knowledge and capability.
- Grant access to any bookkeeping software used.
- Maintain accurate records and stay committed to statutory reporting deadlines.
- Pay any of our fee’s or arising tax liabilities on time.
Our policy documents
- Anti money laundering legislation
- Data protection
Terms of Engagement – Detail
Scope of services
- Services are provided in accordance with the quotation
- Additional services may incur additional charges.
- If circumstances change, a revised quotation will be provided.
Changes in Circumstances
- Changes in structure, turnover, transaction volume, or compliance requirements may result in fee adjustments.
- Any changes will be discussed and agreed in advance.
Service continuation
- Engagements cover the first 12 months of service.
- Thereafter, the agreement renews annually automatically unless terminated by either party.
- Fees increase annually by the higher of inflation (Consumer Price Index) or 5%.
Fees
- Our fees are computed on the basis of time spent on your affairs and the responsibility and skill required 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.
- Our fees are based on our hourly rates which are available upon 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.
- Our standard payment terms of 7 days from the date of invoice. We reserve the right to charge interest on any late payment at the applicable rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, whichever is the higher.
- Any disagreement concerning a fee 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.
- 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.
- 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 – While we will notify you of any commissions received, you agree that we may retain any such commissions
Documentation
- Correspondence and other papers that we hold for more than 6 years may be destroyed unless you request their return in writing.
- Physical documents can be collected free of charge 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.
- Complaints regarding the service you have received from Mayday Accountants Ltd can also be raised to our chartered institute. The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants can be contacted using the link below:
https://www.aicpa-cima.com/help/contact-cima
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
- This engagement letter is 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
Terms of Engagement – Limited Companies
Director Responsibilities
- 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 yearend.
- 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, notifications of changes in directors and Persons of Significant Control (PSCs), 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.
- 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.
- Make 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.
- Respond quickly and fully to our requests for information and to other communications from us.
- Provide us with information in sufficient time for the company tax return to be completed and submitted by the due date. To do this, we need to receive all relevant information within 5 months of the year end.
- 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.
- 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.
Our Responsibilities
- We will prepare the company’s accounts on the basis of the information that is provided to us. We will also draft the accounts in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, and related Accounting Standards for approval by the Board.
- You have instructed us to prepare your financial statements. It is agreed that we should carry out the following accounting and other services:
- write up the accounting records of the company insofar as they are incomplete when presented to us;
- complete the postings to the nominal ledger; and
- prepare the accounts for approval by yourselves
- We will also prepare and file the corporation tax return (form CT600) required under the Corporation Tax 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 HMRC.
- We will advise you of the corporation tax payments to which the company will be liable, together with the due date of payment
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Bookkeeping
For us to complete our responsibilities, we require bookkeeping to be conducted correctly.
If you conduct your own bookkeeping you agree that you will arrange to:
- keep records of receipts and balances.
- reconcile the balances monthly with the bank statements.
- post and balance the purchase and sales ledgers.
- extract a detailed list of ledger balances.
- prepare details of the annual stocktaking, including unit cost prices, market prices and number of items.
- 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.
Terms of Engagement – VAT returns
Your responsibilities
You will ensure that:
- All relevant VAT records are forwarded to us within 14 days of the end of the VAT return
- Ensure valid VAT invoices are provided for all payments where VAT is being reclaimed.
- Ensure the VAT rating of goods or services supplied is correct
- Clearly mark any non-business expenditure.
- All supplies made by the business are shown in the records provided to us.
Our responsibilities
- Ensure VAT returns are filed on time and correctly using Making Tax Digital compliant software.
- Review VAT treatment and raise queries where necessary.
- Report the VAT position based on the records provided.
Terms of Engagement – Payroll / CIS
This service relates to the submission of payroll returns, known as Real Time Information (RTI) returns to HMRC when payments are made to your employees.
The terms stipulated below also relate to contractors making payments to subcontractors and making deductions under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS).
We do not manage the BACS payments to employees, therefore it is your responsibility to pay the net amounts as detailed in the information provided by us following the processing of the payroll.
For us to complete the service, we require the following:
Your responsibilities
- Provide personal details of all employees and subcontractors.
- Notify us of joiners or leavers.
- Provide payment information at least 2 working days prior.
- Provide completed new starter forms.
- Notify us of sickness, maternity, adoption or paternity leave.
- Provide coding notices and pension details.
- Ensure prompt payment of payroll liabilities to HMRC.
Our responsibilities
- Submit payroll returns accurately and on time.
- Provide payslips.
- Provide subcontractor deduction statements on request
- Provide P45s and annual P60s.
- Provide employer payroll summaries.
Terms of Engagement – Self assessment (MTD and non-MTD)
Your responsibilities
- Provide details of all income received within the tax year
- Keep accurate business records
- Provide bank statements
- Review and approval calculations
- Provide all information at least two weeks prior to submission deadlines.
Our responsibilities
- Prepare and submit your personal tax return using the information provided.
- Advise you of your tax position and payment dates.
- Correspond with HMRC on your behalf.
- Provide services with reasonable care and skill.
Bookkeeping
For us to complete our responsibilities, we require bookkeeping to be conducted correctly.
If you conduct your own bookkeeping you agree that you will arrange to:
- keep records of receipts and balances.
- reconcile the balances monthly with the bank statements.
- post and balance the purchase and sales ledgers.
- extract a detailed list of ledger balances.
- prepare details of the annual stocktaking, including unit cost prices, market prices and number of items.
- 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.
