Terms of Business for Fennec Accountants

The detailed terms and conditions are specifically agreed with you are contained in the main body of your engagement letter

Applicable Law

The Courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning the engagement letter (including the firm’s standard terms of business) and any matter arising from it. Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have to object to an action being brought in those Courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inconvenient forum, or to claim that those Courts do not have jurisdiction.
Persons who are not party to this agreement shall have no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act to enforce any term of this agreement. This clause does not affect any right or remedy of any person which exists or is available otherwise than pursuant to that Act.
The advice we give you is for your sole use and is confidential to you and will not constitute advice for any third party to whom you may communicate it. We will accept no responsibility to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them.

Client Identification

In common with all accountancy and legal practices, the firm is required by law to:

• Maintain identification procedures for clients and beneficial owners of clients;


• Maintain records of identification evidence and the work undertaken for the client; and


• Report, in accordance with the relevant legislation and regulations.

We may use electronic checks as part of our identification procedures. We confirm that these electronic checks are not credit checks.

Quality of Service

We aim to provide you with a fully satisfactory service and Sarah Bell as engagement partner will seek to ensure that this is so. If, however, you are unable to deal with any difficulty through her and her team please contact Matt Taylor. We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and to do all we can to explain the position to you. We will acknowledge your letter within five business days of its receipt and endeavour to deal with your complaint within eight weeks. If we do not answer your complaint to your satisfaction you may of course take up the matter with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
We are not licensed or authorised for the reserved legal activity of non-contentious probate. Consequently, any work we do for you on closely aligned activities, such as estate administration or inheritance tax advice, will not be covered by the ICAEW Probate Compensation Scheme, this service will not be covered by legal personal privilege and you will not have access to the Legal Ombudsman.

Investment advice - exempt regulated activities

We are not authorised to conduct Investment Business. If you require investment business services we will refer you to a firm authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority or licensed by a Designated Professional Body.

Fees and Payment Terms

Our fees may depend not only on the time spent on your affairs by the partners and our staff and on the levels of skill and responsibility involved, but also the level of risk identified and any advice provided. Unless otherwise agreed, our fees will be billed at appropriate intervals during the course of the year and will be due on presentation.
We may indicate a fixed/indicative fee for the provision of specific services. We will not usually identify fixed fees for more than a year in advance as these may need to be revised in light of subsequent events. Where we estimate our fees for any specific work, this will not be binding unless this is clearly stated to you. Otherwise, our fees will be based on the hours worked by each member of staff necessarily engaged on your affairs, multiplied by their charge-out rate per hour, VAT being charged thereon.
If it is necessary to carry out work outside the responsibilities outlined in this letter it will involve additional fees. Accordingly we would like to point out that it is in your interests to ensure that your records etc., are completed to the agreed stage. Our fees will exclude out of pocket expenses. Out of pocket expenses (plus VAT (if applicable)) will be billed as incurred for reimbursement by you.
In certain circumstances you may be entitled to assistance with your professional fees or tax affairs, through insurance policies you may hold. Unless such insurance policies you hold were arranged through us, you will need to inform us of any such insurance cover you have. You will remain liable for our fees regardless of whether all or part are to be paid by your insurers.
Invoices are payable in full before the report is signed and the accounts are made available for filing. If you do not accept that an invoiced fee is reasonable and fair, you must notify us within 21 days of receipt.
It is our normal practice to request that clients make arrangements to pay a proportion of their fee on a monthly standing order. These standing orders will be applied to fees arising from work agreed in this letter of engagement for the current and ensuing years. Once we have been able to assess the amount of work and time involved we would be grateful if you would agree to pay an amount to us on a regular basis.
>Our terms relating to payment of amounts invoiced and not covered by standing orders, where appropriate, are strictly 30 days net. Interest will be charged on all overdue debts at the rate stated on the invoice, which is currently 8% APR, or at the rate for the time being applicable under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, whichever is the higher.
Should circumstances arise where a client company, trust or other entity is unable or unwilling to pay our fees, we reserve the right to demand payment from the individual (or parent entity) giving us instructions on behalf of the client.
To the extent that we are permitted by law or by professional guidelines, we hold the right to exercise a lien over all funds, documents and records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees are paid in full.

