Terms & Conditions
These Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) apply to professional services supplied by TOP Bookkeeping Services Ltd (“TOP Bookkeeping”, “we”, “us” or “our”).
They should be read together with any quotation, proposal, scope of work or letter of engagement agreed with you. Where specific engagement terms expressly differ from these Terms, the specific engagement terms will take precedence.
Our Services
Depending on the agreed scope of work, our services may include:
- outsourced bookkeeping;
- maintenance and reconciliation of accounting records;
- management accounting;
- year-end accounts;
- Self Assessment tax returns;
- Corporation Tax services; and
- cloud accounting support using platforms such as Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreshBooks and FreeAgent.
The precise scope of each engagement will be agreed separately.
Work outside the agreed scope is not included unless separately agreed and may result in additional fees.
Professional Standard
We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill and in accordance with applicable legal, regulatory and professional requirements.
Our work is based on the information, records and explanations supplied or made available to us.
Unless expressly agreed otherwise, our services do not constitute an audit, assurance engagement or independent verification of all information provided.
No advice, calculation, return or submission can guarantee that HM Revenue & Customs, Companies House or another authority will accept a particular treatment or will not undertake an enquiry.
Your Responsibilities
You remain responsible for your personal or business affairs and for the completeness and accuracy of information supplied to us.
You agree to:
- maintain appropriate underlying records;
- provide complete and accurate information;
- provide information and instructions within a reasonable time;
- notify us of material changes relevant to our work;
- review accounts, returns and other documents provided for approval;
- notify us promptly of any error or omission; and
- ensure taxes and other liabilities are paid by their applicable deadlines.
We may rely on information supplied by you unless there is an apparent reason to believe it is materially incorrect.
Deadlines and Submissions
Where filing or submission services form part of our engagement, we will use reasonable endeavours to meet applicable deadlines.
Our ability to do so depends on receiving complete information, instructions and approvals sufficiently in advance.
We will not be responsible for penalties, interest, delays or other loss to the extent caused by:
- late, incomplete or inaccurate information;
- delayed instructions or approval;
- failure to disclose a relevant matter;
- failure to make a required payment; or
- circumstances outside our reasonable control.
Accounts and Tax Services
Where we prepare accounts, tax returns or other submissions, you are responsible for reviewing documents submitted for your approval and confirming that the underlying information is complete and accurate.
Tax law, accounting requirements and official guidance may change.
Advice is based on the law, guidance and circumstances reasonably known when it is provided. Unless separately agreed, we are not required to update previous advice solely because the law, guidance or your circumstances subsequently change.
Fees and Payment
Fees will be set out in the relevant quotation, proposal or engagement documentation.
Unless otherwise agreed:
- fees cover only the agreed scope of work;
- additional or materially different work may be charged separately; and
- invoices are payable in accordance with the payment terms stated on them.
If an undisputed amount remains materially overdue, we may suspend or terminate services after giving reasonable notice.
Suspension or termination does not remove your responsibility for statutory deadlines, filings or payments.
Cloud Accounting and Third Parties
Our services may involve third-party accounting, cloud, communications or technology providers, including Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreshBooks and FreeAgent.
Third-party services are governed by their own terms, availability and security arrangements.
We will not be responsible for loss arising solely from an outage, failure, security incident or other act of an independent third-party provider that is outside our reasonable control.
Anti-Money Laundering
We are required to comply with applicable anti-money laundering, financial crime and professional requirements.
You agree to provide identification, ownership and other information reasonably required to complete client due diligence.
We may use appropriate verification services to conduct these checks.
We may decline, suspend or terminate an engagement where required checks cannot be satisfactorily completed or where continuing to act would breach a legal or professional obligation.
Where legally required to make a disclosure to a competent authority, we may be prohibited from informing you.
Confidentiality
We will treat information obtained through our professional relationship as confidential.
Information may be disclosed where:
- you authorise disclosure;
- disclosure is reasonably necessary to provide the agreed services;
- disclosure is required by law or a competent authority;
- disclosure is required by a professional or regulatory body; or
- disclosure is reasonably necessary to obtain professional, legal or insurance advice.
Data Protection
Personal information will be processed in accordance with applicable UK data protection law and our Privacy Policy.
Where additional data-processing arrangements are legally required for a particular engagement, they may be included in the relevant engagement documentation.
Electronic Communications
We may communicate through email, telephone, accounting platforms, secure portals or other appropriate electronic methods.
Although reasonable security precautions are used, electronic communications cannot be guaranteed to be completely secure or error-free.
You should independently verify any unexpected communication requesting payment, changes to bank details or disclosure of sensitive information.
Reliance on Our Work
Our services and advice are provided for the client and purpose for which they were prepared.
Unless expressly agreed in writing, no third party may rely on our work.
We accept no responsibility to a third party who relies on our work without our written agreement, except where liability cannot legally be excluded.
Liability
We are responsible for loss to the extent directly caused by our failure to exercise reasonable care and skill in providing the agreed services.
We will not be responsible for loss to the extent caused or contributed to by:
- inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information supplied to us;
- unreasonable delay in providing information or instructions;
- failure to follow advice provided;
- acts or omissions of independent third parties outside our reasonable control;
- subsequent changes in law, regulation or official guidance; or
- events outside our reasonable control.
Any specific financial limitation of liability applicable to an engagement should be set out in the relevant engagement documentation.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or restricts liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Nothing in these Terms limits mandatory statutory rights available to consumers.
Conflicts of Interest
We will take reasonable steps to identify actual or potential conflicts of interest.
Where a conflict arises, we may implement appropriate safeguards, seek consent where professionally permitted, or cease to act where the conflict cannot properly be managed.
Ending an Engagement
Either party may end an engagement in accordance with any notice arrangements specifically agreed between them.
Where no period has been agreed, either party may terminate by giving reasonable written notice.
We may suspend or terminate an engagement where:
- undisputed fees remain materially overdue;
- information reasonably required to provide the services is repeatedly withheld;
- client due diligence cannot be completed;
- continuing to act would breach legal or professional requirements;
- an unmanageable conflict of interest arises; or
- the professional relationship has materially broken down.
Termination does not affect rights or obligations arising before termination.
Following termination, you remain responsible for future filing, tax and other statutory deadlines.
Consumer Rights
Nothing in these Terms excludes or restricts any statutory right that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Where you are legally treated as a consumer and statutory cancellation rights apply to an engagement entered into at a distance, those rights will apply in accordance with applicable UK law.
Complaints
If you are dissatisfied with our services, please contact us promptly so that we have an opportunity to investigate and respond.
Where applicable, a professional or regulatory complaint may also be referred to the relevant professional body in accordance with its procedures.
General
If any provision of these Terms is invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in effect.
A failure or delay in exercising a right does not waive that right.
No third party may enforce these Terms unless expressly agreed otherwise.
These Terms, together with the relevant engagement documentation, form the basis on which the agreed professional services are provided.
Governing Law
These Terms and any engagement governed by them are subject to the laws of the United Kingdom as applicable to the relevant engagement.
Nothing in these Terms overrides any mandatory jurisdictional or statutory rights that apply to a consumer.
Contact
Questions relating to these Terms or an engagement should be directed to TOP Bookkeeping Services Ltd using the contact details published on our website.