General Terms and Conditions

General terms and conditions in respect of the work undertaken by PKN Accountants Limited

Please note that specific terms and conditions will be given in writing in addition to these general conditions

Introduction

These terms and conditions set out the general terms under which we undertake our business. The specific conditions relating to particular assignments will be covered in a separate letter of engagement or in writing.

Applicable law

All engagement letters and schedules of services and our standard terms and conditions of business are governed by, and should be construed in accordance with English law. Each party agrees that the courts of English law will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning this engagement letter and any matter arising from it. Each party irrevocably waives any right to object to any action being brought in those Courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inappropriate forum, or to claim that those Courts do not have jurisdiction.

Authorisation and registration
PKN Accountants Limited are registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales as chartered accountants and can be found on the register of members at www.icaew.com.
We are registered as auditors by the ICAEW in the UK and details of our registration can be found at www.auditregister.org.uk under registration number C003124447.

Bribery Act 2010

In accordance with the requirements of the Bribery Act 2010 we have policies and procedures in place to prevent the business and its partners and staff from offering or receiving bribes.
Communication

Unless you instruct us otherwise we may, where appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties via email or by other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus checking emails and any attachments.

With electronic communication there is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties. We use virus-scanning software to reduce the risk of viruses and similar damaging items being transmitted through emails or electronic storage devices. However, electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses nor for communications which are corrupted or altered after despatch. Nor can we accept any liability for problems or accidental errors relating to this means of communication especially in relation to commercially sensitive material. These are risks you must bear in return for greater efficiency and lower costs. If you do not wish to accept these risks please let us know and we will communicate by paper mail, other than where electronic submission is mandatory.

Any communication by us with you sent through the post is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day that the document was sent.

Confidentiality

Communication between us is confidential and we shall take all reasonable steps to keep confidential your information except where we are required to disclose it by law, by regulatory bodies, by our insurers or as part of an external peer review. Unless we are authorised by you to disclose information on your behalf this undertaking will apply during and after this engagement.

We may, on occasions, subcontract work on your affairs to other tax or accounting professionals. The subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality terms.

We reserve the right, for the purpose of promotional activity, training or for other business purpose, to mention that you are a client. As stated above we will not disclose any confidential information.

Conflicts of interest

We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest which could impact on our relationship with you. Where conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we regret that we may be unable to provide further services.

If there is a conflict of interest that is capable of being addressed successfully by the adoption of suitable safeguards to protect your interests then we will adopt those safeguards. Safeguards may include measures such as separate teams, physical separation of teams, and separate arrangements for storage of and access to information. Where possible this will be done on the basis of your informed consent.

We reserve the right to act for other clients whose interests are not the same as or are adverse to yours, subject of course to the obligations of confidentiality referred to above.

Consumer credit

The firm is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for non-credit related activities. We fall within the ICAEW DPB regime (FSMA 2000 Part 20) for incidental Consumer Credit services that we provided to you as part of your professional accounting and tax services.

Data Protection
We will comply with the General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act 2018 as amended by the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 which merge the previous requirements of the Data Protection Act with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) when dealing with your personal data. GDPR provides that: Personal data only includes information relating to natural persons who:

  1. can be identified or who are identifiable, directly from the information in question; or
  2. who can be indirectly identified from that information in combination with other information.

This will include but is not limited to a name, identification number, location data and an online identifier.
When providing accountancy services we will usually be acting as a controller under the regulations. We will be controllers as we will make decisions about processing activities when providing the agreed service to you.
We may act as a processor when providing certain services such as payroll. In this case you would be the controller and we would act on your instructions.
We ensure that we comply with the principles as set out in the GDPR (for more information see www.ico.org.uk) when collecting and processing data. These principles are:

  1. Lawfulness, fairness and transparency
  2. Purpose limitation
  3. Data minimisation
  4. Accuracy
  5. Storage limitation
  6. Integrity and confidentiality
  7. Accountability

In order to comply with these principles we will:
Provide you with a privacy notice which should be read in conjunction with the letter of engagement, schedules of services and these terms and conditions.

Ensure that the information that we collect and process is limited to that necessary for:

  1. Providing the agreed services
  2. Complying with legal and regulatory obligations
  3. Contacting you with details of other services (where consent has been given)
  4. Other legitimate reasons necessary to protect against claims or disciplinary action.

