Terms of Engagement - Unite Advisory

Client Terms of Engagement

This document, together with the ‘Client Engagement Schedule’ completed and signed by you (the Schedule), sets out our terms of engagement and the scope of the work to be performed by us within that engagement, and supersedes any previous engagement terms provided by us. It applies to the entities and individuals (the Group) as set out in the Schedule provided to us by you. Please read it carefully and if you have any queries or wish to discuss any aspect, do not hesitate to contact us.

Since 1 March 2010, tax practitioners have been subject to the law in accordance with the requirements of Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) and accompanying regulations. The TASA regime has implications for registered tax agents as well as their clients.

An important feature of TASA is the provision of a ‘safe harbour’ protection from penalties in certain circumstances for taxpayers who engage registered tax agents. To obtain the benefits of ‘safe harbour’ protection, the legislation requires the taxpayer to provide the registered tax agent with ‘all relevant taxation information’ to enable accurate statements to be provided to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). This requirement may be important to both parties in identifying and understanding the purpose and scope of the engagement as set out below, and may also affect other matters discussed below. You will find further discussion on the ‘safe harbour’ protections in the document entitled ‘Clients’ rights and obligations under the taxation laws’, also available on our website (www.uniteadvisory.com.au).

You should be aware, we may have a legal, regulatory or professional obligation to disclose non-compliance with laws or regulations to a regulatory authority if the non-compliance has a material effect on the work that we perform under this engagement.

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 would be unable to lodge an Income Tax Return for you that we knew to be false in a material respect.

Please note we are unable to perform any work for the Group until we receive a signed copy of the Schedule.

A Purpose and scope of engagement

Our engagement is to attend to the services listed in the Schedule. The engagement will be conducted in accordance with the relevant professional and ethical standards, issued by the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board Limited (APESB).

Unless otherwise agreed, we will continue to attend to the services listed in the Schedule on an ongoing basis for the Group under the Client Terms of Engagement, in relation to the period following that for which returns and statements have most recently been finalised, and for each subsequent period.

Each member of the Group engages us on the terms set out in this document and the Schedule and is bound by those terms. The Group members listed are all jointly and severally liable to pay our accounts, regardless of which Group members those accounts are addressed, and regardless of which Group member received the benefit of the work performed.

Where we are asked to act for a new or additional member of the Group, we may forward to you an updated Schedule, which each existing Group member agrees will apply in place of any previous Schedule. We will also require the new Group member to sign the Schedule, acknowledging these terms of engagement.

The reports and documents prepared by us under the terms of this engagement will be prepared for distribution to you and the parties indicated for the agreed purpose. There is no assumption of responsibility for any reliance on our report by any person or entity other than you and those parties indicated in the Schedule. The reports shall not be referred to, or used for any purpose other than for that they were specifically prepared for. Accordingly, our reports may include a disclaimer to this effect. We deny and disclaim all liability and/or responsibility for the consequences of anyone, apart from you, relying on our advice and/or opinion without or written consent.

Our services will be provided to you on a fee for service basis.

Unless otherwise agreed, our engagement will be limited to the matters and services described in this document and the Schedule. Work that is performed or disbursements that are incurred which are outside the scope of this document will be the subject of additional charge.

Our engagement commences as soon as you return the Schedule, and it has been signed by you. In addition to any other rights you might have, you can terminate this engagement at any time by telling us in writing. We also reserve the right to do so by providing you written notice.

If either you or we terminate this engagement, the provisions of termination in this document will apply.

B Basis of engagement

Our engagement is to assist with the preparation of the financial accounts and lodgements for the entities and the period and future periods outlined in the Schedule. Unless specifically agreed to in writing this engagement does not deal with earlier periods.

1 Accounting & record keeping
You, as our client, 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 should 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.

2 Taxation services
In engaging us to provide taxation services, it is important for you to understand that:

You are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the particulars and information provided to us by you, including keeping full and proper records;
Any advice we provide is only an opinion based on our knowledge of your particular circumstances;
The ATO will accept at face value claims made by a taxpayer in an income tax return and issue a notice of assessment. However, the return may be subject to later review or audit. Accordingly, you should check the return before it is signed to ensure the information in the return is accurate and you have met your obligations under the self-assessment regime; and
We cannot provide taxation services if we find information on which those services are to be based includes false or misleading information, or material information is omitted, and you are not prepared to appropriately amend that information.

