03 – Engagement Scope and Objectives

LKB Accountants will exercise reasonable skill and diligence in delivering the services as outlined in the Engagement Letter. Our procedures and services will be tailored exclusively to the objectives specified in the Engagement Letter. Consequently, no audit or review will be conducted, and thus, no formal assurance will be provided in accordance with relevant professional standards. Our engagement cannot guarantee the detection of irregularities, including fraud, other unlawful activities, or errors. However, we will promptly notify you of any such issues that come to our attention.

Tax returns, financial statements, and other necessary documents will be prepared for submission to regulatory bodies, shareholders, directors, and other agreed parties. We do not assume responsibility for reliance on our reports by any entity other than you and the designated parties. These documents should not be utilised for purposes other than those explicitly outlined. Our documents may include a disclaimer to this effect.

04 – Provision of Information

It is important to note that the accuracy and completeness of the information provided for any assignment remain your responsibility. Our work will be based solely on the information furnished by you, the circumstances disclosed to us, and the assumptions outlined in our communications. We depend on you to promptly notify us of any changes in the provided information or circumstances that may impact our advice.

05 – Information Regarding Your Affairs

Periodically, our firm may engage the services of third-party contractors to assist in fulfilling the services we are engaged to provide to you.

The current roster of third-party contractors utilized by our firm, to whom client information may be disclosed, includes:

None as of yet.

Any alterations to this list of third-party contractors will be communicated to you accordingly.

Each client within the Client Group hereby grants us authorization to disclose information pertaining to their affairs to such third-party contractors as we may engage for this purpose.

Additionally, there may be occasions where it becomes necessary to share information concerning one client’s affairs with other clients within the Client Group, to facilitate our work, to fulfill governance responsibilities of an entity as per accounting standards, or as part of a quality review program conducted by a professional body of which we are a member. Each client within the Client Group hereby consents to such disclosures when deemed appropriate by us to enhance the performance of work for the Client Group or when mandated by said professional body.

By accepting our services, you signify your consent to LKB Accountants’ utilization of outsourced services as outlined above. In instances where outsourced services involve the transfer of personal information to overseas recipients, your consent entails LKB Accountants’ commitment to implement reasonable physical, technical, and administrative measures to ensure compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles stipulated in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) by these overseas recipients.

We maintain full responsibility for the work conducted in delivering the agreed-upon services to you at all times.

06 – Documents

All original documents provided by you during the engagement will remain your property. However, we retain the right to create a reasonable number of copies of these documents for our records.

As a result of our engagement, we will produce paper or electronic documents and files, which will be handed over to you, thereby transferring ownership to you. However, any other documents created by us during this engagement will remain our property.

We maintain a policy that allows for the exploration of a legal right of lien over any client documents in our possession in the event of a dispute.

It is our standard procedure to dispose of documents belonging to us after they reach seven years of age. By engaging our services, you provide consent for us to dispose of any documents that may strictly belong to you and are stored within our files.

In many cases, documents received from you are scanned and stored electronically. Unless instructed otherwise by you, you consent to the destruction of such documents after they have been scanned and stored.

07 – ASIC Matters

When we manage your company secretarial records and handle communications with ASIC and other relevant parties, we will not make payments to ASIC on your behalf. Any invoices received from ASIC will be forwarded to you well before the payment deadline. It is imperative that each payment is made promptly to avoid incurring penalties.

08 – Intellectual Property

By accepting our services as outlined in the Engagement Letter, you agree to the intellectual property rights pertaining to all documentation, systems, materials, methodologies, and processes used or created during the engagement remaining with and being vested in LKB Accountants.

09 – Privacy and Confidentiality

Disclosure by you of personal information to us during our engagement is subject to the Privacy Act. It is understood that you have complied with the requirements of this act when disclosing personal information about individuals to us. You agree to indemnify LKB Accountants, its Directors, and staff against any claim, loss, or expense resulting from any failure on your part to make disclosures or obtain necessary consent under the act.

If a third party is required to supply personal information to us at your request, it is your responsibility to ensure that the third party complies with the Privacy Act. You agree to indemnify LKB Accountants, its Directors, and staff against any claim, loss, or expense resulting from the failure of that party to comply.

We utilize third-party software systems as part of our service delivery to you. Some of these systems may store data on servers located in various countries. Your data is always under our control, and we have implemented reasonable physical, technical, and administrative measures to safeguard your privacy.

All information acquired by us during the engagement is subject to strict confidentiality requirements and will not be disclosed to other parties except as required or permitted by law or with your explicit consent. Our team members are bound by strict confidentiality requirements in their employment contracts.

Our files may be subject to review as part of the quality control review conducted by our professional body, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. You acknowledge that, upon request, our files relating to this engagement will be made available under this program, and we will inform you accordingly.

You can access a copy of our Privacy Policy through this link. In case of any conflict between these Terms of Business and our Privacy Policy, our Privacy Policy will take precedence.

10 – Limitation of Liability

Our liability is subject to a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. The liability of LKB Accountants, its Directors, employees, associates, and contractors:

• arises solely from negligent actions, omissions, or non-compliance with the law, its Directors, employees, contractors and associates;
• is capped at a maximum of $500,000 if the fee for the Engagement is up to $50,000, or ten times the fee (subject to a ceiling) if the fee for Engagement exceeds $50,000. Further details on the scheme can be obtained from the Professional Standards Council’s website.