In order to comply with the regulations of our professional body ICAEW our files may be subject to review by a professional body, regulator or another qualified third party to ensure our continued compliance with those regulations.

Disengagement

Should we resign or be requested to resign and if circumstances necessitate a disengagement letter will be issued to ensure that our respective responsibilities are clear.

Should we have no contact with you for a period of 18 months or more we may issue a disengagement letter and hence cease to act.

Implementation

We will only assist with implementation of our advice if specifically instructed and agreed in writing.

Intellectual property rights

We will retain all copyright in any document prepared by us during the course of carrying out the engagement save where the law specifically provides otherwise.

Interpretation

If any provision of our engagement letter, schedules of services or standard terms and conditions is held to be void, then that provision will be deemed not to form part of this contract and the remainder of this agreement shall be interpreted as if such provision had never been inserted.

In the event of any conflict between these terms of business and the engagement letter or appendices, the relevant provision in the engagement letter or schedules will take precedence.

Internal disputes

If we become aware of a dispute between the parties who own or are in some way involved in the ownership and management of the business, it should be noted that our client is the business and we would not provide information or services to one party without the express knowledge and permission of all parties. Unless otherwise agreed by all parties we will continue to supply information to the owners for the attention of the owners. If conflicting advice, information or instructions are received from different partners or directors in the business we will refer the matter back to the partners or board of directors and take no further action until they have agreed the action to be taken.

Investment services

Investment business is regulated under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the Financial Services Act 2012.

Should you require advice on investment business which we are unable to give as we are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority we can introduce you to a permitted third party authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The permitted third party will issue you with his own terms and conditions letter, will be remunerated separately for their services and will take full responsibility for compliance with the requirements of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the Financial Services Act 2012. We will act as introducers but would be pleased to comment on, or explain any advice received and if required attend any meetings with you.

PKN Accountants Ltd is licensed for exempt regulated activities by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

Examples of exempt regulated activities are as follows;

Interpreting advice given to a client by a FCA authorised person;
or taking part in discussions with a client and an FCA authorised person.

“In the unlikely event that we cannot meet our liabilities to you, you may be able to claim compensation under the Chartered Accountants’ Compensation Scheme.”

Lien

In so far as permitted to do so by law or professional guidelines, we reserve the right to exercise a lien over all funds, documents and records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.

Limitation of liability

Exclusion of liability for loss caused by others

We will not be liable if such losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities are due to the acts or omissions of any other person or due to the provision to us of incomplete, misleading or false information or if they are due to a failure to act on our advice or a failure to provide us with relevant information.

Exclusion of liability in relation to circumstances beyond our control

We will not be liable to you for any delay or failure to perform our obligations under these terms and conditions if the delay or failure is caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control.

Exclusion of liability relating to the discovery of fraud, etc.

We will not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage or expense incurred or sustained if information material to the service we are providing is withheld or concealed from us or wrongly misrepresented to us or from fraudulent acts, misrepresentation or wilful default on the part of any party to the transaction and their directors, officers, employees, agents or advisers.

This exclusion shall not apply where such misrepresentation, withholding or concealment is or should (in carrying out the procedures which we have agreed to perform with reasonable care and skill) have been evident to us without further enquiry.

Indemnity for unauthorised disclosure

You agree to indemnify us and our agents in respect of any claim (including any claim for negligence) arising out of any unauthorised disclosure of our advice and opinions, whether in writing or otherwise. This indemnity will extend to the cost of defending any such claim, including payment at our usual rates for the time that we spend in defending it.

Limitation of aggregate liability

Where the engagement letter specifies an aggregate limit of liability, then that sum shall be the maximum aggregate liability of this company, its directors, agents and employees to all persons to whom the engagement letter is addressed and also any other person that we have agreed with you may rely on our work. By signing the engagement letter, you agree that you have given proper consideration to this limit and accept that it is reasonable in all the circumstances. If you do not wish to accept it you should contact us to discuss it before signing the engagement letter.

You have agreed that you will not bring any claim of a kind that is included within the subject of the limit against any of our directors or employees; on a personal basis.

