Terms and Conditon
SC Accounting
Terms & Conditions
The terms of use of this website include the legal disclaimer, privacy policy and other terms or conditions on this website. The use of this site is at your own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, SC Accounting will not be liable for any loss or damage which may arise as a result of the use of this website or the information on it. This includes, but is not limited to, the transmission of computer viruses.
This website has been developed, for the purpose of disseminating tax, accounting and other information for the benefit of our clients and the public.
Nothing contained on this website is intended to be used as professional advice, nor as a substitute for your own independent professional’s advice.
SC Accounting and its appointed representatives;
- Do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information or material on or in this website.
- May change and update information from time to time
- Disclaim liability to all persons or organisations in relation to any action(s) taken on the basis of currency or accuracy of the information or material, or any loss or damage suffered in connection with that information or material.
Users of the site;
- Are responsible for making their own enquiries before entering into any transactions on the basis of the information or material on this website.
- Must not do anything to alter or modify the information on this site
- Must not use the material in this site for any purpose other than as a source of information for personal use unless authorised to the contrary
- Must not distribute, copy or otherwise reproduce in any way any of the material available from this site unless it is expressly authorised
- Must not post any material which is defamatory, in breach of copyright, in breach of the Trade Practices Act or otherwise in any way unlawful or inappropriate.
- Agree to indemnify SC Accounting from all liability, cost and expense (including legal fees) arising directly or indirectly from the use or distribution by any person of material placed in the site by the user or from the alteration, modification of or addition to material on the site by the user.
- Acknowledge that links to other sites are provided for your convenience only. The inclusion of any link does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them. These links are to websites that are not under control of SC Accounting, therefore SC Accounting is not responsible for the content of any other site accessed from this website.
By using the website of SC Accounting, you consent to the terms and conditions of the site.
Standard Terms and Conditions
Particulars
Firm
Purpose, Scope and Output of the Engagement
- No audit or review will be performed and, accordingly, no assurances will be expressed.
- Our engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities including fraud, other illegal acts and errors that may exist. However, we will inform you of any such matters that come to our attention.
- The financial statements and income tax return for your entities will be prepared for distribution to the directors and shareholders for the purpose noted above. We disclaim any assumption of responsibility for any reliance on our report to any person other than those parties indicated, and for any purpose other than for which it was prepared. Our report will contain a disclaimer to this effect. We will rely on you for both the completeness and accuracy of the information supplied to us and you are solely responsible to users of the special purpose financial report compiled by us. This includes responsibility for the maintenance of adequate accounting records, an adequate internal control structure and the selection and application of appropriate accounting policies.
Responsibilities
In conducting this engagement, information acquired by us in the course of the engagement is subject to strict confidentiality requirements. That information will not be disclosed by us to other parties except as required or allowed for by law, or with your express consent. We wish to draw your attention to our firm’s system of quality control which has been established and maintained in accordance with the relevant APESB standard. As a result, our files may be subject to review as a part of the quality control review program of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia who monitor compliance with professional standards by their members. Prior to the release of any personal information, we will obtain your consent for our files relating to this engagement to be made available under this program. We may collect Personal Information about your representatives, your clients and others when we provide services to you. If we do, you agree to work with us to ensure that we both meet the obligations that we each may have under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The obligations may include notifying the relevant person to whom the personal information relates who we are and how we propose to use that information. Where you have collected personal information, you confirm that you have collected the personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act, that you are entitled to provide this personal information to us and that we may use and disclose the personal information for the purpose/s we provide our services to you. We will handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.
The Client is responsible for the reliability, accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, particulars and information provided and disclosure of all material and relevant information. Clients are required to arrange for reasonable access by us to relevant individuals and documents, and shall be responsible for both the completeness and accuracy of the information supplied to us. Any advice given to the Client is only an opinion based on our knowledge of the Client’s particular circumstances. The Client or Client’s staff is responsible for maintaining and regularly balancing all books of accounts, and the maintenance of an adequate accounting and internal control system. The Client has obligations under self assessment to keep full and proper records in order to facilitate the preparation of accurate returns. It is the Client’s responsibility to keep these records for (5) years. A taxpayer is responsible under self assessment to keep full and proper records in order to facilitate the preparation of a correct return. Whilst the Commissioner of Taxation will accept claims made by a taxpayer in an income tax return and issue a notice of assessment, usually without adjustment, the return may be subject to later review. Under the taxation law such a review may take place within a period of up to four (4) years after tax becomes due and payable under the assessment. Furthermore, where there is fraud or evasion there is no time limit on amending the assessment. Accordingly, you should check the return before it is signed to ensure that the information in the return is accurate. Where the application of a taxation law to your particular circumstances is uncertain you also have the right to request a private ruling which will set out the Commissioner’s opinion about the way a taxation law applies, or would apply, to you in those circumstances. You must provide a description of all of the facts (with supporting documentation) that are relevant to your scheme or circumstances in your private ruling application. If there is any material difference between the facts set out in the ruling and what you actually do the private ruling is ineffective. If you rely on a private ruling you have received, the Commissioner must administer the law in the way set out in the ruling, unless it is found to be incorrect and applying the law correctly would lead to a better outcome for you. Where you disagree with the decision in the private ruling, or the Commissioner fails to issue such a ruling, you can lodge an objection against the ruling if it relates to income tax, fuel tax credit or fringe benefits tax. Your time limits in lodging an objection will depend on whether you are issued an assessment for the matter (or period) covered by the private ruling.
