This Agreement, or Engagement, is to provide services to the Client based on their selection of the services as listed within the Scope Of Work page of the Accounting, Tax, and Advisory Inquiry Form. This engagement letter is issued between Client and ACCOUNTING MANAGEMENT AND ADVISORY SERVICES INC (DBA ‘ACCOUNTING MANAGEMENT SERVICES’) (“The Firm,” “we,” “our,” “us”, “AMS”), or our affiliate company Small Business Services. The Agreement is effective on the date the Accounting, Tax, and Advisory Inquiry Form was submitted by the client and the date on that signature.
Your engagement of ACCOUNTING MANAGEMENT SERVICES, or our affiliate company (“Small Business Services”), will be governed by the terms of this Agreement and the enclosed Engagement Terms.
Scope of Work:
The Firm shall provide the Services and Deliverable(s) as described and selected within the Scope of Work on the Accounting, Tax, & Advisory Inquiry Form.
If Business, or Individual, Tax preparation is selected above, we will prepare tax returns based on the information furnished to us by the Client or by the Client’s designated person. If you, the Client, believe there is any additional information available that might be applicable to any of the areas listed or discussed, please advise our team so that we may consider such data. We will not audit or independently verify any data submitted. However, we may ask you to clarify certain information or furnish us with additional data. We will also be available to answer inquiries on specific tax matters or assist you in planning to minimize income taxes or related financial or business matters. All returns are subject to review by the taxing authorities. In the event of a government tax audit, we will be available upon request to represent or assist you. Such additional services are not included in our fee for the preparation of the return unless they are selected above. Please note that this Agreement only lists the Fees/ Hour, but does not provide a total amount due. The total amount due will be provided once the service have been provided and all the hours have compiled. We will use our best professional judgment in preparing your returns, but we cannot assure that positions taken on your tax returns will not be contested by federal or state authorities. If the tax liability should be contested, there may be additional assessments of tax, interest and penalties which are your responsibility.
Responsibilities:
Error, fraud or theft
Our Engagement does not include any procedures designed to discover errors, fraud or theft. Therefore, our Engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose such matters.
Government Inquiries
This Engagement does not include responding to inquiries by any governmental agency or tax authority. If your tax return is selected for examination or audit, you may request that we assist you in responding to such inquiry. If you ask us to represent you, we will confirm this in a separate engagement letter, billed at the IRS/State Representation hourly fees, and delineate how additional charges for this service will be calculated.
Responding to Subpoenas
All information you provide to us in connection with this Engagement will be maintained by us on a strictly confidential basis. If we receive a summons or subpoena which our legal counsel determines requires us to produce documents from this Engagement or testify about this Engagement and we are not prohibited from doing so by law or regulation, we agree to inform you of such summons or subpoena as soon as practical. You may, within the time frame permitted for our firm to respond to any request, initiate such legal action as you deem appropriate at your own expense to attempt to limit discovery. If you take no action within the time permitted for us to respond, or if your action does not result in a judicial order protecting us from supplying requested information, we may construe your inaction or failure as consent to comply with the request. If we are not a party to the proceeding in which the information is sought, you agree to reimburse us for our professional time and expenses, as well as the fees and expenses of our counsel incurred in responding to such requests.
Responding to Outside Inquiries
We may receive requests for information in our possession arising out of this engagement. The requests may come from governmental agencies, courts, or other tribunals. If permitted, we may notify you of any request for information prior to responding. In certain proceedings, an accountant-client privilege may exist. You agree that we are not under any obligation to assert any privilege to protect the release of information. You may, prior to our response to any request, initiate legal action to prevent or limit our response. Unless you promptly initiate such action after we notify you at your last known address, as reflected in our files, we will release the information requested.
Privacy Policy
In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission rule, Privacy of Consumer Financial Information, we are required to inform you of our policy regarding privacy of client information.
Types of Nonpublic Personal Information We Collect
We collect nonpublic personal information about you that is provided to us by you or obtained by us from third parties with your authorization.
Parties to Whom We Disclose Information
For current and former clients, we do not disclose any nonpublic personal information obtained in the course of our practice except as required or permitted by law. Permitted disclosures include, for instance, providing information to our employees, and in limited situations, to unrelated third parties who need to know that information to assist us in providing services to you. In all such situations, we stress the confidential nature of information being shared.
Protecting the Confidentiality and Security of Current and Former Clients’ Information
We retain records relating to professional services that we provide so that we are better able to assist you with your professional needs and, in some cases, to comply with professional guidelines. To guard your nonpublic personal information, we maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with our professional standards.
Electronic Data Communication and Storage
In the interest of facilitating our services to your company, we may send data over the Internet, store electronic data via computer software applications hosted remotely on the Internet, or allow access of data through third-party vendors’ secured portals or clouds. Electronic data that is confidential to your company may be transmitted or stored using these methods. We may use third-party service providers to store or transmit this data, such as providers of tax return preparation software. In using these data communication and storage methods, our firm employs measures designed to maintain data security. We use reasonable efforts to keep such communications and data access secure in accordance with our obligations under applicable laws and professional standards, and we require all of our third-party vendors to do the same.
Electronic Data Communication and Storage
You recognize and accept that we have no control over the unauthorized interception or breach of any communications or data once it has been sent or has been subject to unauthorized access, notwithstanding all reasonable security measures employed by us or our third-party vendors, and consent to our use of these electronic devices and applications during this engagement.
Termination
This agreement shall be for a period of one year beginning on the date this Engagement is signed and it will automatically renew on annual basis, with an automatic 5% increase in fees to account for changes in economic factors, until a ninety (90) days Written Notice is provided by the Client to The Firm. The Engagement Letter may be terminated by the Client upon ninety (90) days Written Notice to the Firm.