Retention of and Access to Records

During the course of our work we will collect information from you and others acting on your behalf and will return any original documents to you following the preparation of your accounts and returns.

Electronic Communication

Internet communications are capable of data corruption and therefore we do not accept any responsibility for changes made to such communications after their despatch. It may therefore be inappropriate to rely on advice contained in an e-mail without obtaining written confirmation of it. We do not accept responsibility for any errors or problems that may arise through the use of internet communication and all risks connected with sending commercially sensitive information relating to your business are borne by you. If you do not agree to accept this risk, you should notify us in writing that e-mail is not an acceptable means of communication.
It is the responsibility of the recipient to carry out a virus check on any attachments received.

Data Protection

To enable us to discharge the services agreed in this engagement letter, comply with related legal and regulatory obligations and for other related purposes including updating and enhancing client records and analysis for management purposes, as a data controller, we may obtain, use, process and disclose personal data about you, your company, its shareholders, officers and employees as described in our privacy notice. We confirm when processing data on your behalf that we will comply with the provisions of all relevant data protection legislation and regulation - 1.
You are also an independent controller responsible for complying with data protection legislation and regulation in respect of the personal data you process and, accordingly where you disclose personal data to us you confirm that such disclosure is fair and lawful and otherwise does not contravene relevant requirements. Nothing within this engagement letter relieves you as a data controller of your own direct responsibilities and liabilities under data protection legislation and regulation.
Our privacy notice, which can be found on our website at www.fennecaccoutants.com/privacy.html explains how we process personal data in respect of the various services that we provide.
As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a quality service, our files are periodically reviewed by an independent regulatory or quality control body. These reviewers are highly experienced and professional people and, of course, are bound by the same rules for confidentiality as us.

Professional Rules and Practice Guidelines

We will observe and act in accordance with the bye-laws, regulations and Code of Ethics of the ICAEW and accept instructions to act for you on this basis. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost arising from our compliance with statutory or regulatory obligations. You can see copies of these requirements in our offices. The requirements are also available on the internet at www.icaew.com/regulations.
We confirm that we are Statutory Auditors eligible to conduct audits under the Companies Act 2006. When conducting audit work we are required to comply with the Revised Ethical Standard 2016 and the International Standards on Auditing (UK) which can be accessed on the internet at https://www.frc.org.uk/Our-Work/Audit-and-Actuarial-Regulation/Audit-and-assurance/Standards-and-guidance.aspx.

Confidentiality

Unless we have your authorisation to disclose information on your behalf, we confirm that if you provide us with confidential information we will, keep it confidential at all times, except as required by law or as provided for in regulatory, ethical or other professional pronouncements applicable to us or our engagement.
To comply with our duty of confidentiality it will be sufficient for us to take such steps as we think appropriate to preserve the confidentiality of information given to us by you, both during and after this engagement, should we act for other clients who are or become your competitors. These steps may include taking the same or similar approach as we take in respect of the confidentiality of our own information.
If we act for other clients whose interests are or may be adverse to yours, the conflict will be managed by implementing additional safeguards to protect confidentiality. Safeguards may include measures such as separate or physical separation of teams and separate arrangements for storage of, and access to, information. You therefore, agree that the implementation of such safeguards will provide adequate measures to avoid any real risk of confidentiality being impaired.
We may, on occasion, subcontract work however, should we propose to use the work of a subcontractor for your affairs we will inform you before they commence any work, except where your data will not be transferred out of our systems and the contractor is bound by confidentiality terms equivalent to an employee. In addition to this, the subcontractor will also be bound by our client confidentiality terms.

