Terms

Terms and conditions – General

Who may instruct us

You confirm that you, and any other personnel that you nominate from time to time, are authorised to give us instructions and information on behalf of all persons we are acting for and to receive our advice and documents on their behalf.

If we are acting for a business, and we receive conflicting advice, information or instructions from different persons, we may refer the matter to the board of directors, partners or proprietors (as applicable) and act only as requested by them.

You, your spouse (if applicable) and other parties

We will advise you and your spouse (where applicable) on the basis that you are a family unit with shared interests. We may deal with either of you and may discuss with either of you the affairs of the other. If you wish to change these arrangements, please let us know.

We understand that you may engage an internal staff member or external bookkeeper to provide required information to our office. Where you have engaged other parties to provided information to our office, we will rely on this information as though it has been provided directly by you.

Know your customer

We may be required to verify your identity for the purposes of the anti-money laundering laws. We may request from you such information as we require for these purposes and make searches of appropriate databases.

Your responsibilities

You must provide us with all information necessary for dealing with your affairs including information which we reasonably request, in sufficient time to enable our services to be completed before any applicable deadline. We will rely on such information being true, correct and complete and will not audit the information.

You authorise us to approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs.

You must keep us informed on a timely basis of changes in your circumstances that may affect our services.

Qualifications on our services

To the extent our services invoice the performance of services established by law, nothing in the engagement letter or these terms reduce our obligations under such law.

You must not act on advice given by us on an earlier occasion without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid.

Our services are limited exclusively to those you have engaged us to perform. Unless otherwise specified in the engagement letter, our services cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities and errors, including fraud and other illegal acts, in your affairs.

Where our engagement is recurring, we may amend our engagement letter and these terms where we consider it necessary or appropriate to do so. If you do not accept such amendments, you must notify us promptly in which case you may terminate our engagement in accordance with the “termination” section below and those amendments will not apply prior to such termination.

Reliance on advice

We will endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. Advice given verbally is not intended to be relied upon unless in writing. If we provide verbal advice (for example during a meeting or telephone conversation) that you wish to rely on, you must ask us to confirm the advice in writing.

Our advice and services will be based on Australian taxation law applicable at the date of the provision of the advice and services. It is your responsibility to seek updated advice if you intend to rely on our advice at a later stage. We note that Australian taxation laws are often subject to frequent change and our advice will not be updated unless specifically requested by you at the time of the change in law or announced change in law.

Investment and financial advisory advice

We will not provide you with investment or financial advice regulated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

No relationship to Griffin Financial Professionals

It is noted that a financial planning business known as Griffin Financial Professionals operates from the same location as Griffin & Associates.

Griffin Financial Professionals is not in any way related to the business of Griffin & Associates. There is no common Directors or Shareholders between these two businesses.

Accordingly, any advice provided by Griffin Financial Professionals is separate from advice provided by our office.

Griffin & Associates does not accept any liability for advice or services provided by Griffin Financial Professionals.

Professional obligations

We will comply with the professional and ethical standards of the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board, available at apesb.org.au. This includes APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards), which among other things contains provisions that apply if we become aware of any actual or potential ‘non-compliance with governing laws or regulations’ (NOCLAR). Where any such non-compliance poses substantial harm (such as serious adverse consequences to investors, creditors, employees, auditor, group auditor or the public), we may be required to disclose the matter to an appropriate authority.

Conflicts of interest

We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest in our relationship with you (including between the various persons this engagement letter covers) or in our relationship with you and another client. Where conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we will be unable to provide further services to some or all of the persons to whom this engagement applies. If this arises, we will inform you promptly.

We may act for other clients whose interests are not the same as or are adverse to yours, subject to the obligations of conflicts of interest and confidentiality referred to above.

Fees and payment

Our fees will be charged on the basis set out in the engagement letter and have been set based upon the level of skill, responsibility, importance and value of the advice, as well as the level of risk.

If we have provided you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, this is an estimate only and our actual fees may vary.

We may provide a fixed fee for the provision of specific services. If it becomes apparent to us, due to unforeseen circumstances, that a fixed fee is inadequate, we may notify you of a revised figure and seek your agreement to it.

In some cases, you may be entitled to assistance with your professional fees, particularly in relation to any investigation into your tax affairs by the ATO. Assistance may be provided through insurance policies you hold or via membership of a professional or trade body. You will remain liable for our fees regardless of whether all or part are to be paid by someone else.

