Bookkeeping Services Terms & Conditions

Link to our General Terms and Conditions
Link to our Website Services Terms and Conditions

Standard Terms and Conditions

1 Fees

1.1 Our fees shall be the agreed monthly fee that was presented in the quote provided to the client and accepted. We will bill you at reasonable and frequent intervals throughout the year (at the end of each month) and you will be liable for payment of our fees within 28 days of receipt of any of our invoices.

1.2 VAT is not applicable to our fees and where/if it applies, shall be clearly detailed as VAT in our invoices. Any other disbursements and/or expenses we incur on your behalf in the course of completing your instruction, further to the services listed in section 2, are also payable and will be added to and clearly detailed in our invoices.

1.3 It is agreed that you shall pay us via standing order/cheque/BACS for the agreed fee by the 28th day of every month and that such payments are to be partial payments and/or contributions to the work we carry out. Where the total fees due in any of our invoices exceeds your standing order payment, you agree upon receipt of the invoice, to pay us the further amount necessary to satisfy the outstanding balance of that invoice/s and that such payments will be made in the stipulated period.

1.4 Should after commencement of our engagement, the standing order payment be found to be insufficient, we reserve the right to amend the standing order payment, only with your agreement, and that such agreement will be in writing and signed by both parties and shall take precedence to the figure contained within the Letter.

1.5 In accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, we reserve the right to charge you interest on any late paid invoices at the rate of 2% above bank base rates, and, if considered appropriate, give you written notice before subsequently withdrawing our services and ceasing to act for you.

1.6 If you do not accept that an invoiced fee is fair and reasonable you must notify us within 14 days of receipt, failing which you will be deemed to have accepted that payment is due.

1.7 Should a fixed fee be agreed for the provision of a specific service, the fee and service must be clearly and explicitly stated in writing and signed by both parties. The fixed fee shall only apply to the exact work specified in the quote and should it become apparent the fixed fee is not tenable, we reserve the right to contact you and provide a revised figure on which we shall seek your written agreement.

1.8 Any previous estimate we have provided concerning our likely fees will not be contractually binding unless we explicitly stated, in writing, that that will be the case.

2 ICB Regulations

2.1 We observe and act in accordance with the Professional Conduct Regulations of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (“ICB”) and accept your instructions on the basis that we shall abide by those Regulations. We are not liable for any loss and/or damage and/or cost arising from our compliance with statute or the ICB Regulations.

2.2 We are obliged by Law and by ICB to undertake checks to ensure that you and your business are operating lawfully. The checks require us to obtain and retain proof of your beneficial owners, officers and managers identity and residence. By agreeing to our terms of engagement you accept that we are authorised to complete such checks as necessary.

3 Legal Jurisdiction

3.1 Our engagement and the terms of the Letter will be governed by, and are to be construed in accordance with, English Law. Both parties agree The Courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning the Letter and any matter arising from it. Each party irrevocably waives the right to object that any action brought in the Courts of England and Wales has been issued in an inappropriate forum, or to claim that those Courts do not possess jurisdiction.

4 Client Identification

4.1 As Bookkeepers we are obliged to comply with the duties laid out by the Bribery Act 2010, Fraud Act 2006, Criminal Finances Act 2017, Terrorism Act 2000, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 the Money Laundering Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 as well as other UK Law.

4.2 Part of those duties requires us to obtain documentary evidence to confirm the identity, addresses and business details of you and your beneficial owners, officers and managers, which we will require before accepting your instruction. The information we will need includes one piece of photo identification and one piece of non-photo identity, proof of address or date of birth PLUS an additional piece of evidence. This can include the following: a Passport or driving licence or Photo ID cards of each named beneficial owner, officer and manager, a utility bill (from either you/your company) not more than three months old, and a Certificate of Incorporation (if a Ltd company).

4.3 We will accept your instructions on the assumption that you are honest and law-abiding, however, should suspicion arise concerning criminal activity, terrorism and/or money laundering we will be obliged to make a report to the appropriate authorities and may be prohibited from telling you we have done so.

4.4 We will not be liable for any loss and/or costs which result from our compliance with the Bribery Act 2010, Fraud Act 2006, Criminal Finances Act 2017, Terrorism Act 2000, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 the Money Laundering Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 and other UK Law.

5 Data Protection

5.1 During the course of our instruction we will need to process your personal data. When doing so we confirm that we shall comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018. We will need to process your personal data to complete the terms of this engagement and are likely to use it when maintaining our client records and/or for complying with supervisory, regulatory and legal requirements and crime prevention. In order to comply with our supervised requirements, we will need to share your personal information with our supervisor, ICB. Further details on our usage of and the protection of your personal data can be found in our Privacy Notice which can be found at https://www.ihelm-enterprises.co.uk/privacy-policy/.

