Specimen
Letter of engagement
For an accountancy practice. United Kingdom and Ireland.
1. Who this letter is between
This letter sets out the basis on which we will act for you, and replaces any earlier engagement letter between us. It should be read with the schedule of services and our standard terms of business, which together form our agreement.
If we agree to take on further work for you, we will issue a new letter rather than amend this one, so that at any time it is clear what we were engaged to do and when.
2. What we will do
The services we have agreed to provide are set out in the schedule attached, with the basis on which each is charged. Anything not listed there is outside this engagement, and we will agree it separately before we start it.
Your wording. Practices differ on how much detail sits here rather than in the schedule. The schedule is the better place: it is the part a client reads.
3. Your responsibilities
You are responsible for the completeness and accuracy of the records and information you give us, and for keeping them for as long as you are required to. You remain responsible for your own statutory obligations and for the returns and accounts we prepare on your behalf, which are yours rather than ours.
You agree to make records available in good time, and to tell us promptly of anything that affects the work, including changes in ownership, control or activity.
4. Our responsibilities
We will carry out the services listed in the schedule with reasonable care and skill, and in accordance with the standards of our professional body. We will tell you if we become aware that we cannot complete something within the time agreed.
We are not engaged to identify errors, fraud or non-compliance that fall outside the services listed, and our work should not be relied on for that purpose.
5. Fees
Our fees for the services in the schedule are shown against each of them, with the period they cover. Fees are exclusive of VAT, which is charged where it applies.
Where work falls outside the schedule, we will tell you what it will cost before we begin it. We review fees annually, and any change is agreed with you in a new letter rather than applied to this one.
6. Period of engagement, and ending it
This engagement begins on the date given below and continues until either of us ends it in writing. Ending it does not affect fees for work already done or committed.
Where the engagement is for a fixed period, the end date is shown below and the engagement does not continue beyond it unless we agree a new letter.
Your wording. A fixed period and an open-ended engagement are both ordinary here. Choose one and say which: the ambiguity in an engagement that neither side thinks has ended is what produces the argument about the last three years of fees.
7. Confidentiality, records and data protection
We will keep your affairs confidential except where we are required by law or by our professional body to disclose them. We hold your records and personal data in accordance with our privacy notice, a copy of which accompanies this letter.
8. Complaints and regulation
If you are unhappy with our service, please tell the person named below in the first instance. If we cannot resolve it between us, you may refer the matter to our professional body, whose details are given in our standard terms.
9. Agreement
Please confirm your agreement to this letter, the attached schedule and our standard terms of business by signing below.
Schedule of services
Each service with the basis it is charged on. This is the part a client reads twice, and the part every fee argument comes back to.
| Service | Basis | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeping and management accounts | Monthly | £240 per month |
| Payroll, up to 10 employees | Monthly | £85 per month |
| VAT returns | Quarterly | £150 per quarter |
| Annual accounts and corporation tax return | Annual | £1,450 per year |
| Company secretarial, confirmation statement | Annual | £95 per year |
| Setting up your bookkeeping records | One-off | £400, additional |
Figures are illustrative. Yours come from your own service list. There is deliberately no combined total: a monthly fee and a one-off fee do not add up to anything the client ever pays, so each period is shown separately with its own basis.