Standard Terms Of Engagement

On the basis of the information and instructions you provide, we will compile any required financial statements for you. On completion of the financial statements we will issue a compilation report and an appropriate disclaimer which will form part of the financial statements.

In addition, we will carry out other tasks as specified by you. The services to be provided will include all matters ancillary to those services such as, for example, dealing with and responding to queries raised by the Inland Revenue Department.

These terms of engagement will apply for the duration of the supply of our services to you.

Extent of Services

We will not audit, review or carry out any other checks on the accuracy or completeness of the information you provide. It is up to you to give us accurate and complete information to enable us to provide the services described on this page and we accept no liability for the accuracy or completeness of any information supplied by you in any form. Accordingly, no assurance on any assertions contained in the financial information compiled will be provided.

Our engagement does not include the investigation or discovery of internal control weaknesses, errors, illegal acts or other irregularities including, without limitation, fraud, or non compliance with laws and regulations. However, we will inform you of any such matters which may come to our attention during the course of our engagement.

The information you are to supply and any other information that we consider necessary to complete the engagement must be provided in a timely manner in order for the assignment to be completed on a timely basis.

If the services to be provided include tax compliance services then the following will apply:

  • You may use our office address as the mailing address for assessments and/or correspondence from Inland Revenue. If you do this we will scan and email you copies of any letters received along with recommendations for your reply if necessary.
  • If you use our office address as the mailing address for assessments we will check the assessments and let you know the amounts and due dates of tax installments. You are then responsible for paying the correct tax on time.
  • We will advise you about any amounts of tax to be paid and the due dates for payment.
  • In the case of tax compliance services, our function is limited to providing you with information and advice to aid you in making decisions about your tax. However, the ultimate responsibility for making those decisions remains with you.
  • You are responsible for what appears in your tax returns. This means you must ensure that the information you give us is accurate and complete.
  • If you choose to use your own address as the mailing address for assessments and/or correspondence from Inland Revenue, we recommend that you provide us immediately with copies of any correspondence you receive from Inland Revenue. This is because there may be a deadline for reply of which you may be unaware.
  • You are ultimately responsible for paying any Inland Revenue Department penalties arising from late payments, errors, wrong estimates or any other reason.

Financial Advisers Act

Cloud Based Accountants Limited is not an Authorised Financial Adviser as defined in section 51 of the Financial Advisers Act 2008. Any advice provided is merely a service provided as an incidental part of a non-financial service.

We recommend that any investment decisions are referred to an Authorised Financial Adviser.

Independence

Independence is not required for a compilation engagement. If we are aware that we are not independent of the entity for which we are preparing financial statements, this fact will be stated in our compilation report. However, we will not conduct a comprehensive review to determine whether we are or are not independent of the entity.

Use and Distribution of the Financial Information

We understand that the primary intended use of the financial information we will compile is to assist with meeting taxation requirements and to provide management with relevant financial data. Furthermore, we understand that the financial information is intended to be distributed primarily to you and any other owners of the entities concerned. If this should change in any material respect, you will inform us immediately.

You may make copies of any reports for your own internal use or for providing to a third party. However, we accept no duty or responsibility to any party, other than yourself, who may seek to rely on our reports and, furthermore, that you indemnify us against any claim by such other party in respect of the reports.

Information and Disclosure

Information we obtain in the course of this engagement is subject to confidentiality requirements, in addition to our obligations under the Privacy Act 1993.

We will not disclose that information to other parties without your express consent, except as required by law or professional obligations. In order for us to perform your assignments efficiently, we require authority to liaise with both the Inland Revenue Department and other financial institutions that you are connected to. An Authority to Disclose and Receive Information form for each entity or class of entities and specific individuals will be shared with you for completion and signing.

Non-disclosure of Tax Documents

Under the Tax Administration Act 1994 you are entitled to exercise your right of non-disclosure of tax advice documents that have been created either by you or by Cloud Based Accountants Limited.

Tax advice documents can include most forms of paper and electronic communications between yourself and Cloud Based Accountants Limited, which have either been created by you instructing us to provide you with tax advice or created by us in order to provide you with tax advice. It is also intended that the advice remain confidential. A claim that a document is a tax advice document must be made by you or by Cloud Based Accountants Limited, where we are authorised to act on your behalf for the purposes of the non-disclosure provisions in the Tax Administration Act 1994.

If you receive an Information Demand from the Inland Revenue Department in respect of our advice, you agree to notify us as soon as practicable in order that a timely decision can be made on the claiming of non-disclosure in respect of that advice.

Limitation of Liability

At all times we will use reasonable skill and care in providing our services to you. However, in spite of this liability to you whether in contract, tort, equity or otherwise, for any loss or damage or expenses (including legal costs) suffered or incurred directly by you as a direct result of any act or omission by us in providing our services, shall be limited to a maximum amount equal to the fee (excluding GST, disbursements and expenses) paid to us by you in respect of the services in question. If the services were provided in respect of more than one financial year, the fee on which the liability amount is based shall be the fee paid relating to the financial year in respect of which the act or omission occurred. Any claim against us must be brought within twelve months of the date on which we complete the services.

Fees and Payment

Unless otherwise agreed with you in writing, our fees are calculated on the basis of the time spent on the assignment by our team and on the levels of skill and responsibility involved.

