Paul M Willbanks CPA Engagement Letters
We commonly use Engagement Letters to formalize and clarify our services provided. You can expect an Engagement Letter for all services provided by our firm. The Engagement Letter will cover the following important aspects of our relationship in any service provided.
- Scope of services – You can expect the Engagement Letter to clearly delineate the services included in the engagement. The description will be clear and include sufficient details to avoid any misunderstandings.
- The Professional Standards governing the engagement – We are bound by professional standards for the services we perform and the ones relevant to your engagement will be delineated.
- Delivered work product – this may seem obvious – your tax returns. However, we will clearly define what products we will provide along with any restrictions on their use and/or distribution.
- Limitations of our services – clear limitations of our services will be described such as our responsibility or lack thereof to seek and/or detect fraud. And, what we will do if a situation is encountered outside of our defined services.
- Our firm’s and your management’s individual responsibilities – our responsibilities will be clearly limited to the performance of our services as described in the Engagement Letter. Your management team is responsible for operations, oversight, decisions, and functions within your business.
Our Engagement Letters will also speak to the expectation we have for the payment of our invoices. Please be aware that any future services, you ask us to provide, may be severely limited due to the existence of an invoice for products and/or services that remain unpaid beyond normal terms.
We generally discuss and explain each Engagement Letter briefly at the time we request your signature. If you have questions about any of the items explained here or the language in your specific Engagement Letter, we will be most happy to have a clarification discussion with you.
Paul M Willbanks
Privacy Notice
As accountants and tax preparers, we have always protected your right to privacy. Like all providers of personal financial services, we are now required by law to inform our clients of our policies regarding privacy of client information.
Types of Nonpublic Personal Information We Collect
We collect nonpublic personal information about you that is provided to us by you or obtained by us with your authorization.
Parties to Whom We Disclose Information
For current and former clients, we do not disclose any nonpublic personal information obtained in the course of our practice except as required or permitted by law. Permitted disclosures include, for instance, providing information to our employees, and in limited situations, to unrelated third parties who need to know that information to assist us in providing services to you. In all such situations, we stress the confidential nature of information being shared.
Protecting the Confidentiality and Security of Current and Former Clients’ Information
We retain records relating to professional services that we provide so that we are better able to assist you with your professional needs and, in some cases, to comply with professional guidelines. In order to guard your nonpublic personal information, we maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with our professional standards. Please call if you have any questions, because your privacy, our professional ethics, and the ability to provide you with quality financial services are very important to us.