The Firm reserves the right to withdraw from this engagement without rendering services for any reason, if you fail to comply with the terms of this engagement letter, if your account has past due invoices for services provided, if you disagree with our recommendations regarding financial reporting presentation, or if we determine professional standards required our withdrawal for any other reason.
At the completion of our engagement, the original source documents will be returned to you. Work papers and other documents created by us are our property. Such original work papers will remain in our control, and copies are not to be distributed without our prior written consent. If any portion of this agreement is deemed invalid or unenforceable, said finding shall not operate to invalidate the remainder of the terms set forth in this engagement letter.
Governing Law
This Agreement shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the United States of America and by the laws of the State of Florida, as such laws are applied to agreements entered into and to be performed entirely within Florida between Florida residents.
Each of the parties irrevocably consents to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in Florida, as applicable, for any matter arising out of or relating to this Agreement, except that in actions seeking to enforce any order or any judgment of such federal or state courts located in Florida, such personal jurisdiction shall be nonexclusive.
Invoice Procedures
Our professional fee for the services outlined in the Fee Schedule Section of this Agreement will be based upon the complexity of the work to be performed and our professional time to complete the work. Additionally, this fee is dependent on the availability, quality, and completeness of your records. You agree that you will deliver all records requested by our staff to complete this engagement on a timely basis.
In the event your records are not submitted in a timely manner, or they are incomplete or unusable, we reserve the right to charge additional fees and expenses for the services required to correct the problem. If this occurs, we will contact you to discuss the matters and the anticipated delay in completing our engagement prior to rendering further services.
We will debit your account (ACH) for our professional fees, expenses, and out-of-pocket costs as of the first day of every calendar month for monthly & quarterly clients. Tax clients will be billed once the return has been prepared, but before it has been filed to the Federal & State government. If you decide to pay your invoices with a credit card, there will be a fee of 3.25%.
Expenses
Client shall reimburse the firm for Postage, Checks, Signature Stamps, and Envelopes on monthly basis in addition to the services provided. Client shall reimburse the firm for any other reasonable expenses incurred in connection with performance of services under this Agreement, provided that the expenses are approved in advance by the President of Client and the firm promptly provides documentation satisfactory to Client to support the firm’s request for reimbursement. Mileage reimbursement for travel by automobile shall be at the applicable legal rate established by the Internal Revenue Service.
Outsourcing
The firm may from time to time, either domestic or international, and depending on the circumstances, use third-party service providers in serving your account. We may share confidential information about you with these service providers, but remain committed to maintaining the confidentiality and security of your information.
Accordingly, we maintain internal policies, procedures, and safeguards to protect the confidentiality of your personal information. In addition, we will secure confidentiality agreements with all service providers to maintain the confidentiality of your information and we will take reasonable precautions to determine that they have appropriate procedures in place to prevent the unauthorized release of your confidential information to others.
In the event that we are unable to secure an appropriate confidentiality agreement, you will be asked to provide your consent prior to the sharing of your confidential information with the third-party service provider. Furthermore, the firm will remain responsible for the work provided by any such third-party service providers.
Client’s Responsibilities
You are responsible for management decisions and functions, which include but are not limited to; adequate insurance coverage, calculation of amounts for employee payroll deductions for health insurance and, administration of pension eligibility, and verification of accounts payable amounts, and will designate a competent employee to oversee any services outlined below. You are responsible for evaluating the adequacy and results of and accept responsibility for such services. You are responsible for establishing and maintaining internal controls, including monitoring ongoing activities. We will not audit or otherwise verify the data you submit, although we may ask for some clarification. This engagement is limited solely to the services listed on the first page of this engagement letter. Other accounting services are available for additional charges covered under a separate engagement letter.
None of the services can be relied on to detect errors, fraud, or illegal acts that may exist. However, we will inform the appropriate level of management of any material errors that come to our attention and any fraud or illegal acts that come to our attention, unless they are clearly inconsequential. In addition, we have no responsibility to identify and communicate significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in your internal control as part of this engagement. We have marked the frequency of the services that we expect to provide. Please review the information below and make any changes necessary.
We appreciate the opportunity to be of service to you and believe this letter accurately summarizes the significant terms of our engagement. If you have any questions, please let us know. If you agree with the terms of our engagement as described in this letter, please sign the enclosed copy, and return it to us.
Our Guarantee – Only Applicable for Monthly Accounting Services
We are committed to providing excellent service and ensuring that we meet the Desired Financial Statements Delivery Time selected in this form. In the rare event that we fail to meet this expectation, we will provide you with a 50% discount on the accounting fees for the respective month. It is important to note that in order for this guarantee to be valid, all required items must be delivered to our team by the deadline specified in the Delivery Time Disclaimer (5pm EST of the 5th Calendar Day of the Month).
Engagement Term: See Accounting, Tax & Advisory Form Inputs
Fee Schedule:
The Firm shall provide the Services and Deliverable(s) as described and selected within the Accounting, Tax, & Advisory Form.
The Company retains the right to modify the Fee Schedule if the information provided by the Client in this form does not accurately reflect the financial activity of their organization or business. Furthermore, our Company reserves the right to adjust the Fee Schedule on a quarterly basis if there is an increase in the client’s financial activity. The Monthly Accounting Fee covers the services mentioned in the Monthly Accounting Services Package section of this form. However, please note that the unlimited email correspondence does not encompass emails related to tax planning, consulting, strategy, business formation, business valuation, or any of our other services. Charges for these services will be based on our general business consulting hourly rates.
We want to ensure that the fee structure aligns with the level of services required and the complexity of your financial activity. By reserving the right to adjust the fee, we can provide accurate and fair pricing based on your specific needs. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please feel free to reach out to us.