Our invoices will generally be issued on a monthly basis and all invoices will be due for payment no later than 7 days after the invoice date. We reserve the right to charge interest on overdue amounts at a maximum rate of 30% per annum. We also reserve the right to on-charge all collection costs applicable to the recovery of the account, should payment not be received.

All our invoices issued and payments received for such invoices will be treated as remuneration for our services up to the invoice date. No amounts paid by clients on any invoices should be considered as prepayments or overpayments of any of our services. It must be explicitly noted that we are not liable for any refund to a client on the cancellation of our services, irrespective of the notice of cancellation initiated by us or initiated by the client.

Where we pay fees to third-party service providers on your behalf, you are liable to refund such fees to us within 3 days from us paying for such services on your behalf. You explicitly accept and approve that we may immediately terminate or cancel such third party services, should you fail to refund us within the specified timeframe. You further acknowledge and accept that you will not hold us accountable for any loss of service or data related to the cancellation of third-party services due to your failure to refund us within the specified timeframe.

You accept and agree that all our services will be terminated immediately when any of our invoices become overdue and you agree that our services will only resume after full settlement of such overdue invoices including full settlement of late payment interest and charges on such overdue invoices.

You should be aware that, like all other providers of services, we are entitled to retain possession of your records that have been used in relation to this engagement until outstanding fees are settled.

Ownership of Workpapers

Material that you provide to us remains yours and will be returned to you when the engagement is completed. Work papers that we create remain our property.

Where we provide taxation services for you, we will store tax records that we hold on your behalf for a period of seven years after the applicable balance date.

At the end of that period, unless you ask us to send that information to you, the records will be destroyed.

Electronic Communication

To comply with the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, we are required to obtain your permission to send you electronic messages including, but not limited to, information about our services and invitations to special client events.

This includes the electronic sharing and signing of documents through our preferred electronic/digital signing service providers.

Changes

We may change or modify these terms at any time by publication of the changed or modified terms on our website at www.cbservices.co.nz/terms.html. These changes or modifications will bind you for any matters for which we accept instructions after the publication of the change or modification.

Conclusion

If you have any questions regarding these terms of engagement please do not hesitate to call us.

Authority to Disclose and Receive Information (Personal)

You hereby record and accept the following:

  • That the firm of Cloud Based Accountants Limited has been engaged to provide tax compliance services.
  • That Cloud Based Accountants Limited is authorised to communicate with the Inland Revenue Department (“IRD”) by any method of communication on your behalf and to disclose relevant information regarding your taxation affairs to the IRD for the purpose of providing such tax compliance services.
  • That you authorise the IRD for all purposes under the Privacy Act 1993, the Tax Administration Act 1994 and any other law relating to privacy, to disclose to Cloud Based Accountants Limited by any method of communication such information regarding your taxation affairs as Cloud Based Accountants Limited may request from time to time in the course of providing tax compliance services for you.
  • That Cloud Based Accountants Limited is authorised to act as your agent for ACC levy purposes for all associated entities. This authorisation allows Cloud Based Accountants Limited to query and change information on your ACC levy account(s) through ACC staff and through ACC Online Services. This authority will also allow Cloud Based Accountants Limited’s main representative discretion to delegate access to your ACC information to other members of Cloud Based Accountants Limited. Other delegated members of Cloud Based Accountants Limited will also be able to query and change information on my ACC levy account.
  • That you hereby authorise your bankers, solicitors, investment advisers and insurers for all purposes under the Privacy Act 1993, to disclose to Cloud Based Accountants Limited such information as they may request from time to time in the course of providing tax compliance services for you.
  • That Cloud Based Accountants Limited is authorised to share my identity information and residential address with third party service providers for the purpose of identity verification as required by the  Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.

Authority to Disclose and Receive Information (Business)

We hereby record the following:

    • That the firm of Cloud Based Accountants Limited has been engaged to provide tax compliance services.
    • That Cloud Based Accountants Limited is authorised to communicate with the Inland Revenue Department (“IRD”) by any method of communication on behalf of the named entity and to disclose relevant information regarding the entity’s taxation affairs to the IRD for the purpose of providing such tax compliance services.
    • That we authorise the IRD for all purposes under the Privacy Act 1993, the Tax Administration Act 1994 and any other law relating to privacy, to disclose to Cloud Based Accountants Limited by any method of communication such information regarding the entity’s taxation affairs as Cloud Based Accountants Limited may request from time to time in the course of providing tax compliance services for the entity.
    • That Cloud Based Accountants Limited is authorised to act as my agent for ACC levy purposes for all associated entities. This authorisation allows Cloud Based Accountants Limited to query and change information on my ACC levy account(s) through ACC staff and through ACC Online Services. This authority will also allow Cloud Based Accountants Limited’s main representative discretion to delegate access to my ACC information to other members of Cloud Based Accountants Limited. Other delegated members of Cloud Based Accountants Limited will also be able to query and change information on my ACC levy account.
    • That we hereby authorise the entity’s bankers, solicitors, investment advisers and insurers for all purposes under the Privacy Act 1993, to disclose to Cloud Based Accountants Limited such information as they may request from time to time in the course of providing tax compliance services for the entity.
    • That any Director or staff member of Cloud Based Accountants Limited be authorised to sign as “Authorised Person” on documentation to be filed with The Companies Office.