3 No statutory financial audits are conducted
You and your employees are responsible for the maintenance of the accounting systems, internal controls, accuracy and completeness for all the Group entities. That includes the keeping and maintenance of all required books of account, supporting documentation, and providing material and relevant disclosures to us.

This engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities, including fraud, and other illegal acts or errors that may occur with regard to such matters. Our firm is not being engaged to conduct a statutory audit of the financial records of any of the Group entities, and therefore, we will not express an auditor’s opinion as to the truth and fairness of the financial statements.

4 Documentation
Before we lodge any returns on your behalf, we will forward the documents to you for approval. We will endeavour to ensure that the returns are lodged by the due dates. If you are late in providing information, we will do our best to meet the time limits, but we will not be responsible for any late lodgement penalties or interest charges you may incur.

5 Ownership of documents
The financial statements, tax returns and any other documents that we are specifically engaged to prepare, together with any original documents given to us by you, shall be your property. However, we reserve the right to make a reasonable number of copies of the original documents for our records. Any other documents brought into existence by us, including general working papers, the general ledger and draft documents will remain our property at all times.

If our services are terminated (by either party), each member of the Group separately agrees that we shall be entitled to retain all documents (known as a legal right of lien) owned by that Group member (including all tax refund cheques or monies of that member which come into our possession), until payment in full of all outstanding fees owed by any member of the Group on any account and any dispute is resolved. We have established a dispute resolution process, details of which are available on request.

Where copies of any documents released to you are required for our records, you will be charged for the cost of photocopying at our normal rates.

6 Additional services
Any agreed fee applies only to services and advice provided within the scope of our engagement. By providing our firm with written instructions to perform services additional to those listed in the Schedule, you accept that the terms of this engagement will apply to those additional services.

7 Fees and Billing Arrangements
Unless otherwise expressly stated by us, our services will be provided to you on a fee for service basis, based on hourly rates, set out in our document entitled ‘Professional Fees & Billing’; a copy is available upon request. As we are registered for GST, GST will be added to the fee for service invoice.

Some standard services incur a fixed charge and this will be advised to you at the time of you requesting or us providing such services. When our price is based on a fixed charge, this uses the assumption that the work is similar to the year before, nothing out of the ordinary has occurred and your records are in good order.

Our hourly rates will vary depending upon the nature of the work, the terms of any special arrangements entered into with you and the degree of experience, knowledge and specialisation of our professional staff required to complete the task. The selection of staff members required to complete the engagement will be entirely at our discretion.

Disbursements properly incurred on your behalf from external suppliers (ie SMSF auditor, couriers, ASIC fees, other Government fees etc) will be charged to you based on provider rates plus GST.

Once your work is commenced our fees may be billed as work in progress, or alternatively, we will invoice on completion of your work. If we are completing work periodically throughout the year (such as monthly or quarterly BAS), we will provide you with an invoice on completion of the periodic work.

Unless otherwise stated in writing, any estimates we provide to you of our anticipated fees and charges for work are only indicative of amounts you can expect to be invoiced. Estimates are not quotes or caps, and are not binding on us. Where an estimate is given and the scope of the work changes, or becomes apparent the work involves matters that were not taken into account in the estimate, we will endeavour to advise you and provide an amended estimate as soon as it is practicable to do so.

Each client in the Group is jointly and severally liable to pay our fees in respect of all work performed for all members of the Group.

If the engagement involves the use of trust monies, we will manage those funds in accordance with APES 310 ‘Client Monies’. Upon signing of the ‘Client Terms of Engagement’, each client in the Group agrees that we can bank into our trust account tax refund amounts received on behalf of that client and can deduct from those amounts any fees owed to us either by that client or by any other member of the Group.

We may require you to deposit money into our trust account in anticipation of our fees and charges. If you fail to make a required trust deposit, we may suspend work or terminate this engagement. Each client in the Group authorises us to apply trust moneys held on their behalf (including any taxation refunds) towards payment of fees and disbursements, and to meet our invoices which have been rendered, and which have not been paid or disputed within 14 days after issue of the bill of costs.

If we suspend work or terminate this engagement by reason of your failure to make a trust deposit as required, we will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any member of the Group as a result of the suspension or termination.