Limitation of Third Party Rights

The advice and information we provide to you as part of our service is for your sole use and not for any third party to whom you may communicate it unless we have expressly agreed in the engagement letter that a specified third party may rely on our work. We accept no responsibility to third parties, including any group company to whom the engagement letter is not addressed, for any advice, information or material produced as part of our work for you which you make available to them. It may not be used or relied upon for any other purpose or by any other person other than you without our prior written consent. A party to this agreement is the only person who has the right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of its terms.

If our advice is disclosed to any third party (with or without our consent), then we accept no responsibility or liability to that third party for any consequences that may arise to them, should they rely on the advice.

If it is proposed that any documents or statement which refer to our name, are to be circulated to third parties, please consult us before they are issued.

Anti-Money Laundering Compliance

We are supervised by ICAEW for anti-money laundering compliance. We are required to obtain information to identify and verify our clients. This may be done by requesting the information from you and/or by making searches of appropriate databases designed for the purpose.
We will not usually be able to start working for you until such time as this information is received.

Notification

We shall not be treated as having notice, for the purposes of our audit, accounts or tax responsibilities, of information provided to members of our firm other than those engaged on the specific assignment (for example, information provided in connection with accounting, taxation and other services).

Period of engagement and termination

Unless otherwise agreed in the engagement covering letter our work will begin when we receive your implicit or explicit acceptance of that letter. Except as stated in that letter we will not be responsible for periods before that date.

Each of us may terminate this agreement by giving not less than 21 days notice in writing to the other party except where you fail to cooperate with us or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or HMRC with misleading information, in which case we may terminate this agreement immediately. Termination will be without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued to either of us prior to termination.

In the event of termination of this contract, we will endeavour to agree with you the arrangements for the completion of work in progress at that time, unless we are required for legal or regulatory reasons to cease work immediately. In that event, we shall not be required to carry out further work and shall not be responsible or liable for any consequences arising from termination.

Professional rules and statutory obligations

We will observe and act in accordance with the by-laws, regulations and ethical guidelines of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and will accept instructions to act for you on this basis. In particular, you give us the authority to correct errors made by HMRC where we become aware of them. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost arising from our compliance with statutory or regulatory obligations. You can see copies of these requirements at our offices. The requirements are also available online at www.icaew.com.  Audit regulations can be accessed at www.icaew.com/regulations. The Ethical Standard applicable to our audit work can be accessed at www.frc.org.uk.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

We are required by our professional body ICAEW to have professional indemnity insurance.
Details about the insurer and the territorial coverage can be provided on request at our offices by
appointment or via email.

Quality control

As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a quality service, our files are periodically reviewed by an independent regulatory or quality control body. These reviewers are highly experienced and professional people and, of course, are bound by the same rules for confidentiality as our principal and staff.

Reliance on advice

We will endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. Advice given orally is not intended to be relied upon unless confirmed in writing. Therefore, if we provide oral advice (for example during the course of a meeting or a telephone conversation) and you wish to be able to rely on that advice, you must ask for the advice to be confirmed by us in writing.

Retention of papers

You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your tax affairs. During the course of our work we may collect information from you and others relevant to your affairs. We will return any original documents to you if requested. Documents and records relevant to your affairs are required by law to be retained as follows:

Individuals, trustees and partnerships

– with trading or rental income: 5 years and 10 months after the end of the tax year;
– otherwise: 22 months after the end of the tax year;

Companies, LLPs and other corporate entities
– 6 years from the end of the accounting period;

Whilst certain documents may legally belong to you we may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store, electronically or otherwise, which are more than 7 years old. You must tell us if you require the return or retention of any specific documents for a longer period.

Timetable

The services we undertake to perform for you will be carried out on a timescale to be determined between us on an ongoing basis.

The timing of our work will in any event be dependent on the prompt supply of all information and documentation as and when required by us.

Complaints

We aim to provide an excellent service at all times. However should you be dissatisfied in any way please
contact John Parkin. This may be done by writing to 63 Bawtry Road, Bramley, Rotherham, S66 2TN, or by
telephoning this office, or by emailing John Parkin at johns@pknaccountants.co.uk.
We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and to take all reasonable measures to
resolve the position to your satisfaction. If we do not deal with your complaint to your satisfaction you may
take up the matter with our professional body ICAEW. At that point, if appropriate, we shall also provide you
with details of an approved body that you may wish to contact with regard to a possible alternative dispute resolution process.