5.2 We will also communicate with you by email, and we confirm that it will be the responsibility of the recipients for checking emails and attachments for viruses. We will not be responsible for problems, accidental errors, losses or corrupted and altered data affecting the electronic communications after despatch.

5.3 We shall take all reasonable steps to keep your information and communications confidential with the exception of legal, regulatory and/or supervisory disclosure. We also reserve the right to disclose your personal information to our insurer for specific purposes and/or to disclose your personal data to third parties if you have given us your explicit, written consent to disclose it. All of the information under this heading will be held for a period not exceeding 6 years after the engagement has ended.

6 Third parties

6.1 You will provide us with explicit written consent to disclose the accounts, statements and reports we prepare on your behalf to an authorised point of contact. The authorised point of contact shall be responsible for nominating other persons/third parties whom we may also disclose the documents to, and such nominations must be signed and in writing.

6.2 If it becomes necessary to subcontract some of the work on your matter, any subcontractors we employ shall be bound by the same terms of confidentiality and Rule of Professional Conduct by which we are governed.

6.3 We reserve the right to mention you as our client for promotional purposes and activity.

7 File destruction

7.1 You are legally responsible for retaining all relevant documents and records concerning your tax. However, during the course of our engagement, we may temporarily hold some of your financial records to enable us to complete our contracted obligations. Upon the conclusion of the Letter, we will arrange for your original documentation to be returned/collected. If you are unable to collect your documents and require your documents returned to you, you will be responsible for meeting the costs of the courier/postal services we employ.

7.2 Unless you send us your signed written instruction stating otherwise, our intent will be to destroy all stored electronic and paper correspondence and other documents pertaining to your file which are more than 6 years old (unless we deem some documents may continue to be of significance or there are legal reasons that mean they cannot be destroyed)

8 Conflicts of Interest

8.1 If we become aware of any conflict of interest which arises due to our contractual or professional relationships with other clients, we will notify you, unless we are not authorised to do so because of obligations concerning confidentiality and disclosure. In some instances, it may not be appropriate for us to continue acting for you and, if this occurs, we shall notify you promptly before ending our contractual relationship.

9 Customer Service and Complaints

9.1 We are committed to providing a high-quality service and standard to our clients which is evident in the work we produce. If you have cause to complain about the service you have received please contact us at the soonest instance and we will carefully and promptly consider your points and do all that what we can to reach a mutually agreeable solution. If you are still not satisfied with the resolution we have suggested, you may, of course, make a complaint directly to our supervisor:

The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, 122-126 Tooley St, London SE1 2TU
Email: professional.standards@bookkeepers.org.uk

10 Insurance

10.1 During the term of the engagement and for a period of 6 years after the end and/or termination of the engagement, we shall maintain in force, with a reputable insurance company appropriate professional indemnity insurance at an amount not less than £50,000 to cover the liabilities that may arise under or in connection with the Letter and upon your request will produce to you both the insurance certificate giving details of cover and the receipt for the current year’s premium in respect of each insurance.

11 Limitation of Liability

11.1 We will ensure that all of our services are provided with reasonable care and skill. During the term of our engagement, our liability is limited to gross negligence, willful misconduct and/or deliberate default and any losses, costs, expenses and damages that arise as a direct result.

11.2 The information and advice we provide during the period of our engagement are for your sole use, unless expressly stated otherwise, in writing and signed by both parties. We accept no responsibility to third parties to whom the Letter is not addressed and, further, no third party has any conferred rights and obligations under this engagement.

11.3 If you or any third party provides us with incomplete, misleading and/or false information and/or we are subject to information being withheld, concealed and/or misrepresented, we will not be liable for any resulting losses, penalties, interest and/or additional tax liabilities. The limitations in this paragraph will not apply if, during the course of us carrying out our obligations, we become aware that information is being withheld, concealed and/or misrepresented and we do not address the issue and/or take steps to alert you or the appropriate authorities.

11.4 If we are unable and delayed in fulfilling our obligations under the engagement letter due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control we will not be liable for any resulting loss.

12 Disengagement/Termination

12.1 The term of our engagement commences with your acceptance and signing of this Letter unless otherwise agreed in writing.

12.2 Should either party deem it necessary for the term of engagement to conclude, either party has the right to give the other notice in writing of the disengagement/termination, and such disengagement/termination shall not be implemented until 30 days from issue of the notice.

12.3 Where possible, the notice shall clearly detail the remaining responsibilities of either party, provided those responsibilities do not fall outside the agreed terms of the engagement.

12.4 Should we become aware or have reason to believe that you have misled HMRC or otherwise engaged in criminal or suspect activity, we reserve our right to immediately terminate the Letter and that such termination will be implemented without prejudice to either party’s rights in the Letter.

12.5 Should you not respond to our communications for a period of 21 days or more, we reserve our right to send a disengagement/termination letter to your last known address and after three days of sending the letter, to cease to act.