We will invoice monthly and our invoices are due for payment within 30 days of issue. Our fees set out in our engagement letter are exclusive of GST which will be added to our invoice where it is chargeable. Any disbursements and expenses we incur while performing our services will be added to our invoices where appropriate.

Lien

If permitted by law or professional guidelines, we may exercise a lien over all materials or records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.

Confidentiality

We will take all reasonable steps to keep your information confidential, except where:

• We need to disclose your information to our service providers or regulatory bodies in performing the services, our professional advisers or insurers or as part of an external peer review from time to time. Our files may also be subject to review as part of the quality review program of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. By accepting this engagement you acknowledge that, if requested, our files relating to this engagement will be made available under this program. We will take reasonable steps to ensure any such recipient (other than a regulatory body) keeps such information confidential on the same basis;
• We are required by law, regulation, a court of competent authority, or those professional obligations referred to under “Professional Obligations” above, to disclose the information; or
• We provide limited information (but only to the extent reasonably necessary) to potential purchasers (or their professional advisors) of our practice but we will take reasonable steps to ensure that any such recipient keeps the disclosed information confidential;
• We use the information for training purposes, in the development of products or technology, in research or as source material for industry or other benchmarking data or studies; or
• You give us permission to disclose the information.

Where we use the information for training purposes, product or technology development, research or as source material for industry or other benchmarking data or studies, the identity of any individual or entity to which such information relates will not be identifiable from the output of the activity for which the information is to be used or disclosed.

We may retain your information during and after our engagement to comply with our legal requirements or as part of our regular IT back-up and archiving practices. We will continue to hold such information confidentially.

Privacy

You must make all necessary notifications and obtain necessary consents for us to process personal information you provide to us. We collect and use that personal information for the purposes of providing the services described in the engagement letter to you and we will comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) when processing that personal information. Our privacy policy provides further details of our privacy practices.

Ownership of materials

We own the copyright and all other intellectual property rights in everything we create in connection with this engagement. Unless we agree otherwise, anything we create in connection with this agreement may be used by you only for the purpose for which you have engaged us.

All working papers prepared by us (in any form whatsoever, including physical and electronic) remain our property. We retain these papers in accordance with our professional and legal obligations.

You agree we can use your logos and trade marks for the sole purpose of providing advice to you in connection with the engagement, unless you tell us otherwise.

Limitation of liability

Our liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

You agree not to bring any claim against any of our Directors, Shareholders or Employees in their professional capacity.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable to you for:

• Indirect, special or consequential losses or damages of any kind; or
• Liability arising due to the acts or omissions of another person or circumstances outside our reasonable control, or your breach of these terms.

Limitation of third-party rights

Our advice and information is for your sole use, and we accept no responsibility to any third party, unless we have expressly agreed in the engagement letter that a specified third party may rely on our work.

Termination

Each of us may terminate this agreement by giving not less than 21 days’ notice in writing to the other party except where a conflict of interest has arisen, you fail to cooperate with us or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or any other person with misleading or factually inaccurate information, in which case we may terminate this agreement immediately. Termination will not affect any accrued rights.

Communication

You must advise of any changes in your contact details. We may send any communications to the last contact details you have provided. 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. There is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection, or interception by third parties in any form of communication, whether electronic, postal or otherwise. We are not responsible for any such matters beyond our control.

If we are unable to contact you for a period of time on all the contact details you have provided, we may terminate this agreement and cease to act as your accountant and registered tax agent. This termination may require our office to complete the following:

• Removal as registered tax agent with ATO
• Removal as the preferred postal address with the ATO
• Removal as registered ASIC agent
• Removal as the preferred postal address with ASIC
• Any other address changes that may be required

Applicable Law

Our engagement is governed by Queensland law. The courts sitting in Queensland will have non-exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any dispute between us.

Interpretation

If any provision of the engagement letter or these terms is void, that provision will be severed and the remainder will continue to apply. If there is any conflict between the engagement and these terms, these terms will prevail.

Disputes and complaints

If you have any concerns about our costs or services, please speak to a Director of Griffin & Associates. To resolve your concerns, we have policies and procedures in place to deal appropriately with complaints and will use best endeavours to resolve a complaint or dispute to the mutual satisfaction of the parties involved. We may require you to detail your complaint in writing to allow us to fully investigate any concerns that you raise.

Where your complaint concerns a tax agent service that we have provided, you also have the right to make a complaint to the Tax Practitioners Board in accordance with their complaints process described here: https://www.tpb.gov.au/complaints

The TPB will send you an email to acknowledge the receipt of your complaint and review and risk assess your complaint. If you are unhappy with how the TPB has dealt with your complaint, the above link includes details about your review rights and who can further assist you.

