Whenever you appoint us, we propose to apply the following terms to our engagement. Please read these terms subject to our engagement agreement.

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1.    Our Services
Our services are provided for your use only and for the purpose set out in this Agreement or our written work.

 

Unless required by law or with our prior written consent, you must not use our work for any other purpose or disclose it to any other person (unless they are your professional advisers on a confidential basis). Our work may not be relied on by a third party.

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Our written advice and final reports take precedence over oral advice or interim reports. No reliance should be placed on oral advice or interim reports.

 

We are not responsible for updating advice or reports after issuing a final version.

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You consent to us using electronic forms for communicating with you or on your behalf.

 

You release us from all liability for loss which you may incur if an electronic communication is intercepted or corrupted during transmission, not delivered, if a document we send to you electronically is altered without our written authority or if any electronic communication is infected with a virus.

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We are your independent professional service provider. Our engagement does not represent any other relationship with you including partnership, joint venture, fiduciary, employment or agency arrangements.

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2.    Our Team Based Approach
We will nominate professionals with the best expertise for your needs. An individual Principal, Director or Associate Director will act as liaison and will be responsible for the delivery of our services to you. Generally, they will lead a team of professionals dedicated to achieving the best outcome for you.

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From time to time, we may involve other principals, professionals and service providers where, for example, special expertise is required to achieve the best results. We will keep you informed of any material additions or changes to your service team.

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3.    Scope of Appointment
The scope of work is set out in our engagement agreement. Please let us know if our understanding of this scope is incorrect - we will not undertake tasks which are not specified in the engagement agreement or in later written correspondence.

 

We do not offer compliance accounting, audit, legal or taxation services.

 

We can however introduce another entity to assist with these services that like us is a member of the MACA & Co group of companies.

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Subject to our professional duties under relevant professional standards, our duty of care is to our client named in the engagement agreement and to no other person. Any other person who wishes to rely upon our advice can only do so with our written agreement.

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4.    Conflicts of Interest
We always perform an internal search for potential client conflicts based upon the names of the parties that you have provided, and are not aware of any circumstances that, in our view, would constitute a conflict of interest or would impair our ability to provide objective assistance in this matter.

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Should any unforeseen conflicts arise, that would impair our ability to perform objectively, we will advise you immediately and determine our continued involvement in the engagement.

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We reserve the right to terminate the engagement agreement without penalty at any time a conflict of interest becomes known to us that, in our opinion, would prejudicially impact on our obligations, either to you or a third party.

 

We reserve the right to recover from you fees for work performed by us up to the date of termination of the agreement.

5.    Information
The quality of our services will depend on full and timely instructions from you.

 

We will rely on the accuracy and completeness of information you provide to us. We will not independently verify information, unless requested to do so as a term of our engagement.

 

Information known to Director's or staff of Abbott Adams Solvency Guardians Pty Ltd who are not involved in our engagement with you will not be deemed to have been made available to those who are involved.

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6.    Resources
To do the best job we can, we may require access to your files, records, information technology systems, premises and people. Other resources may be required to ensure timely approval, development and sign-off of all project plans, specifications, accounts and deliverables. We understand you will provide us with reasonable access to these resources without charge.

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7.    Delays
You will not hold us responsible for any failure or delay in connection with our engagement caused by something outside our control. This could include another person's actions or omissions.

 

Our fees may reflect any additional cost we incur from such a delay. If the delay is substantial, we may terminate our appointment.

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8.    Fees
Unless otherwise agreed we charge our fees at a fixed rate and based solely on the scope of work we undertake any other service provided is charged at an hourly rate. Hourly rates are not set out in our engagement agreement.

 

However, they will be charged during the course of our engagement. We will issue invoices setting out our fees and disbursements for extra work carried out. You must agree to pay these invoices within 30 days of the billing date.

 

If an account remains unpaid, we may cease work upon giving you reasonable notice.

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Costs we pay or incur on your behalf are additional to our professional fees, this is also noted in the engagement agreement.

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Costs include phone calls and emails with clients outside the scope of work, travel fares and desktop publishing services.

 

We only use business class within Australia for flights of duration greater than two hours (otherwise economy) and business class or equivalent for overseas air travel.

 

All costs incurred will be charged at cost and itemized in our invoices.

Unless otherwise agreed, we will issue invoices monthly and you must pay our invoices within 30  days after the invoice date. We reserve the right to charge interest on overdue amounts at an annual rate of 2% over the Reserve Bank of Australia's cash rate target applying on the date payment is due.

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You must pay our invoices free of any withholding or deduction in respect of any taxes or duties.

 

If you are required by law to withhold or deduct tax, the amount of each invoice is to be treated as increased to the extent necessary to ensure that, after any withholding or deduction, we receive and retain a net sum equal to the amount of the invoice.

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If we agree with you that any fees or disbursements (and any GST), which would otherwise be payable by you, are to be paid by another person, you will nevertheless remain liable for such fees and disbursements (and any GST) to the extent that such person fails to pay them within a reasonable time.

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9.    Additional costs
In addition to our fees, you agree to pay our reasonable expenses.

 

They may include travel, meals and accommodation (but will exclude any input tax credit that we are entitled to claim).

 

Details of all applicable disbursements will be itemized on our monthly bills.

 

We will charge you at our standard billing rate if we are required to produce documents or attend Court as a result of our appointment at proceedings to which we are not a party.

This may include reasonable legal fees incurred in responding to such requests.

 

10.    Estimates
We may provide you with an estimate of likely fees and costs. The final fees and costs may differ from the estimate. For example, the scope or nature of the appointment may change, or unforeseen circumstances may arise. Any estimate will be based on information you have provided, and may be given subject to assumptions.

11.    Review of fees
We may review our quoted fees if you do not proceed with our engagement within 30 days of the engagement letter, or if we are still performing the services more than 12 months from the date of the engagement letter.

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12.    Taxes including Australian Goods and Services (GST)
In addition to our fees, you agree to pay to us any tax or other charge payable by us (now or in the future) in relation to our appointment.

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Except where specified, all fees and costs referred to in our engagement letter are exclusive of GST. You agree to pay the amount of any GST payable in relation to any supply made in connection with our appointment.

13.    Confidentiality
Both we and you agree to keep confidential any confidential information of the other, except to the extent required by law