Terms of Business

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1. Professional rules and practice guidelines
   1. We will observe the bye-laws regulations and ethical guidelines of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and accept instructions to act for you on the basis that we will act in accordance with those guidelines. In particular you give us the authority to correct errors made by HM Revenue & Customs where we become aware of them. 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/membershandbook and at www.tax.org.uk under the "professional standards" section of their website.
2. Your money
   1. If we receive any money on your behalf (such as a tax repayment), the money will be held in trust in a client bank account, which is segregated from the firm's funds. The account will be operated, and all funds dealt with, in accordance with the Clients' Money Regulations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
   2. To avoid excessive administration, interest on any money held will only be paid to you if the amount in any calendar year exceeds £10. Smaller amounts will be retained by us.
3. Commissions or other benefits
   1. In some circumstances we may receive commissions or other benefits for introductions to other professionals or in respect of transactions which we arrange for you. We will tell you about any arrangements in writing. Any amounts received will be taken into account in setting fees due from you. You agree that we can keep any such amounts.
4. Investment advice
   1. During the course of our work for you, you may want to discuss investments with us and we may draw your attention to the possibility of changing the way you invest.
   2. The firm is licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to provide limited investment services where these are complementary to, or arise out of, the other professional services we provide to you. We can therefore help you consider such issues as your pensions, investment and insurance requirements.
   3. Where more detailed advice is wanted, we can refer you to someone who is suitably qualified and help you understand any advice which may arise from this referral.
5. Your books and records
   1. During the course of our work we will collect information from you and others acting on your behalf. 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 which are more than 7 years old, other than documents which we think may be of continuing significance.
   2. You should retain your records for at least 7 years. If HM Revenue & Customs has started an enquiry into any tax return, you should keep all your records until the enquiry is completed.
6. Confidentiality
   1. We confirm that where you give us confidential information, we shall at all times keep it confidential, except as required by law or as required by regulatory, ethical or other professional requirements.
   2. We may subcontract work on your affairs to other professionals. Any subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality terms.
   3. We reserve the right to mention that you are a client for promotional training and other business purposes, but we will not disclose any confidential information about you. We welcome testimonials for inclusion on our website and in promotional materials.
7. Disclosure of information
   1. As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a quality service, we may be asked to disclose our files for an independent regulatory review. We reserve the right to disclose your files as part of such a review.
8. Electronic communication
   1. We may communicate with you using email. If we do so, it is your responsibility to carry out a virus check on any emails and attachments received.
   2. Because the Internet is open to everyone there are risks that emails sent to you or by you may be intercepted and / or changed. If you do not want to accept these risks, please let us know so that we will avoid contacting you in this way
9. Quality of service
   1. We aim to provide a quality service at all times. If there are any ways in which the service can be improved or if you are dissatisfied with the service, please let us know.
   2. We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly. If we have given you a less than satisfactory service we undertake to do everything reasonable to put it right. If you are still not satisfied you may of course refer the matter to either the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales or the Chartered Institute of Taxation.
   3. If we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be entitled to claim under the Chartered Accountants' Compensation Scheme.
   4. In accordance with our professional body's Byelaws we are required to hold Professional Indemnity Insurance. If required, the name and address of our insurer will be provided on request
10. Conflicts of interest
    1. We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest in our relationship with you or in our relationship with you and another client . We will agree with you how any conflict is to be dealt with.
    2. We reserve the right to act for other clients whose interests might at some stage conflict with yours, subject always to our continued commitment to confidentiality.
11. Limitation of liability
    1. 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.
    2. We will provide our services to you with reasonable care and skill. However we will not be liable for any losses, penalties, surcharges interest or additional tax liabilities if the information we have been given (by you or by others) is incorrect or incomplete. Nor will we be liable if you fail to act on our advice or respond promptly to communications from us or government authorities.
    3. We will not be liable to you for any delay or failure to perform our obligations if the delay or failure is caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control.
    4. We will not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage or expense incurred or sustained if information material to the service we are providing is withheld or concealed from us or misrepresented to us. This applies equally to fraudulent acts, misrepresentation or wilful default on the part of any party to the transaction and their directors, officers, employees, agents or advisers.
12. Limitation of liability - tax credits
    1. Whilst we can advise on the tax credit rules and assist in the preparation of claim forms, we are not liable for any losses as a result of failing to make a claim.
    2. Even where we have assisted in preparing a claim, we are not responsible for notifying the HM Revenue & Customs of changes in circumstances nor are we liable for any losses as a result of failing to notify a change in circumstances.
13. Fees
    1. Our fees are based on the amount of time spent on your affairs and on the levels of skill or responsibility involved. Our fees will be billed regularly and will be due on presentation.
    2. Dealing with HM Revenue & Customs enquiries into tax returns can involve considerable amounts of additional work and may give rise to fees in addition to any amounts already charged for the preparation of the tax return.
    3. We reserve the right to charge interest at the rate charged by Lloyds TSB bank plc on unauthorised overdrafts on personal Classic accounts (from the Lloyds range) from date of invoice to date of payment. However, it is not our intention to use these arrangements in a way which is unfair or unreasonable.
14. Lien
    1. Insofar as we are permitted to do so by law or professional guidelines, we reserve 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 and disbursements are paid in full
15. Data Protection Act 1998
    1. To enable us to carry out work for you, and for other related purposes including keeping our own records, making statutory returns and complying with crime prevention and legal and regulatory requirements, we may obtain, use, process and disclose personal data about you and where appropriate your business and its officers and employees. We confirm that we will comply with the relevant provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 when processing this data.
16. Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Money Laundering Regulations 2007
    1. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Money Laundering Regulations 2007 place legal requirements on all accountancy (and other professional) firms. The requirements include carrying out identity checks on all new clients and reporting any transaction or activity which we regard as "suspicious" to the National Criminal Intelligence Service. To meet these reporting requirements we may search appropriate electronic databases and we may be required to disclose information you have given to us.
17. Limitation of third party rights
    1. A person who is not party to this agreement shall have no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement.
18. Applicable law
    1. The agreement between us which includes these general terms and conditions shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with English law. Both parties agree that should any claim or dispute arise, it will only be dealt with through the Courts of England.