Terms of Service.
The terms and conditions shown are a general statement under which Rossendale Bookkeeping and its employees will perform its duties when carrying out bookkeeping services. They should be read in conjunction with the service agreement as stated in the engagement letter. The company shall mean Rossendale Bookkeeping. Agree shall mean agreed between the client and the company.
Your Responsibilities: Provision of Information by You
Under the HMRC regime there are a number of key dates by which returns and payments must be made. Failure to meet the deadlines may result in automatic penalties, surcharges and/or interest.
You are legally responsible for making correct returns and for payments of tax by the due date.
To enable us to carry out our work you agree:
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 your affairs. We will rely on the information and documents being true, correct and complete and will not audit them;
That we can approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs;
If we are providing tax returns (self assessment or corporation) you agree to provide us with information in sufficient time for your tax return to be completed and submitted by 31 January following the end of the tax year. In order to do this we ask that you provide the relevant information at your earliest convenience. Please note we cannot guarantee completion and submission of the return on time if you do not provide the information by 31 October following the end of the tax year to which the return relates; and
To forward to us upon receipt copies of all communications received from HMRC to enable us to deal with them as necessary within the statutory time limits.
Provision of Information by Third Parties
You agree that we can approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information we consider necessary to deal with your affairs.
We have submitted form 64-8 to HMRC which authorises HMRC to send us copies of any formal notices. In practice HMRC will treat this as authority to correspond with us, in which case they will not correspond with you except to the extent that they are formally required to do so. However, this authority does not apply to all HMRC’ correspondence and even, when it does HMRC sometimes overlook it. You should therefore send us all communications you receive from HMRC upon receipt.
Other Services and General Taxation Advice
We will be please to assist you generally in tax matters if you advise us in good time of any proposed transactions and request advice. We would, however, warn you that because tax rules change frequently you must ask us to review any advice already given if a transaction is delayed, or if an apparently similar transaction is to be undertaken.
We will not deal with claims and related correspondence, appeals or other matters in respect of working tax credits and child tax credits etc unless we are specifically asked to do so, in which case we will be pleased to advise you.
Investment Advice
Please note we are not authorised to offer investment advice of any kind.
Period of Engagement
This engagement will commence from the date of signature.
We will deal also with matters arising in respect of years prior to the above year as appropriate.
Client Monies
We do not hold client money, all refunds etc will be paid direct to yourselves.
Retention of Records
During the course of our work we will collect information from you, and others acting on your behalf, to enable us to complete your tax returns. We are professionally bound to retain said information for six years from the due date of the return in question (i.e. from 31 January following the end of the tax year to which the return relates) We would advise that any original documents which relate to entries on your tax returns retained by you/returned to you by us, should also be kept for this period of time. It is our policy to destroy correspondence and other papers which are more than six years old, other than documents which we consider to be of continuing significance. If you require retention of any particular document you must indicate that fact to us.
Regulatory Requirements
We reserve the right to disclose our files to regulatory bodies in the exercise of their powers.
Quality of Service
It is our policy to provide a high-quality service at all times. If at any time you would like to discuss how our service could be improved or if you are dissatisfied with the service you are receiving please contact info@rossendalebookkeeping.co.uk directly.
We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and to do all we can to explain the position to you. If we do not answer your complaint to your satisfaction you may take up the matter with our professional institutes.
Electronic Communication
As internet communications are capable of data corruption we do not accept any responsibility for changes made to such communications after their despatch. For this reason it may be inappropriate to rely on advice contained in an email without obtaining written confirmation of it. All risks connected with sending commercially sensitive information relating to your business are borne by you and are not our responsibility. If you do not accept this risk, you should notify us in writing that email is not an acceptable means of communication.
Applicable Law
This engagement letter is governed by, and construed in accordance with English Law. The Courts of England will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning this engagement letter and any matter arising from it. Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have to object to any action being brought in those courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inappropriate forum, or to claim that those courts do not have jurisdiction.
Fees, Payments and Cancellations
Payment and fees should be made in full by the due date. The client agrees to pay the company the agreed fee and any disbursements.