Consumer data rights

You may consent for an Accredited Data Recipient under the Consumer Data Right (CDR) or disclose your CDR data to us. You may nominate us as your Trusted Adviser for this purpose. As your Trusted Adviser, we will only access the data necessary to provide the services in the engagement letter.

Cloud computer storage

We may utilise cloud computing service providers, including:

• BGL Simple Fund 360
• BGL Cas 360

Where cloud computing are used, your data will be stored in services physically located in Australia (unless otherwise specified) and in accordance with the security practices of the third party service provider and our Privacy Policy.

Register of Tax Agents and BAS Agents available for you to search

The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) maintains a register with details of registered, suspended and deregistered tax and BAS agents. This register is available to the public to search at https://www.tpb.gov.au/public-register

We are obliged to advise clients of certain events which may influence your decision to engage us as your tax agent (tax agent number 2596 3418).

We are obliged to advise you whether there are any conditions attached to our registration.

Your rights under Taxation Laws (including Tax Agent Services Act and the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination

Please refer to the attached fact sheet published by the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) summarising your obligations to the ATO and your tax practitioner, and your tax practitioner’s obligations to you, the TPB and ATO.

Terms and conditions – Services that our engagement does not include

Updating address and contact details

Unless Griffin & Associates is instructed, you will be responsible to ensure that: (1) your contact details, and (2) associate details (directors, shareholders, public officer, trustees, partners, etc) are up to date with all relevant government bodies, where applicable, including the following:

• Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• Australian Business Register (ABR)

You are also responsible to ensure that your contact details are up to date with our office to ensure we can contact you where we are required to do so.

Superannuation Guarantee

Superannuation legislation requires employers to make Superannuation Guarantee (SG) payments based on employees Ordinary Times Earnings (OTE). These superannuation payments must be paid through a superannuation clearing house at least quarterly within 28^th days of the end of each quarter.

The penalties for short-payment or late payment of superannuation are significant. Griffin & Associates is not responsible for ensuring employers calculate the superannuation liability correctly and pay the required amount by the due date.

General Purpose Financial Statements (GPFS)

Part of our engagement is to prepare unaudited Special Purpose Financial Statements. It is noted that the AASB’s for-profit financial reporting framework now requires some organisations to prepare General Purpose Financial Statements for financial years ending 30 June 2022 and beyond.

It is also noted that organisations can continue to prepare Special Purpose Financial Statements where: (1) they are not required by legislation to prepare financial statements that comply with ‘Australian Accounting Standards’ or ‘accounting standards’ (e.g. Corporations Act), and (2) they are not required by a constituting document (e.g. trust deed) or other document (e.g. bank agreement) to prepare financial statements that comply with ‘Australian Accounting Standards’.

Griffin & Associates only prepares Special Purpose Financial Statements and has accepted this engagement on the basis that your organisation is not required to prepare General Purpose Financial Statements by either legislation, a constituting document or other document.

Should you as a Director, Trustee, Partner or Proprietor be aware that your organisation is required to prepare General Purpose Financial Statements, you should notify our office immediately.

Trust Deed & Company Constitution

A trust deed and company constitution are both legal documents that include important clauses of how the entity operates.

Griffin & Associates are not solicitors and we do not provide legal advice. Accordingly, we are unable to review or advise on the clauses within a trust deed or company constitution. We recommend that trustees and directors regularly review these documents with their solicitor to ensure they meet ongoing requirements.

It is important that trustees and directors maintain original copies and any variations to these documents.

Payroll Tax & Transfer Duty

Under the Tax Agents Services Act 2009 (TASA), tax agent services are defined as ascertaining or advising on the tax liabilities, obligations or entitlements of an entity that arise, or could arise, under a federal taxation law.

We are therefore unable to provide advice on state and territory laws including Payroll Tax and Transfer Duty:

• Payroll Tax – A state-based tax and is self-assessed tax on the wages that employers pay to the employees when the total wages are more than a certain threshold.
• Transfer duty – A state-based tax that a purchaser may be required to pay when acquiring property.

Accordingly, this engagement does not include advice on Payroll Tax and Transfer Duty. You should seek the advice of solicitor if you have any queries with regards to any state-based taxes.

Centrelink entitlements

Rules and regulations with regards to Centrelink entitlements are complicated and subject to regular changes. This engagement does not include advice of any Centrelink entitlements that you may be entitled to.

Investment and financial advisory advice

We will not provide you with investment or financial advice regulated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

The fact sheet is here: TPB Fact Sheet