TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT FOR PUBLIC ACCOUNTING SERVICES

Between ICare Super Pty Ltd (us or we or our) and you and your SMSF or associcated entities for the Term specified.

1. Purpose

This Terms of Engagement for Public Accounting Services (TE) confirms our understanding of the engagement and the nature and limitations of services provided.

2. Term

2.1       This TE will commence at the time you indicate acceptance and will continue until revoked by us or you.

3. Objectives and Scope of work

3.1       We will provide you with professional accounting services in compliance with APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards) (the Code), including:

• SMSF accounting services,
• bookkeeping services,
• transactional accounting,
• SMSF administration
• Assistance with the external audits
• Other relative matters.

3.2       We will provide you with the following: accounting reports, Business Activity Statement submission reports, Financial Statement Reports, Taxation Return, External Audit & Assurance Report,or other as specified within the agreed time frames.

3.3       We will provide the scope of work output within the specified timeframe or within a reasonable period considering the context of the services.

3.4       We acknowledge that you may authorise an Accredited Data Recipient under the Consumer Data Right (‘CDR’) to provide CDR data to us via a Trusted Adviser Insight.

3.5       Unless otherwise specified in this TE or letter of engagement, audit and assurance or review are not included in this engagement.

4. Our Promise

• We will perform procedures (guided by the APES suite of standards) required that are directly related to the engagement consistent with our fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, professional behaviour, and identifying, avoiding and dealing with conflicts of interests (Fundamental Principles).
• We will seek to understand your requirements and provide you services confidentially and professionally. Any information pertaining to your affairs, whether it be provided by you, or through a Trusted Adviser Insight via the CDR, will be utilised and stored in an appropriate manner to maintain our professional standards and obligations.  Further information on privacy is noted at section 10 of this letter.
• We will document sufficient and appropriate records of the procedures performed for the TE, which may be subject to the CPA Australia Best Practice Program assessment under APES 320 Quality Management for Firms that provide Non-Assurance Services.

5. Our obligations
   
   • We are obliged to consider whether our clients create any threats to compliance with our Fundamental Principles and where we cannot reduce the risk to an acceptable level we are obliged to cease the TE under the Code (section 320) to decline or cease the client engagement.
   • We have a duty to act in your best interests, unless this duty is inconsistent with our duty to act in the public interest.
   • We are responsible for maintaining records for a period of at least five-year period unless otherwise required by legislation.

• During the course of our engagement, if we identify or suspect that Non-Compliance with Laws or Regulations (NOCLAR) has occurred or may occur, which may have a direct effect on material amounts or disclosures in the financial statements or compliance and may be fundamental to your ability to continue its business or to avoid material penalty, we may:
  • discuss the matter with the appropriate level of management, those charged with governance or the internal auditor, as appropriate
  • communicate the non-compliance or suspected non-compliance with your external auditor, unless prohibited by law or regulation
  • disclose the matter to an appropriate authority even when there is no legal or regulatory requirement to do so; and/or
  • withdraw from the engagement and the professional relationship where permitted by law or regulation

• Where appropriate we will inform you of our intention to disclose the matter to an appropriate authority before disclosing the matter. However, if we have reason to believe that the actual or intended conduct would constitute an imminent breach of a law or regulation that would cause substantial harm to the general public, we may immediately disclose the matter to an appropriate authority in order to prevent or mitigate the consequences of such imminent breach of law or regulation.

6. Your obligations

• You are responsible for full disclosure of all relevant information.
• You are responsible for your own record keeping relating to your affairs.
• You provide us with all the details of information or paperwork records relating to your affairs.
• You are responsible for the reliability, accuracy and completeness of the particulars and information provided to us.
• You are responsible for retaining paperwork for as long as legally required.

7. Third Party Involvement

7.1       We may from time to time engage third party specialist professionals and other public practitioners, where warranted to obtain the advice you need or to assist us to provide our service to you.  These may include actuarial certificate providers, external SMSF auditors and other service providers.

7.2       We will seek your consent if third party involvement is likely to exceed the fixed price (if applicable)..

7.4       Acceptance of our services in conjunction with this engagement document indicates your acceptance of the use of services as described above.