Please note that LKB Accountants accepts no liability:

• for loss of business opportunity, profit, goodwill, or any other anticipated earnings or benefits;
• for consequential losses; and
• to any party other than you in connection with this Engagement, unless otherwise agreed by LKB Accountants in writing. In the absence of such agreement, you agree to indemnify LKB Accountants against any claims, losses, or expenses brought by another party in connection with this Engagement.

11 – Your Obligations & Rights

Under the Tax Agents Services Act 2009 (Cth), we are obligated to inform you of your rights and obligations regarding taxation matters where we act on your behalf. Regarding the taxation services provided:

• You are subject to the self-assessment system concerning your income tax returns. The Commissioner may rely on statements made in your income tax returns. If these statements are later found to be incorrect, the Commissioner may amend your income tax assessments, and you may incur penalties and interest charges.
• You must maintain proper records to substantiate the taxation returns prepared, satisfying the requirements of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth). Failure to keep such records may lead to claims being disallowed, additional tax imposed, and penalties or general interest charges imposed.
• You are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information required to comply with various taxation laws. We will use this information supplied in the preparation of your returns.
• Your taxpayer rights include:
  • The right to request a private ruling;
  • The right to object to an assessment by the Commissioner;
  • The right to appeal against an adverse decision by the Commissioner.

Certain time limitations may apply for exercising these rights. If you wish to exercise these rights at any time, please contact us for relevant time frames and any additional requirements.

12 – Treatment of Tax Refunds

Any tax refunds owed to you or your associated entities will be directed to the bank account you nominate. Your nominated account for refund payments will be communicated to the ATO.

13 – Your Disclosure and Recordkeeping Obligations

You are legally required to maintain accurate records relating to your tax affairs. It is your responsibility to provide us with all necessary information to perform work outlined in this Engagement in a timely manner or as requested. This includes providing accurate and complete responses to our inquiries within a reasonable timeframe, usually within two business days. Inaccurate, incomplete, or late information may impact our services and conclusions and may result in additional fees. We do not verify the underlying accuracy or completeness of the information provided.

You must also promptly inform us of any changes to your circumstances that may affect our services. If any subsequent event renders the information provided to us inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, you must notify us immediately. We do not accept responsibility for inaccuracies, incompleteness, or misleading advice resulting from inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information provided to us.

Your compliance with disclosure and recordkeeping obligations impacts the performance of our services. In cases where we prepare accounts and tax returns, the quality of information provided also affects the fees charged, and we may need to adjust our fees if the quality is not as expected.

Under the self-assessment provisions of current tax legislation, you are responsible for maintaining adequate documentation to support your income tax returns and deductions claimed, as well as transactions within your group of entities. Please be aware that your accounts and tax returns may be subject to tax audits, and penalties apply for incorrect returns.

You also have specific obligations under Australian taxation laws, such as the obligation to maintain proper records and lodge returns by the due date. All records relating to the preparation of an income tax return must be retained for five years from the date of lodgement and must be available for inspection by ATO staff upon request. These records are not required to be lodged with the return.

14 – Our Obligation to Comply with the Law

Our Duty to Adhere to Legal Obligations We are obligated to act in your best interests, but this obligation is subordinate to our overarching duty to comply with the law, even if it requires actions contrary to your interests. For instance, we cannot submit an income tax return on your behalf that we know to be materially false.

Our advice and/or services will be based on Australian taxation law applicable at the time of provision. It is your responsibility to seek updated advice if you plan to rely on our advice in the future.

Please note that Australian taxation laws undergo frequent changes, and our advice will not be automatically updated unless specifically requested by you when changes occur or are announced.

15 – Conflict of Interest

You must inform us if you become aware of any conflict of interest or potential conflict. Generally, a conflict of interest arises when we may no longer be able to remain impartial in delivering our services to you. Examples of events leading to conflicts of interest during this engagement include changes in your business circumstances, family events (e.g., death or marital breakdown), or legal actions against you.

We have an obligation to manage conflicts of interest effectively. To this end, we have established procedures to address potential or actual conflicts of interest. The success of these procedures relies in part on your compliance with the obligation to disclose potential conflicts of interest.

16 – Email Communication

You acknowledge that email communication carries the risk of inadvertent misdirection or non-delivery of confidential information. To mitigate these risks, both parties will implement procedures to safeguard data integrity, including virus checking attachments before opening them, when communicating via email.

Unless you inform us otherwise in writing, you consent to the use of email as described above and acknowledge the associated risks.

17 – Other

Neither party will be held liable for any delays or failures to fulfill obligations under this agreement if caused by circumstances beyond their control, such as fire, floods, acts of God, war, riot, strikes, lockouts, or industrial disputes.

In case of any conflict between these Terms of Business and the Engagement Letter, the terms outlined in the Engagement Letter will prevail.

The contract formed by these Terms of Business and the Engagement Letter constitutes the entire agreement between you and LKB Accountants regarding the provision of services. It supersedes any prior correspondence, oral or written. It remains in effect until any changes or termination are mutually agreed upon in writing.

Nothing in these Terms of Business or the Engagement Letter prohibits LKB Accountants from providing services to other clients.

This Engagement covers the current and future financial years unless there are modifications to our engagement terms or the nature of the engagement changes. In such instances, we will issue a new engagement letter. Fees for subsequent years will be determined in advance, and a new agreement of services document will be provided before commencing work.