The agreed fee is based upon the services carried out and the information provided by the client at the time of tendering and subject to a quarterly review. If details have been provided by the client and it becomes apparent that the details are not reflective of the works then additional fees may apply.
Fees and quotations are subject to fluctuations and are available for acceptance for a period of 7 days.
In the event of termination of the agreement, for whatever reason, the client will be responsible for paying all fees due to the company, including costs, expenses and disbursements incurred by the company on behalf of the client up to and including any notice period.
If it is necessary to carry out work outside the responsibilities outlined in this letter it will involve additional fees. We will agree, before commencing any additional work, to provide an estimate of the fee based on the time we believe will be involved. Any overrun on this estimate will be agreed before any further work continues.
The price for the work and the applicable hourly rates will be laid out in the letter of engagement and/or service agreement. Unless otherwise stated in the letter of engagement, the price and/or hourly rates will not include travelling expenses for journeys of more than 10 miles, postage, or sundry expenses incurred in the course of the work.
Late Payments
In the event of late payments the company reserve the right to charge a fixed late payment fee of £45.00 plus interest on all outstanding amounts at base rate plus 8% per calendar month, or part thereof from the last date that payment was due to the date payment is made. Data and documents remain the property of the company until full and final payment is received.
Data
All data produced by the company whilst performing its duties for the client, remain the property of the company. The client can apply to purchase any data. The cost and willingness to release any data remains at the discretion of the company.
Set off
The company offers the client no right of set off.
Privacy
In accordance with the Data Protection Act the company and its employees will treat the client’s personal information as private and confidential. The client however should be aware that their contact details may be used during the process of providing the companies services on behalf of the client.
The company and its employees cannot be held responsible for the security of any goods, documents or premises and its contents.
Abuse
Should any employee of the company receive any form of physical or verbal abuse then the companies services would cease immediately and the client will be responsible for paying all fees due to the company, including costs, expenses and disbursements incurred at the time of termination.
Postage
Where it is necessary to post items relating to the work to the client or a third party, the company will use a tracked and signed for service. We recommend that the client uses a similar service when posting any items to the company. the company will not be held liable for loss, damage or theft of any items sent to the client whilst they are going through the postal service.
Miscellaneous
The client will be provided with a copy of the Terms and Conditions. The client is deemed to have accepted the contents of them.
The company shall not be liable for any losses or damage suffered by the client as a result of the activities of the company, the contents of any reports and documents and its obligations or events of force majeure.
To enable the company to carry out its duties the client agrees to provide the company with the required records and related financial information within 6 months of the year end and queries raised must be answered promptly. Other specific deadlines are identified within the service agreement. The client is responsible for ensuring all paperwork is delivered in a timely fashion.
Investment Services
We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority to conduct Investment Business. If you require investment business services, we will refer you to a firm authorised by the Financial Services Authority.
Professional Obligations
Where you give us confidential information, we shall at all times keep it confidential, except as required by law or as provided for in regulatory, ethical or other professional pronouncements applicable to this engagement.
GDPR Compliant Privacy Policy
We are committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
We process personal data for several purposes and the means of collection, lawful basis of processing, use, disclosure, and retention periods for each purpose may differ.
Our policy is to collect only the personal data necessary for agreed purposes and we ask clients to only share personal data where it is strictly needed for those purposes. We collect personal data from our clients or from third parties acting on the instructions of the relevant client.
We process personal data to provide professional services such as bookkeeping advice, general or specific business advice as part of the range of services we offer. We also process personal data in the administration and management of our business.
Your business contact details are used to provide you with information about our services and other information which we think will be of interest to you unless you tell us not to.
We are subject to legal, regulatory and professional obligations. We need to keep certain records to demonstrate that our services are provided in compliance with those obligations and those records may contain personal data.
Personal data processed is kept by us for as long as is considered necessary for the purpose for which it was collected (including as required by applicable law or regulation). In the absence of specific legal, regulatory or contractual requirements, our retention policy period for records and other documentary evidence created in the provision of services is 7 years.
We take the security of your data we hold seriously. We have a policy including procedures and training in place covering data protection, confidentiality and security and regularly review the appropriateness of the measures we have in place to keep the data we hold secure.