Conflicts of interest and internal disputes within a client

We reserve the right during our engagement with you to deliver services to other clients whose interests might compete with yours or are or may be adverse to yours. Subject to our confidentiality clause we confirm that we will notify you immediately should we become aware of any conflict of interest involving us and affecting the company.
If a conflict of interest should arise, either between two or more of our clients, or in the provision of multiple services to a single client, we will take such steps as are necessary to deal with the conflict. In resolving the conflict, we would be guided by ICAEW’s Code of Ethics, which can be viewed at icaew.com/en/membership/regulations-standards-and-guidance/ethics5.
If a dispute arises between the parties who own the business or who are involved in the ownership and management, it should be noted that our client is the business and we therefore would not provide information or services to one party without the permissions of all parties.

The Provision of Services Regulations 2009

We are registered to carry on audit work in the UK by the ICAEW. Details of our audit registration can be viewed at www.auditregister.org.uk for the UK under reference number C008430469.
Our professional indemnity insurer is QBE UK Limited, of Plantation Place, 30 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 3BD. The territorial coverage is worldwide excluding professional business carried out from an office in the United States of America or Canada and excludes any action for a claim brought in any court in the United States or Canada.

Timing of Our Services

If you provide us with all information and explanations on a timely basis in accordance with our requirements, we will plan to undertake the work within a reasonable period of time in order to meet any regulatory deadlines. However, failure to complete our services prior to any such regulatory deadline would not, of itself, mean that we are liable for any penalty or additional costs arising.

Use of our name in statements or documents issued by you

You are not permitted to use our name in any statement or document that you may issue unless our prior written consent has been obtained. The only exception to this restriction would be statements or documents that in accordance with applicable law are to be made public.
The copyright in any document prepared by us belongs to us in entirety unless the law specifically provides otherwise.

Interpretation

If there is a conflict between an engagement letter schedule and these terms of business then the engagement letter takes precedence.
We will provide services as outlined in this letter with reasonable care and skill. 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, the owners of this firm and any staff employed by the firm, 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 the principals or employees personally.
Our work is not, unless there is a legal or regulatory requirement, to be 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.
If any provision of this engagement letter or terms of business or its application is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, the validity, legality or enforceability of any other provision and its application shall not in any way be affected or impaired.
Advice we give you orally should not be relied upon unless we confirm it in writing. We endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. However, if you particularly wish to rely upon oral advice we give you during a telephone conversation or a meeting, you must ask for the advice to be confirmed in writing.
We will not accept responsibility if you act on advice previously given by us without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid in the light of any change in the law or your circumstances. We will accept no liability for losses arising from changes in the law or the interpretation thereof that occur after the date on which the advice is given.
Unless specifically instructed and agreed in advance we will not assist with the implementation of our advice.

Provision of Cloud Based Services

Where the firm provides accounting software in the Cloud, this will be provided by a third party (the ‘Cloud Supplier’). The third party has signed a confidentiality agreement with the firm to ensure compliance with the relevant clauses in the firm’s standard terms of business above, in particular, Fees and payment terms (7), Electronic communication (9), and Data protection (10).
The service provided by the Cloud Supplier will be a discrete web based hosted facility, and you agree that access will also be provided to the firm and the third party.
The firm cannot be held liable for any interruption of service provided by the Cloud Supplier. However, we will liaise with them regarding the resumption of a normal service as soon as possible.

Termination of Our Agreement

Either party to these terms of engagement may terminate the agreement by giving not less than 30 days notice in writing to the other party. We may, however, terminate our agreement immediately where you fail to cooperate with us, or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or HMRC with misleading information. Termination will be without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued to either of us prior to termination.
Should our contract be terminated, we will endeavour to agree with you the arrangements for the completion of work in progress at that time. We may, however, be required for legal or regulatory reasons to cease work immediately. In that event, we shall not be required to carry out further work and shall not be responsible or liable for any consequences arising from termination.

Appendices

1 - Including the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and any related regulations.