8. Fees, Billing & Trust Monies

• If the engagement involves the use of trust monies, we will manage those funds in accordance with APES 310 Client Monies and as authorised by you in the Trust Account Authority Letter or as otherwise instructed by you.
• Our professional fees will be charged on a fixed-fee basis of $1,320 per year for financial reports, tax return and external audit, and will be subject to an annual or CPI-based increase. The fee is paid on a monthly basis and not refundable. For our fee policy, please refer to this link https://www.icaresmsf.com.au/our-fees/our-fee-policy/
• Any fee increase will be notified in writing via email. For any services other than annual compliance, we will provide you an upfront quote.
• Our invoices may also include disbursements paid by us. These may include photocopying charges, telephone and facsimile transmission charges, travel fares and expenses, stamp duty and fees paid to third parties such as couriers, registration fees or fees for other professionals.  These may be in addition to the fixed price (if applicable).
• Unless other payment terms are agreed, each invoice is payable within 7 days of receipt.

9. Ownership of materials

• You own all original materials given to us. You should not mail your original documents to us unless it is required to do so.
• We own all materials produced by us that resulted from our skill and attention to the extent that the materials produced by us incorporate any original materials you give to us.
• We may exercise a lien of your documents in our possession in the event of a dispute, which will be handled in accordance with our firm’s dispute resolution process.
• Subject to the payment of all outstanding professional fees and disbursements owing to us, we will provide you with materials produced by us for you in the event you engage the services of another practitioner and the materials are required by your new practitioner.

10. Privacy

• Our collection use and disclosure of your personal information (PI) may be subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and accordingly we will only collect PI about you that relates to the TE. We may use and disclose PI about you for the primary purpose of providing services to you, as well as for other purposes required or authorised by or under law (including purposes for which you have provided your consent).  This PI may be stored in the server at Unit 2 & 3, 269 Centre Road Bentleigh VIC 3204. If you would like to access or correct any PI we might hold about you, or make a privacy complaint, contact us on 03 9557 3138
• We may collect PI about you, your representatives, your clients and others when we provide services to you. If we do, you agree to work with us to ensure that we both meet our respective obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).  Your obligations may include ensuring your privacy policy and contracts include a reference to your collection practices, how you will use the PI and that you may disclose the PI to an agent for public accounting services.
• Where an outsourced service requires the disclosure of PI to an overseas recipient, we take care to ensure that other third parties outside Australia to whom we disclose PI are subject to contractual obligations relating to privacy and the handling of your personal information and can only use the information for the purposes stipulated by us.
• In providing our services to you, we utilise BGL Simple Fund360 cloud computing provided by BGL Corp which is based in Canterbury Victoria Australia and we rely on their security measures. We also store client information in a data server managed in our office at Unit 2 & 3, 269 Centre Road Bentleigh VIC 3204, which may subject to Australian privacy law.
• If your PI is disclosed to CPA Australia for the purpose of conducting a CPA Australia Best Practice Program assessment on the services provided, your personal information will be handled by CPA Australia as outlined in the CPA Australia Privacy Policy.

11. Confidentiality
    • Under the Code, we have an ethical duty of confidentiality, meaning we must not share or disclose your details of this TE to anyone, except as otherwise specified in this clause, without your consent unless required to by law. Specifically, and as required by subsection 114 of the Code, we will:
      • be alert to the possibility of inadvertent disclosure, including in a social environment, and particularly to a close business associate or an immediate or a close family member;
      • maintain confidentiality of information within our firm;
      • not disclose confidential information acquired as a result of our professional and business relationship outside the firm without proper and specific authority, unless there is a legal or professional duty or right to disclose;
      • not use confidential information acquired as a result of our professional and business relationship for our personal advantage or for the advantage of a third party;
      • not use or disclose any confidential information, either acquired or received as a result of our professional or business relationship, after our relationship has ended; and
      • take reasonable steps to ensure that personnel under our control, and individuals from whom advice and assistance are obtained, respect our duty of confidentiality.

• We may disclose your personal and confidential information details of the services provided to you, to CPA Australia Ltd (if requested), as part of our working papers, for the purposes of conducting a CPA Australia Best Practice Program assessment aimed at maintaining high industry professional standards. Any such disclosure of confidential information does not change any of our commitments to safeguard your information, and the information remains subject to any existing confidentiality obligations. We advise you by signing this letter you acknowledge, our engagement files relating to this assessment will be made available under this program.

12. Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII)
    • We hold professional indemnity insurance of at least the minimum amount prescribed in the CPA Australia Ltd By-Laws or as required by law. Our PII cover at the time of this TE is $2,000,000.
13. Professional Standards Scheme & Limitation of Liability
    • Pursuant to s33 of the Professional Standards Act 1994, our liability is limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation.

14. Other

This letter will be effective for future years unless we advise you of its amendment or replacement, or the engagement is terminated.

You have read, understood and agrees to the provisions of this Terms of Engagement