8 Information relating to your affairs
In conducting this engagement, information acquired by us, in the course of the engagement, is subject to strict ethical and confidentiality requirements. That information will not be disclosed by us to other parties except as required or allowed for by law, or as outlined below, or with your express consent.

We may collect Personal Information about your representatives, your clients, and others when we provide services to you. We will handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act and by signing this engagement you confirm you have collected and are entitled to provide that personal information to us in accordance with the Privacy Act. For further information please refer to our Privacy Policy (at the bottom of the home page) at www.uniteadvisory.com.au

We may also need to disclose information relating to one client’s affairs to other clients in the Group to assist in performing our work, to persons responsible for the governance of an entity to comply with professional standards, to the relevant parties in order to protect our professional interests in legal proceedings, to a professional or regulatory body in response to an inquiry or investigation, to the relevant parties in order to comply with technical and professional standards (including ethics requirements). Each client in the Group hereby authorises us to do so when we consider it appropriate to further our performance of work for the Group, or when requested by the relevant party.

In addition to the above, our files may be subject to review as part of the quality control review program of CPA Australia (CPA) and/or Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA) in accordance with APES 320 ‘Quality Control for Firms’. The CPA monitors 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. However, each client in the Group hereby authorises us to do so when we consider it appropriate to further our performance of work for the Group, or when requested by the relevant party.

We will also not use any information for our own personal advantage or for the advantage of a third party.

9 Utilising outsourced services
Our firm may also from time to time use the services of third-party contractors to perform some of the services we are engaged to perform for you.

Following discussion and agreement with you, we may use contractors to outsource bookkeeping, preparation of annual accounts and taxation tasks. These contractors may reside in Australia or overseas. These tasks will only be contracted to third parties where we are unable to complete work in a timely manner using our own staff and resources.

In all circumstances where there may be third party access to your information and records, we conduct significant due diligence ensuring all disclosures and security is appropriate. Further, we ensure the entire services provided are to a competent standard, and there are adequate supervision and control arrangements in place in all instances. Third parties may only access records and information provided by Unite Advisory within our secure computer system. No client records are transferred to any other system without prior consent.

If you do not wish for your records to be viewed by our external contractors, or have any reservations in this regard, please contact us.

Each client in the Group hereby authorises us to disclose information relating to that client’s affairs to all such third-party contractors as we may choose to engage to perform such work. The third-party contractors currently used by our firm in this capacity, is as follows:

National Audits Group Pty Ltd
– ABN 89 128 381 920
– 1/185 Morgan Street, Wagga Wagga NSW 2650

Peak Super Audits Pty Ltd
– ABN 51 623 974 612
– 52 Lakeside Drive, Acacia Hills TAS 7306

Mr J B Vincent
– ABN 58 235 560 937
– PO Box 1057, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450

Mr K Albert
Kerry Albert Trust
– ABN 60 840 305 294
– PO Box 9107, Moonee Beach NSW 2450

Solutions Centric Pty Ltd
– ABN 96 610 219 782
– 23/6 Meridian Place, Bella Vista NSW 2153

Accountancy Insurance Pty Ltd
– ABN 93 149 413 912
– Level 9, 60 Albert Road, South Melbourne VIC 3205

We will notify you of any changes to this list from time to time. Where we use the services of third party contractors, we are nevertheless responsible for the conduct and activities of those contractors, and for the delivery of the services we are engaged to perform for you.

From time to time, our Firm may engage external IT service providers (including in relation to ‘cloud computing’ services) in the performance of services under this engagement. When using cloud computing, we store client information in a data server managed in Australia, which is subject to Australian privacy law. The list of external IT service providers currently used by our firm, to whom client information will or may be disclosed, is as follows:

