Terms of Engagement

Claritax Accountants ("we", "us") is the trading name of Claritax Accountants Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 13000707, with its registered office at Office 9, Unit B Madison Place, Northampton Road, Manchester, M40 5AG. These terms apply to every engagement between you and Claritax Accountants, alongside the specific scope, fees and dates set out in your individual engagement letter. By continuing to instruct us, you confirm you have read and accepted them.

1. Our services

We will provide the services set out in our engagement letter or proposal. We will perform those services with reasonable skill and care, in accordance with professional standards set by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

We may update, amend or expand the scope of services by written agreement with you. Any changes to the agreed services or fees will be confirmed to you in writing before the changes take effect.

Unless expressly agreed in writing, we are not responsible for services outside the scope of your engagement letter, including advice on legal matters, financial advice regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, or investment recommendations.

2. Your responsibilities

To enable us to carry out our services effectively, you agree to:

• Provide us with complete, accurate and timely information and documentation as requested
• Notify us promptly of any changes in your circumstances that may be relevant to the services we provide
• Respond to our requests for information or approval within the timeframes we specify
• Review all documents, returns and accounts we prepare before they are submitted and notify us of any inaccuracies
• Make payment of all fees in accordance with these Terms
• Maintain adequate records to support all information provided to us

You remain responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information you provide to us and for any decisions you make based on our advice. We are not liable for any consequences arising from inaccurate or incomplete information you have provided.

3. Fees and payment

Our fees are as set out in your engagement letter or proposal. Unless otherwise agreed, fees are payable monthly by direct debit on the date specified in your engagement letter.

We reserve the right to review and adjust our fees annually. We will give you at least 30 days' written notice of any fee increase.

Additional work outside the agreed scope will be charged at our standard hourly rates, which will be agreed with you before the work is carried out.

If payment is not received by the due date, we reserve the right to:

• Charge interest on overdue amounts at 8% per annum above the Bank of England base rate
• Suspend the provision of services until payment is received
• Terminate this engagement on written notice

4. Confidentiality

We will keep your affairs strictly confidential and will not disclose information about you or your business to third parties without your consent, except:

• Where required by law or regulation (including HMRC, Companies House or court order)
• Where disclosure is required by our professional body (CIPFA) in connection with a disciplinary or quality assurance review
• To third-party service providers engaged by us to assist in delivering your services, subject to equivalent confidentiality obligations

You agree that we may refer to you as a client in our marketing materials unless you notify us in writing that you object.

5. Data protection

We will process your personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable data protection legislation, including UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Where we act as a data processor on your behalf, the terms of our Data Processing Agreement (available on request) will apply.

6. Professional indemnity

We hold professional indemnity insurance in accordance with CIPFA requirements. Details of our insurance are available on request.

Our liability to you in connection with the services we provide is limited to direct losses caused by our negligence or breach of these Terms. We are not liable for:

• Any indirect, consequential or special losses
• Losses arising from circumstances outside our reasonable control
• Losses arising from your failure to meet your responsibilities under clause 2
• Losses arising from actions or advice of any third party

Our total aggregate liability to you in any 12-month period shall not exceed the fees paid by you to us in that same period, except in cases of fraud or wilful misconduct.

7. Anti-money laundering

As a regulated accountancy firm, we are subject to the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. We are required to verify your identity and, where applicable, the identity of beneficial owners before commencing our engagement. We may ask you to provide identification documents for this purpose.

We are required by law to report suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing to the National Crime Agency (NCA). We cannot notify you if such a report is made, and we will not be liable for any consequences arising from the making of such a report in good faith.

8. Intellectual property

All materials, templates, processes and systems we use in providing our services remain our intellectual property. Documents and reports we prepare specifically for you become your property on full payment of our fees.

9. Complaints

We are committed to providing a high-quality service. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service, please contact us in the first instance at hello@claritax.uk. We will acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to resolve it within 28 days.

If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you may refer the matter to CIPFA, whose contact details are available at cipfa.org.

10. Termination

Either party may terminate this engagement by giving 60 days' written notice to the other. On termination:

• All fees due up to the date of termination become immediately payable
• We will provide you with reasonable assistance in transferring your affairs to a new adviser
• We will release your records to you or your new adviser once all outstanding fees have been paid

We may terminate this engagement immediately on written notice if you fail to pay fees when due, fail to provide information reasonably requested, or if we become aware of circumstances that in our professional judgement make continuation of the engagement inappropriate.

11. Governing law

These Terms and any engagement entered into under them are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute arising in connection with our services shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

12. Contact us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us:

• Email: hello@claritax.uk
• Phone: 0161 531 1656