Director Guarantee
Where the Client comprises one or more companies, the directors of such companies (“the Director Guarantors”) jointly and severally engage the firm with the companies and jointly and severally guarantee the due and punctual payment of the Fees owing by the Client in respect of the Services provided, and the due and punctual performance and observance of all covenants, obligations, terms and conditions contained or implied in these terms of engagement to be performed and observed on behalf of the client. If the Client does not pay the Fees as due, the Director Guarantors will immediately pay on demand the outstanding Fees and any interest charged in accordance with these terms of engagement to the Firm.
Limitation of Liability
Our liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. Further information on the scheme is available from the Professional Standards Councils’ website: http://www.professionalstandardscouncil.gov.au.
Ownership of Documents
All original documents obtained from the client arising from the engagement shall remain the property of the client. However, we reserve the right to make a reasonable number of copies of the original documents for our records. We will forward you copies of financial statements and income tax returns which are prepared on your behalf. Ownership of these documents will vest in you. All other documents produced by us in respect of this engagement will remain the property of the firm. The firm has a policy of exploring a legal right of lien over any client documents in our possession in the event of a dispute. The firm has also established dispute resolution processes. Your documents may be destroyed after seven years from the date of our final bill unless you write to us requesting retention for a longer period.
Storage of Data
Our firm engages a third party to provide cloud computing services. Details of these are available upon request and included within our client engagement letter.
Notice to all SC Accounting clients about any matter that could significantly influence decisions to engage the SC Accounting as tax agents
On 2 July 2024, new obligations relating to tax agents was announced by Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) and take effect on the 1 August 2024. These requirements are very detailed, and we have been working with TPB, CA ANZ guidance and peers in accounting practice industry in preparation of these requirements.
In summary, there is now a legal requirement to notify current and prospective clients of SC Accounting about any matter that could significantly influence their decision to engage the tax agent. As such we will be informing you of a number of key items and procedures relating to the partners of SC Accounting as well as the procedures of the firm.
Relevant matters that we must inform clients of are listed below and we are glad to confirm that there is nothing to report on any of these matters. For the sake of clarity, we can confirm that SC Accounting:
- Doesn’t have a prior material breach of the TAS Act
- Is not currently investigated by the TPB of a material breach
- Doesn’t have any sanctions imposed by the TPB or conditions applying to registration
- Doesn’t use disqualified entities in relation to a client or potential client
- Has no charge or conviction relating to an offence relating to fraud or dishonesty or a tax offence
- And has no imposition of a promoter penalty.
In addition, we will also need to inform all clients and prospective clients of other matters to assist in their decision to engage SC Accounting. For most clients at SC Accounting, these will already be known however to ensure full disclosure we can confirm the following items:
1) SC Accounting uses cloud-based services: We can confirm that about 3-4 years ago we conducted a security review of our procedures and concluded that the risk of maintaining internal server was too high and are currently using Microsoft Based cloud based services and two factor authentication for the storage of client files. In addition and as previously mentioned, tax and various accounting functions are also using cloud based, two factor software, specifically the Xero suite of software.
2) Partnership Agreement and Conditions that may impact the Tax Partners ability to do the work: Its important to note that SC Accounting currently has three tax agents and partners. These are Mark Caruso, Param Kokulan and Steve Creelman. In the event that there is a health issue of one of the partners, the other two partners will take over the work and assist until such a time that the unwell partner is back to health again.SC Accounting will also inform the clients impacted regarding any delays as a result in an incapacitated partner.
3) Political Alliances & Religious Views of the Firm: SC Accounting is not affiliated with any political party nor has any affiliation with any religious organisations. Our staff have a range of diversified beliefs. We consider ourselves neutral regarding political and religious views.
4) Government Contracts or Government Engagements: SC Accounting currently is not engaged directly to perform government contracts nor has any active engagements with any government or political parties.
5) Risk and Internal Policies: SC Accounting has implemented a Risk Management Framework and continually reviews the risks of the business at least annually. Any significant events, issues or client feedback is used to assist in building a robust administrative system. Our Administrative systems are agile and in a constant state of continual process improvement.
6) External Outsourcing & Bookkeeping: All Bookkeeping and Accounting is performed inhouse at our offices at Level 4,695 Burke Rd Camberwell VIC. We currently have a policy to not outsource any Bookkeeping or Accounting to other countries nor do we have any immediate plans to do so.