DigitalO2
– 50 Marine Parade, Southport QLD 4215.
– Software and System maintenance; backup and storage services.
– Hosted Servers (TSFARM/DigitalO2) are located in NEXTDC in Sydney
– Secured within Unite’s Dedicated Network Segmented and protected by MFA
– Access to all DATA is restricted
– Microsoft (Email etc/DigitalO2) are located in Microsoft’s Melbourne Data Centre. This DATA falls under the Standard Microsoft O365 Terms which operates under a need to know basis within the Microsoft Environment. The O365 also has integrated MFA active for this service.
MYOB Australia Pty Ltd
– PO Box 371, Blackburn VIC 3130.
– Accounting software.
Xero Australia Pty Ltd
– 1/6 Elizabeth Street, Hawthorn VIC 3122.
– Accounting software.
Handisoft/Sage Software Australia Pty Ltd
– Level 6, 67 Albert Avenue, Chatswood NSW 2067.
– Accounting and management software.
NowInfinity
– Corporate Centre One, Level 10/2, Corporate Ct, Bundall QLD 4217
– Corporate Compliance Software
Class Technology Pty Ltd
– Self Managed Superannuation Software
– Level 20, 580 George Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000
CCH iFirm CGT Reporter
– GPO Box 4072, Sydney NSW 2001
– CGT Accounting Software
ATO Smart Docs
– Suite 1A, 33 Heatherdale Road, Ringwood VIC 3134
– Digital Distribution Solutions
BGL Corporate Solutions Pty Ltd
– Suite 2, 606-608 Hawthorn Road, East Brighton VIC 3187.
– Company and Self Managed Superannuation Software.

We will notify you of any changes to this list from time to time.

Each client in the Group hereby authorises us to disclose information relating to those client’s affairs to such external IT service providers as we may choose to engage. We may also need to disclose information relating to one client’s affairs to other clients in the Group to assist in performing our work. Each client in the Group hereby authorises us to do so when we consider it appropriate to further our performance of work for the Group.

We may from time to time engage third party specialist professionals and other public practitioners, where warranted to obtain the advice you need or to assist us to provide our service to you. These services may involve outsourced service providers. We will seek your consent if third party involvement is likely to exceed our billing rates. Acceptance of our services in conjunction with this engagement document indicates your acceptance of the use of outsourced services.

10 Non-compliance with Laws and Regulations (NOCLAR)
During the performance of our work under this engagement, we may detect conduct or a transaction that is considered to constitute NOCLAR, which has a material effect on any documents or information that might be required to be provided to a regulatory authority (RA), such as the ATO.

If we detect any NOCLAR, we may have an ethical requirement to make a disclosure to a RA. We will follow a formal process which will include advising you of our concerns, and if necessary, seeking legal advice. If we do seek legal advice, we reserve the right to ask you to pay or reimburse us for our reasonable costs. If we are required to make a disclosure to a RA, you agree to forever release us from any claim for costs or losses you incur in responding to or dealing with anything that arises from our disclosure.

11 Losses from unauthorised cyber-activity
We will take all reasonable precautions to ensure that any electronic data that contains your private information is securely stored and that any email transmissions are protected and are not able to be intercepted by third parties.

However, we cannot be held liable for any loss you might incur as a consequence of any third party intervention that accesses, procures or copies any data that contains your private information from any medium or device we use to store or transmit such information. In the event that, despite our firm having taken reasonable precautions to securely store your private information, you suffer any losses arising from unauthorised cyber-activity, you agree to forever release us from any claim for your losses.

12 What this engagement does NOT cover
Our engagement only covers the services listed in this document and the Schedule. However, additional services can be carried out at your specific request and for which an additional fee will be charged

13 Termination of the Engagement
This engagement can be terminated by either party at any time. If we terminate the engagement, we will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any member of the Group as a result of the termination. We will give you reasonable written notice of termination of our service if we terminate the engagement.

You may terminate the agreement by 7 days prior notice. If the engagement is terminated by either party, you will be responsible for payment of our fees for work performed to the date of termination and/or associated with the termination, including any costs incurred by us associated with the termination. Termination under this clause shall be without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued before termination.

14 Conflict of Interest
You are required to advise us if you become aware of any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest. Generally, a conflict of interest is any event which may result in us becoming unable to remain objective in the performance of our services to you. Some examples of events which could give rise to a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest during this engagement are changes to your business circumstances, events affecting your family (eg death and/or marriage breakdown) or a legal action commencing against you.

15 Copyright and intellectual property
Unless otherwise agreed in writing between you and us, we retain all copyright and intellectual property rights in all material developed, designed or created by us while carrying out the Services including know how, systems, reports, written advice, drafts and working papers. You acknowledge that any documents or materials given to us in relation to the Services will not infringe the copyright or intellectual property rights of others.

