Terms of Business

The following terms of business apply to all engagements accepted by Barnes & Scott. All work is carried out under these terms except where changes are expressly agreed in writing.

1. APPLICABLE LAW
   1. Our engagement letter, the 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 England will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning this engagement letter and any matter arising from it on any basis. 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.
   2. We will not accept responsibility if you act on advice previously given by us without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid in light of any change in the law or in your circumstances. We will accept no liability for losses arising from changes in the law, or the interpretation thereof, that occur after the date on which the advice is given.
2. CLIENT IDENTIFICATION
   1. As with other professional services firms, we are required to identify our clients for the purposes of the UK anti-money laundering legislation. We may request from you, and retain, such information and documentation as we require for these purposes and/or make searches of appropriate databases. If we are not able to obtain satisfactory evidence of your identity, we will not be able to proceed with the engagement.
3. CLIENT MONEY
   1. We may, from time to time, hold money on your behalf. The money will be held in trust in a client bank account, which is segregated from the firm’s funds. The account will be operated, and all funds dealt with, in accordance with ICAEW’s Clients’ Money Regulations.
   2. All client monies will be held in an interest-bearing account. To avoid excessive administration, interest will only be paid to you if the amount earned on the balances held on your behalf in any calendar year exceeds £25.00. Subject to any tax legislation, interest will be paid gross.
   3. We will return monies held on your behalf promptly, as soon as there is no longer any reason to retain those funds. If any funds remain in our client account that are unclaimed, and the client to which they relate has remained untraced for five years, or we as a firm cease to practise, we may pay those monies to a registered charity.
4. COMMISSIONS OR OTHER BENEFITS
   1. In some circumstances we may receive commissions or other benefits for introductions to other professionals or in respect of transactions which we arrange for you. If this happens, we will notify you in writing of the amount and terms of payment and receipt of any such commissions or benefits. The same will apply if the payment is made to, or the transactions are arranged by, a person or business connected with ours. The fees you would otherwise pay will not be reduced by the amount of the commissions or benefits. You agree that we or our associates, can retain the commission or other benefits without being liable to account to you for any such amounts.
5. CONFIDENTIALITY
   1. Unless we are authorised by you to disclose information on your behalf, we confirm that if you give us confidential information we will, at all times during and after this engagement, keep it confidential, except as required by law or as provided for in regulatory, ethical or other professional pronouncements applicable to us or our engagement.
   2. You agree that, if we act for other clients who are or who become your competitors, to comply with our duty of confidentiality it will be sufficient for us to take such steps as we think appropriate to preserve the confidentiality of information given to us by you, both during and after this engagement. These may include taking the same or similar steps as we take in respect of the confidentiality of our own information.
   3. In addition, if we act for other clients whose interests are or may be adverse to yours, we will manage the conflict by implementing additional safeguards to preserve confidentiality. Safeguards may include measures such as separate teams, physical separation of teams, and separate arrangements for storage of, and access to, information.
   4. You agree that the effective implementation of such steps or safeguards as described above will provide adequate measures to avoid any real risk of confidentiality being impaired.
   5. 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.
   6. We will ensure confidentiality of your information is maintained on cloud based or external systems. The main cloud based system that we use, Xero, has its privacy policy outlined on its website which you should review in conjunction with our terms: https://www.xero.com/uk/about/terms/privacy.
   7. We reserve the right, for promotional activity, training or for other business purposes, to mention that you are a client. As stated above, we will not disclose any confidential information.
6. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
   1. We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest in our relationship with you or in our relationship with you and another client, unless we are unable to do so because of our confidentiality obligations. We have safeguards that can be implemented to protect the interests of different clients if a conflict arises. If conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests, we regret that we will be unable to provide further services.
   2. If there is a conflict of interest that is capable of being addressed successfully by the adoption of suitable safeguards to protect your interests, we will adopt those safeguards. In resolving the conflict, we would be guided by ICAEW’s Code of Ethics, which can be viewed at icaew.com/en/membership/regulations-standards-and-guidance/ethics. During and after our engagement, you agree that we reserve the right to act for other clients whose interests are or may compete with or be adverse to yours, subject, of course, to our obligations of confidentiality and the safeguards set out in the paragraph on confidentiality above.
