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Engagement letters CD-Rom
ACCA members are obliged by the rulebook to issue an engagement letter before any work is undertaken, and to retain a signed copy, indicating the client’s understanding and acceptance of the terms of the engagement.
Engagement letters are a very effective loss-avoidance tool. If problems arise in the client relationship, the engagement letter can provide essential evidence of the exact terms agreed, and may well head off an incipient legal action.
Engagement letters should be issued to the client at the outset of an engagement. It is strongly recommended that they are reviewed annually and also when the scope of services changes significantly.
ACCA updated the CD Rom of Engagement Letter templates in 2012. It was previously updated in 2008, but there had been some changes in the interim. There had not been very many changes to standards, but new legislation continued to appear. The updated Engagement Letters CD includes letters updated for the Charities Act 2011, the Bribery Act 2010 and the SRA Accounts Rules 2011. The letters also have been amended for the CAA’s latest guidance on ATOL audits, iXBRL tagging and the latest versions of the clarified ISAs.
There are new letters for service charge accounts, trust accounts, consultancy services and tax credits work. The product also now includes some useful example policy documents for policies on bribery and money laundering.
As stated in the guidance notes with the CD, there will be updates from time to time, but any significant changes that occur after the CD was issued but before the next update, will be detailed on the ACCA website. One such significant change is the introduction of RTI for PAYE. We have taken the original payroll letter and updated it for RTI. You can access the letter here on which we highlighted the changes. This replaces appendix B6 to Technical factsheet 173 Engagement letters for tax practitioners which can be found here.
The new CD will be available to buy, at £30 plus VAT. To order your copy, contact ACCA Connect on 0141 582 2000 or email connect.orders@accaglobal.com.