You must not use our name or logo, or the name and logo of Count on any website or in any public statement unless you have our prior written consent. You agree we can use your logos and marks on the documents we produce for you while providing the Services unless you tell us otherwise.

16 About Count
We are a member firm of Count. Accordingly, you acknowledge that:-

Each of Count’ member firms is a separate and independent legal entity,
The services are provided by us and not by Count or any other related entity of Count: and
Neither Count or any other related firms of Count is liable to you.

C Details of Services to be Provided

We shall now outline the basis of our engagement in the context of specific services to be provided. It should be noted at the outset that, as a general proposition, we rely upon our clients to provide us with accurate and timely information to enable us to properly perform our engagement obligations. Consequently, any rectifying work performed by us on the basis of incorrect or late information will be work which is outside the scope of our engagement and will be charged as additional services.

1 Business Activity Statements (BAS)
Where this Firm has been engaged to prepare BAS returns, the BAS returns are prepared either monthly or quarterly and lodged during the financial year under strict time constraints. As such, it is not possible for this firm to review the correctness of the underlying financial information as part of the preparation of the BAS return unless supplied to us in order to prepare the returns.

Therefore, where we prepare quarterly or monthly BAS returns on your behalf, we will rely on and process the financial information provided to us by you, without any review of the primary source documents. In doing that, we will make the following specific assumptions:

The financial information provided to us is accurate.
The financial information correctly states the GST position. If you are unsure of the correct position or require advice, we are able to provide this but is an additional service and will be charged as such;
You hold valid tax invoices, adjustment notes and contracts for all expenditure incurred by you in respect of which an input tax credit is being claimed. Likewise, you have supporting documentation for all income including invoices and contracts. If you require information, please contact our office for assistance.

However, it is possible that, when the financial accounts are prepared, some discrepancies will exist between the information disclosed in the BAS returns and in the annual financial statements. Should any discrepancies arise, we will discuss the need to correct either the BAS returns and/or financial accounts. Those services will involve work which is outside the scope of our engagement and will be charged as additional services.

2 Financial accounts – Compilation Engagement
Where this firm has been engaged to prepare the annual financial accounts of the entities in the Group, we will, based on the information you will provide, assist you in the preparation and presentation of the following financial statements where applicable:

Profit and Loss Statement;
A Balance Sheet; and
Notes to the above accounts.

These will be prepared in accordance with the financial reporting framework and basis of accounting described in Note 1 to the financial statements. The purpose for which the financial statements will be used is to provide financial information showing the entity’s financial position at the financial reporting date of 30 June, and financial performance for the year then ended. The financial statements will be solely for your use. However, this service does not include the preparation of one-off financial statements for presentation to your financiers, interim accounts for any reason and the like. These services will incur additional charges.

Our Responsibilities
A compilation engagement involves applying expertise in accounting and financial reporting to assist you in the preparation and presentation of financial information. Since a compilation engagement is not an assurance engagement, we are not required to verify the reliability, accuracy or completeness of the information you provide to us for the compilation engagement, or otherwise to gather evidence to express an audit opinion or a review conclusion. Accordingly, we will not express an audit opinion or a review conclusion on whether the financial statements are prepared in accordance with the basis of accounting specified above.

We will perform the compilation engagement in accordance with APES 315 ‘Compilation of Financial Information’. APES 315 requires that, in undertaking this engagement, we comply with the relevant ethical requirements of APES 110 ‘Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants’.

We are obliged to consider whether our clients create any threats to compliance with our Fundamental Principles and where we cannot reduce the risk to an acceptable level, we are obliged to cease or decline the engagement under the Code (section 320). We have a duty to act in your best interests, unless this duty is inconsistent with our duty to act in the public interest.

Your Responsibilities
The compilation engagement to be performed is conducted on the basis that you acknowledge and understand that our role is to assist you in the preparation and presentation of the financial statements in accordance with the financial reporting framework you have adopted for the financial statements. Accordingly, you have the following overall responsibilities that are fundamental to our undertaking the compilation engagement in accordance with APES 315:

Responsibility for the form and content of the financial information in accordance with an applicable financial reporting framework that is acceptable in view of the intended use of the financial statements and the intended users.
Responsibility for the reliability, accuracy and completeness of the accounting records and disclosures you provide to us for the purpose of compiling the financial statements.
Responsibility for the judgements needed in the preparation and presentation of the financial statements, including those for which we may provide assistance in the course of the compilation engagement.