We will only share personal data with others when we are legally permitted to do so. When we share data with others, we put contractual arrangements and security mechanisms in place to protect your data. We use third parties located in other countries to help us run our business. As a result, personal data may be transferred outside the countries where we and our clients are located. This includes countries outside the European Union (“EU”).
Under the DPA (2018) and GDPR, Individuals have certain rights over their personal data and data controllers are responsible for fulfilling these rights.
You have a right to access your personal data held by us and you can exercise that right by contacting us below. Our aim is to respond to a request promptly and within the legally required limit of 40 days.
If you wish to update personal data submitted to us, please contact us below. Once we are informed that any personal data held by us is no longer accurate, we will make changes based on your updated information.
Where we hold data based on consent, individuals have a right to withdraw consent at any time. To withdraw consent to our processing of your personal data please contact us below.
This statement is intended to provide information about what personal data we collect about you and how it is used. As well as rights of access and amendment referred to above, individuals may have other rights in relation to the personal data we hold, such as a right to erasure/deletion, to restrict or object to our processing of personal data and the right to data portability. For further information on these rights please contact us below.
If you do want to complain about our use of your personal data, please contact us below with the details of your complaint. You also have the right to register a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”). For further information on your rights and how to complain to the ICO, please refer to their website.
Money Laundering Regulations 2017
In accordance with the Proceeds of Crime Act, The Terrorism Act, Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 you agree to waive your right to confidentiality to the extent of any report made, document provided or information disclosed to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
You also acknowledge that we are required to report directly to the NCA without prior reference to you or your representatives if during the course of undertaking any assignment the person undertaking the role of Money Laundering Reporting Officer becomes suspicious of money laundering.
As with other professional services firms, we are required to have appropriate risk-based policies and procedures for assessing and managing money laundering risks: this applies at the start of any business relationship and through the lifetime of the relationship. This includes undertaking appropriate customer due diligence. We may request from you, and retain, such information and documentation as we require for these purposes and/or make searches of appropriate databases. If we are not able to obtain satisfactory evidence of your identity, we will not be able to proceed with the engagement.
Copies of such records created as part of the client due diligence process, including any non-engagement documents relating to the client relationship and ongoing monitoring of it, will be retained by us for a period of five years after we cease to act for the business unless we are required to retain them under statutory obligation, or to retain them for legal proceedings, or you consented to the retention in which case the records will be retained for not more than 10 years.
Ownership of records
In the event of non-payment of our fees for services rendered, we reserve the right of lien over the books and records in our possession and may withhold the documents until such time as payment of our invoice is received in full. In exercising this right, we will comply fully with any legal or professional obligations.
File destruction
Whilst certain documents may legally belong to you, unless you tell us not to, we intend to destroy correspondence and other papers that we store that are more than seven years old, other than documents which we think may be of continuing significance. If you require the retention of any document, you must notify us of that fact in writing.
Third parties
All accounts, statements and reports prepared by us are for your exclusive use within your business or to meet specific statutory responsibilities. They should not be shown to any other party without our prior consent.
No third party shall acquire any rights pursuant to our agreement to provide professional services.
Limitation of liability
We will provide services as outline in the Quotation with reasonable care and skill. Our liability to you is limited to losses, damages, costs and expenses caused by our negligence or wilful default. However, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be responsible for any losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities where you or others supply incorrect or incomplete information, or fail to supply any appropriate information or where you fail to act on our advice or respond promptly to communications from us or the tax authorities.
You will not hold us our principals and staff, responsible, to the fullest extent permitted by law, for any loss suffered by you arising from any misrepresentation (intentional or unintentional) supplied to us orally or in writing in connection with this agreement. You have agreed that you will not bring any claim in connection with services we provide to you against any of our partners or employees personally.
Our work is not, unless there is a legal or regulatory requirement, to made available to third parties without our written permission and we will accept no responsibility to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them.
We will not accept liability for any loss suffered by you or any third party as a result of our compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering Legislation or any such legislation.
We maintain appropriate professional indemnity insurance and confirm that our liability in the event of a claim shall be limited to the value of our indemnity limit. Please ask us if you would like further information about our indemnity insurance.
These terms may be updated from time to time, so it is important you review them regularly.