7. DATA PROTECTION
   1. This clause applies to personal data provided by or on behalf of you about an agreement to provide business services or any engagement letter. Each party shall comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) when processing such personal data. You will ensure that any disclosure of personal data to us complies with the relevant legislation.
   2. We will use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data. We will not sub-contract any processing of personal data unless that personal data continues to be subject to an appropriate level of protection. To the extent that we act as data processor for you, we will only process personal data in accordance with your instructions.
   3. We will notify you within 10 working days if an individual asks for copies of their personal data, makes a complaint about the processing of personal data or serves a notice from a relevant Data Protection Authority. You and we will consult and cooperate with each other when responding to any such request, complaint or notice.
   4. We will answer your reasonable enquiries to enable you to monitor compliance with this clause.
   5. We may hold your own or your client’s details which may include names, private addresses, date of birth, tax and NI references, company number, employer’s reference and name, business details and details of past and present taxable income and gains and data on other taxes.
   6. We hold this data to allow us to provide accountancy and tax compliance and tax advisory services.
   7. We also hold data in order to make ID checks under the Money Laundering Regulations, this may include a copy of your passport or driving licence and evidence of your address.
   8. We retain data for as long as statute or regulations demand.
   9. We hold data electronically and on paper.
   10. We normally destroy files after six years.
   11. Our computer hard drives are destroyed before disposal.
   12. We do not allow any third party access to our data, however, our IT support (mainly carried out by third parties) may work on software programmes that hold that data such as our databases.
   13. We store data via third party servers and we use applications including Dropbox, Microsoft and Google products.
   14. Data held on third party servers is highly protected by security features including firewalls, regular scans against malware and measures to prevent SQL injection.
   15. We process and store data using our tax and accounting software, such software may be located ‘in the Cloud’ and if so we rely on the software provider’s security features and all access if password protected.
   16. When software is installed on our local machines all software is password protected.
   17. We prohibit the use of memory sticks to hold client data. If you provide us with a memory stick we will not transport it out of our office.
   18. We will only share data with HMRC and HM Courts and Tribunal’s service, during the course of an enquiry or investigation or tax appeal or other reasons if:
       a) We authorised to do so by the taxpayer, or
       b) In the case of a Schedule 36 FA 2008 Information Notice, we have either been so authorised by a tribunal or we are compelled to provide data under the terms of a third party notice, or
       c) We are obliged by other regulations to provide data.
   19. We may use third party contractors in our business and they are required to sign a ‘Fit and proper’ declaration which includes a declaration that they will not remove data or pass on data to other parties.
   20. We are registered with the Information Commissioner.
8. DISENGAGEMENT
   1. If we resign or are asked to resign, we will normally issue a disengagement letter to ensure that our respective responsibilities are clear. If we have no contact with you for a period of two months or more, we may issue to your last known address a disengagement letter and thereafter cease to act.
9. ELECTRONIC AND OTHER COMMUNICATION
   1. Unless you instruct us otherwise, we may, if appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties by email or other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus checking emails and any attachments.
   2. 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 in emails or by electronic storage devices. Nevertheless, electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses or 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 when electronic submission is mandatory.
   3. Any communication by us with you sent through the postal [or DX] system is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day the document was sent.
10. FEES AND PAYMENT TERMS
    1. Please refer to our dedicated page on fees and payment terms here. 
11. HELP US TO GIVE YOU THE BEST SERVICE
    1. We are committed to providing you with a high quality service that is both efficient and effective. If, at any point you would like to discuss with us how our service to you could be improved, or if you are dissatisfied with the service you are receiving, please let us know by contacting Tasnim Mustafa on [email protected].
    2. We undertake to consider any complaint carefully and promptly and to do all we can to explain the position to you. If we do not answer your complaint to your satisfaction, you may, of course, take up the matter with our professional body, ICAEW.
12. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND USE OF OUR NAME
    1. We will retain all intellectual property rights in any document prepared by us during the engagement except where the law specifically states otherwise.
    2. You are not permitted to use our name in any statement or document you may issue unless our prior written consent has been obtained. The only exception to this restriction would be statements or documents that, in accordance with applicable law, are to be made public.