Our Compilation Report
As part of our engagement, we will issue our report attached to the financial statements compiled by us, which will describe the financial statements, and the work we performed for the compilation engagement. The report will also note that the use of the financial statements is restricted to the purpose set out in this engagement letter, and that use and distribution of our report is restricted to the management of the relevant entity. This service does not include the preparation of one-off accounts for presentation to your financiers for additional finance and the like.

3 Income tax returns
Where this firm has been engaged to prepare and lodge income tax returns for the Group, you are responsible for the reliability, accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, particulars and information provided and the disclosure of all material and relevant information either via manual cashbooks or prepared on accounting software such as Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks.

Also please ensure that you have all source documentation available to allow this firm to analyse the income tax implications of any transaction, if we request to see it. Whilst we will not as a matter of course be looking at these documents, the ATO will expect you (and you are required) to have them available before any claim is made in your income tax return. We may in some circumstances also request to see source documents if a tax issue is particularly contentious.

It is also expected that, in respect of individual income tax returns, each person will have the necessary documents so as to comply with the substantiation provisions of the Income Tax Assessment Act. Whilst we will specifically advise as to the requirements of substantiation, we will not be checking that the requirements of the substantiation provisions have been satisfied.

This specifically means we will not be reviewing your log book, travel diary or any calculations or information you provide us with, for example a rental property schedule either prepared by you on spread sheet or by a property manager.

If you require assistance in completing a log book or preparing any calculations, or you would like us to review such work, please discuss this with us. This will entail work which is outside the scope of this engagement and will be charged as additional services.

Each client in the Group agrees that we can bank into our trust account, tax refund amounts received on behalf of that client, and can deduct from those amounts any fees owed to us either by that client or by any other member of the Group.

4 Fringe benefits tax (FBT) returns
Where this firm has also been engaged to prepare and lodge the FBT returns for the Group entities, it is often necessary to revert to source documentation to allow our firm to analyse the FBT implications of any transaction.

Our fee for this service includes:

Preparation and lodgement of FBT Returns;
Advice on how to collate the information necessary to prepare the annual FBT return;
Advice on basic FBT issues;
Assistance with FBT declarations;
An annual review of the methods available to reduce the FBT expense on the annual FBT return;
The calculation of Reportable Fringe Benefits Tax Amounts that may be required to be included on the annual payment summaries for your employees and related family members.

5 Single Touch Payroll (STP)
We will prepare and lodge STP reports with the ATO for the Group when specifically requested by you, based on the information provided to us by you, your employees or any third party authorised by you, without reviewing or verifying the payroll calculations, any relevant wage rates or the source documents relied upon to process the STP pay event. We will only provide a lodgement service. We make no representations about the accuracy of the information submitted, the due date or whether it is received by the ATO.

Our firm is not being engaged to perform or check the accuracy of payroll calculations associated with the STP reports. You and your employees are responsible for correctly preparing and processing each pay event, and for maintaining the necessary supporting documentation.

You and your employees are also responsible for calculating and remitting your PAYG withholding and superannuation guarantee liabilities with respect to each employee, for each relevant pay event on time.

6 Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs)
Where this firm has also been engaged to attend to the income tax compliance work for your superannuation fund, the assignment will involve:

Preparation of the superannuation fund’s accounts for the purposes of the Superannuation Industry Supervision Act 1993 (the SIS Act).
Preparation and lodgement of the SMSF annual tax return. It is important to note as part of the regulatory framework for SMSFs, an annual audit of the fund must be undertaken and provided to the trustees of the fund before the SMSF annual return is lodged.
With respect to the annual audit of the SMSF referred to above this office will make arrangements for the audit to be undertaken by an external party unless otherwise instructed by you, and you will be billed for all costs associated with the completion of the audit.

In addition to the basic financial information required to complete the above in a timely manner, it is essential the source documentation will be available to allow this firm to analyse the implications of any superannuation related transaction and to enable the auditor to perform their duties.

