Engagement Terms

Client / Business Owner Responsibilities
  1. It is your responsibility for the maintenance and accuracy of business records and availability of records for our processing.
  2. We will request source documents for some items and process transactions based on the information provided by you, which does not necessarily include all source documents.
  3. It is a requirement that you must hold copies of all relevant documentation in compliance with the ATO standards.
  4. It is a requirement by the ATO that ABNs of suppliers be checked at least once a year to ensure that they are valid.
  5. All relevant documentation and information required to allow us to prepare and produce financial reporting to comply with legislative requirements must be received 14 days prior to due lodgement dates. We will not be liable for any penalties if documentation and information has not been provided.
  6. You authorise me to enter payments for purchases, sight unseen for any invoices not included in the paperwork. It is my responsibility to ensure copies are available for audit purposes if required and to validate any GST claim.

Confidentiality

Any information and all matters connected with and relating to your business and its performance are confidential and no party shall disclose them to any other person/entity unless authorised to do so in writing. This includes the ATO and your accountant.

Communication

You must keep us informed of your current business details including address, phone and email address. We are entitled to assume that the people we deal with at your business premise are authorised to instruct and deal with us. If any of your staff members have a limitation on their authority relevant to our work, you must advise us in writing of that limitation.

ATO Reporting

Lodgements of BAS, Payment Summaries and TPAR reports will not be done until authorisation is provided.

Failure to lodge on time can incur a fine and this will be your responsibility to pay if the authorisation has not been received by us.

This is an ATO legal requirement.

Review of Documentation

The responsibility for reviewing final reports and/or work rests with you.

You will not be charged to correct errors which are clearly our fault, but revisions done at your request will be charged at the agreed rate.

Responsibility for Records

Responsibility for the maintenance and accuracy of business records rests with you, the business owner; this includes security of those records and prevention against fraud.

It is also important to state that as a BAS Agent/Bookkeeper, if we are advised in writing by yourself that you have copies of the invoices and the GST is applicable, we will enter the information but the requirement to validate is yours.

Destruction of Documents.

Upon our request either during our engagement or following its termination, you must collect your property without delay which will be released to you once our accounts are paid.

Should any of your property remain in our possession following our request to collect it, we will hold the property for three months before destroying it in accordance with the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012.

Standards

We aim to provide the highest standard of professional service and are focused on the concerns of your business clients.

If for any reason you feel you have not received the level of service expected or have an issue to raise, please contact Keeping Account to discuss how the problem may be resolved.

Furthermore, as a Member of the Institute for Certified Bookkeepers (ICB), we are subject to the ethical requirements of ICB and its Investigations and Disciplinary processes.

These requirements cover issues such as Code of Conduct and Ethics, adherence to Bookkeeping Standards, requirements to undertake Continued Professional Education.

Should there be an issue regarding the ethical or business practices of myself or my company, you may refer such matters to ICB.

Right of Lien

We have a right of lien on records and business data, that is, we reserve the right to hold records and data against any outstanding debts

Note this will only apply to records and data that has been worked on but for which payment is outstanding.