13. INTERPRETATION
    1. If any provision of our engagement letter or terms of business is held to be void, that provision will be deemed not to form part of this contract. 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.
14. INTERNAL DISPUTES WITHIN A CLIENT
    1. If we become aware of a dispute between the parties who own the business. or who are in some way involved in its ownership and management, 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 normal place of business for the attention of the directors. If conflicting advice, information or instructions are received from different directors in the business, we will refer the matter back to the board of directors and take no further action until the board has agreed the action to be taken.
15. INVESTMENT ADVICE (INCLUDING INSURANCE MEDIATION SERVICES)
    1. Investment business is regulated by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. If, during the provision of professional services to you, you need advice on investments including insurances, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority or licensed by a Designated Professional Body, as we are not.
16. LIEN
    1. In so far as we are permitted to so by law or by 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.
17. LIMITATION OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS
    1. 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. A party to this agreement is the only person who has the right to enforce any of its terms, and no rights or benefits are conferred on any third party under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
18. PERIOD OF ENGAGEMENT AND TERMINATION
    1. Unless otherwise agreed in our engagement letter, our work will begin when we receive implicit or explicit acceptance of that letter. Except as stated in that letter, we will not be responsible for periods before that date.
    2. Each of us may terminate our agreement by giving not less than 30 days’ notice in writing to the other party except if 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 before termination.
    3. We reserve the right to terminate the engagement between us with immediate effect in the event of: your insolvency, bankruptcy or other arrangement being reached with creditors; an independence issue or change in the law which means we can no longer act; failure to pay our fees by the due dates; or either party being in breach of their obligations if this is not corrected within 30 days of being asked to do so.
    4. In the event of termination of our 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 will not be required to carry out further work and shall not be responsible or liable for any consequences arising from termination.
19. PROFESSIONAL RULES AND STATUTORY OBLIGATIONS
    1. We will observe and act in accordance with the Bye-laws, regulations and Code of Ethics of ICAEW and will accept instructions to act for you on this basis. In particular you give us the authority to correct errors made by HMRC if 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 in our offices. The requirements are also available online at icaew.com/en/membership/regulations-standards-and-guidance.
20. QUALITY CONTROL
    1. As part of our ongoing commitment to provide a quality service, our files are periodically reviewed by an independent regulatory or quality control body. These reviewers are highly experienced professionals and are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as our principals and staff. 20.2. When dealing with HMRC on your behalf we are required to be honest and to take reasonable care to ensure that your returns are correct. To enable us to do this, you are required to be honest with us and to provide us with all necessary information in a timely manner. For more information about ‘Your Charter’ for your dealings with HMRC, visit www.gov.uk/government/publications/your-charter. To the best of our abilities, we will ensure that HMRC meet their side of the Charter in their dealings with you.
21. RELIANCE ON ADVICE
    1. 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 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.
22. RETENTION OF PAPERS
    1. You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your financial affairs. During our work, we may collect information from you and others relevant to your tax and financial affairs. We will return any original documents to you if requested. Documents and records relevant to your tax affairs are required by law to be retained as follows: Individuals, trustees and partnerships: a) with trading or rental income: five years and 10 months after the end of the tax year b) otherwise: 22 months after the end of the tax year. Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships, and other corporate entities: c) six years from the end of the accounting period.
    2. Although certain documents may legally belong to you, we may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store electronically or otherwise that are more than seven years old, except documents we think may be of continuing significance. You must tell us if you wish us to keep any document for any longer period.
23. THE PROVISION OF SERVICES REGULATIONS 2009
    1. Our professional indemnity insurer is QBE UK Limited (registered in England number 01761561 and authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority, number 202842) and is arranged by Marsh Commercial (Castlemead, Lower Castle Street, Bristol BS1 3AG). The territorial coverage is worldwide, excluding professional business carried out from an office in the United States of America or Canada, and excludes any action for a claim brought in any court in the United States or Canada.
24. TIMING OF OUR SERVICES
    1. If you provide us with all information and explanations on a timely basis in accordance with our requirements, we will plan to undertake the work within a reasonable period to meet any regulatory deadlines. However, failure to complete our services before any such regulatory deadline would not, of itself, mean that we are liable for any penalty or additional costs arising.