Where your SMSF is not using the current Super Central Deed, along with the current Super Central Governing Rules, you should note the Deed of the Fund should be reviewed annually to ensure it continues to comply with the requirements of the SIS Act. Our engagement does not extend to the provision of such legal advice and our fee does not include this service. We are happy to recommend the services of a superannuation specialist for this task. If you decide to change your current Deed to the Super Central Deed and Governing Rules, you will be charged for the disbursement from Super Central and the additional services for our Firm to assist with documentation.

This service does not cover any inquiries or investigations by the ATO.

This service does not include financial planning services for the investments of the superannuation fund, or for any planning advice for your future retirement planning needs.

7 Superannuation and financial planning advice
We are required to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), or be an authorised representative of the holder of an AFSL, in order to provide you with certain types of advice in relation to superannuation. This includes any advice, recommendation or opinion that is intended to influence you in making any decision in relation to superannuation (including whether to establish, contribute to or draw benefits from a superannuation fund, or any investment decision by a superannuation trustee), or that could reasonably be regarded as being intended to have such an influence (Financial Advice).

We are authorised under an AFSL to provide Financial Advice. Our authorisation particulars are as follows:

Count Financial Limited – AFSL 227232.
Corporate Authorised Representative – Unite Advisory Pty Ltd – CAR 365083.
Authorised Representative – Hilary Acheson AR 472304
Authorised Representative – Grant Homes AR 1252391
Authorised Representative – Steven Cork AR 365082.
Provisional Authorised Representative – Lisa-Maree Grono AR 1307446.

Where we provide Financial Advice to you, we will be required to follow additional procedures. This will include, but not limited to:

Providing you with a Financial Services Guide (FSG) as soon as practicable after it becomes apparent that we may be required to provide Financial Advice to you, and in any event before that advice is provided;
Fully documenting your personal circumstances upon which our advice is based;
Providing you with a written Statement of Advice (SOA); and
Depending on the circumstances, we may be required to provide you with a separate Fee Disclosure Statement in relation to Financial Advice.

D Agent nomination process

The ATO has introduced a new process that requires all taxpayers with an Australian Business Number (ABN) (excluding sole traders) to undertake certain steps to nominate a registered tax or BAS agent. This process is referred to as ‘Client-to-Agent linking (CAL) and, importantly, it must be completed by the taxpayer seeking to nominate an agent. It cannot be done by agents on behalf of their clients. If this process is required, we will consult with you and provide you with full instructions.

E Authorisation of ATO digital communication preferences

Each member of the Group set out in the Engagement Schedule agrees to have the following ATO communication types sent digitally to our registered tax agent, being Unite Advisory Pty Ltd, where applicable:

Income Tax;
Activity Statements;
Fringe Benefits Tax;
Superannuation; and
ATO Debt.

We hereby authorise Unite Advisory Pty Ltd to change or withdraw our preferred address for service of ATO communications. In addition, we declare the information supplied by us for the setting or updating of these communications preferences is timely, true and correct.

F Dispute Resolution

Should you feel that you have not received the service level expected, or you have an issue to raise, you should take the following steps:

Firstly, contact Victoria Studley, Hilary Acheson or Veronica Bruce (the Principals) and let them know about your concerns;
We will investigate all complaints carefully and promptly and attempt to resolve any difficulties;
If your issue is not satisfactorily resolved, you can contact:
- Certified Practising Accountants Australia (CPA Australia); or
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ).
If you feel the response from the above association is inadequate, or the response is not timely, you can contact the Tax Practitioners Board.

The parties agree to use reasonable endeavours to resolve any dispute that arises in connection with the Agreement by mediation before bringing a legal claim or instigating legal proceedings.

G Limitation of liability

Our firm’s liability may be limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards legislation and applicable regulations of the Professional Body.

H Confirmation of engagement

Obviously, there are many issues to consider with the Terms of Engagement and we ask you consider all aspects to ensure you are satisfied with the scope of our engagement. Please contact us if you have any queries about these Terms.

The above terms of engagement are accepted by signing, dating and returning to us the Client Engagement Schedule that has been previously sent to you, or is available upon request.

We emphasise that work on your engagement cannot proceed until the signed Schedule has been returned to us and we are listed as the nominated Agent for the specified clients in your Group.

We thank you for the opportunity to provide accounting and taxation services to you and your related entities and we look forward to continuing a close accounting relationship with you for many years to come.

Our Liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. Further information on the Scheme
is available from the Professional Standards Council at www.psc.gov.au