Terms and Conditions
Updated November 2026
The following terms of business, clauses 1 to 26 inclusive, apply to all engagements accepted by Accura Accountants Limited or Accura Audit Limited, whichever company is named in your engagement letter (“we”, “us”, “our”). All work is carried out under these terms except where changes are expressly agreed in writing. These terms should be read together with our engagement letter, and if there is any conflict between the two, the engagement letter takes priority. By signing the engagement letter, you are agreeing to the terms of business below.
1. Professional Rules & Practice Guidelines
1.1 Accura Accountants Limited is a member firm of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Accura Audit Limited is registered as an audit firm by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). In these terms, “our professional body” means the ACCA where your engagement is with Accura Accountants Limited and the ICAEW where your engagement is with Accura Audit Limited.
1.2 We will observe the bye-laws, regulations and ethical guidelines of our professional body and accept instructions to act for you on the basis that we will act in accordance with them. You can see copies of these requirements in our offices. They are also available on the internet at https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/about-us/regulation/rulebook for the ACCA and https://www.icaew.com/regulation for the ICAEW. When providing tax services, we will also follow the professional guidance known as Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation (PCRT).
1.3 Both companies are registered as auditors and are eligible to conduct audits under the relevant legislation where an audit is required. Details of their registrations can be found at https://www.auditregister.org.uk, where Accura Accountants Limited is registered under number 2467490.
1.4 We hold professional indemnity insurance as required by our professional body. Details of our current insurer and the territorial coverage of the policy are available from our office on request.
2. Bribery Act 2010
2.1 In accordance with the requirements of the Bribery Act 2010, we have policies and procedures in place to prevent the business and its directors and staff from offering or receiving bribes.
3. Investment Services
3.1 We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to conduct investment business, and we are not licensed by our professional body to provide investment services. We will not give investment advice or recommend any particular investment or type of investment.
3.2 If you need investment advice, we may refer you to a Permitted Third Party (PTP), which is an independent firm authorised by the FCA. The PTP will issue you with its own terms and conditions, will be paid separately for its services and will take full responsibility for compliance with the requirements of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
3.3 We may provide accounting and tax advice in connection with shares or other securities in a company that are not publicly traded, for example share valuations for tax purposes. We will not arrange the issue, sale or transfer of shares or other securities, or advise you on whether to buy, sell or hold them.
3.4 We may receive commission from an introduction to a PTP. If so, we will tell you in writing the expected amount and nature of the commission at the time of the introduction. The commission will be held in our client bank account until we receive your instructions on how it should be treated. If we do not receive instructions, we may use the money against any of our fees that have been outstanding for 30 days or more and that are not in dispute.
3.5 We may ask you to allow us to keep such commission to cover our costs, but we will only do so with your separate written agreement. If you are dissatisfied in any way with our services described in this section, you should follow the procedure in clause 9 (Help Us to Give You the Right Service).
4. Commissions or Other Benefits
4.1 In some circumstances we may receive commissions or other benefits for introductions to other professionals or businesses. Where this happens, we will tell you in writing the amount, the terms of payment and the receipt of any such commission or benefit.
4.2 Commission received from an introduction to a PTP will be dealt with as set out in clauses 3.4 and 3.5. For any other commission or benefit, we will only keep it without accounting to you for it where you have agreed to this in writing.
5. Clients’ Money
5.1 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 kept separate from the firm’s own funds. The account will be operated, and all funds dealt with, in accordance with the clients’ money regulations of our professional body.
5.2 To reduce administration, interest on client money will be paid to you only where the amount of interest accrued in any calendar year exceeds £25, unless agreed otherwise in writing.
6. Retention of Records
6.1 You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your tax affairs. During the course of our work, we may collect information from you and others relevant to your affairs. We will return any original documents to you if requested. The minimum retention periods required by law are as follows:
Individuals, trustees and partnerships
- With trading or rental income, 5 years and 10 months after the end of the relevant tax year.
- Otherwise, 22 months after the end of the relevant tax year.
Companies, LLPs and other corporate entities
- 6 years from the end of the accounting period.
These are minimum periods. Records may need to be kept for longer, for example where HMRC has opened an enquiry or a return was filed late.
6.2 Although certain documents may legally belong to you, we may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store (electronically or otherwise) which are more than 7 years old. You must tell us if you require the retention of any specific documents for a longer period.
7. Conflicts of Interest and Independence
7.1 We reserve the right to act during this engagement for other clients whose interests may be adverse to yours. We will tell you promptly if we become aware of any conflict of interest affecting our work for you.
7.2 Where a conflict arises, we will consider whether safeguards, such as using separate teams, can adequately protect your interests. If they cannot, or if the ethical rules of our professional body require it, we may need to stop acting for one or more of the clients concerned.
8. Confidentiality
8.1 Where you give us confidential information, we will at all times keep it confidential, except as required by law or as provided for in regulatory, ethical or other professional statements relevant to our engagement.
8.2 You agree that we will be complying sufficiently with our duty of confidence if we take steps that we in good faith think fit to keep appropriate information confidential during and after our engagement.
8.3 We may, on occasions, subcontract work on your affairs to other tax or accounting professionals. The subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality and data security terms, as described in clause 13.
8.4 We will only mention that you are a client, for the purposes of promotional activity, training or other business purposes, with your prior written consent. We will not disclose any confidential information when doing so.
8.5 Accura Accountants Limited and Accura Audit Limited work closely together and share premises, staff and systems. You agree that the two companies may share information about you with each other where this is needed to provide our services, subject to the same duties of confidentiality and data protection.
9. Help Us to Give You the Right Service
9.1 If at any time 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 Gary Chajet by telephone on +44 (0) 20 8444 2000, by email at info@accuramail.com or in writing to Langley House, 53 Theobald Street, Borehamwood, WD6 4RT.
9.2 We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and to do all we can to explain the position to you. If you feel that we have given you a less than satisfactory service, we undertake to do everything reasonable to address your concerns. If you are still not satisfied, you may take up the matter with our professional body.
10. Lien
10.1 Insofar as permitted by law and the guidance of our professional body, we may keep documents and records in our possession that relate to work we have carried out for you until our fees and disbursements for that work have been paid in full. This does not apply to your statutory books and records, or to money we hold on your behalf in our client bank account except as set out in clause 3.4.
11. Limitation of Liability
11.1 We will provide our professional services with reasonable care and skill. However, we will not be held responsible for any losses arising from the supply by you or others of incorrect or incomplete information, from your or others’ failure to supply any appropriate information, or from your failure to act on our advice or to respond promptly to communications from us or other relevant authorities.
11.2 You agree to indemnify us against any loss arising from any misrepresentation made to us, whether intentional or unintentional and whether oral or written, in connection with this engagement, except to the extent that we knew, or should reasonably have known, that the information was incorrect. You also agree that you will not bring any claim in connection with services provided to you by the firm against any of our directors or employees personally.
11.3 We have discussed with you the extent of our liability to you in respect of the professional services set out in our engagement letter. Having considered both your circumstances and our own, we have agreed that this firm’s aggregate liability, whether to you or to any other party, of whatever nature, whether in contract, tort or otherwise, for any losses whatsoever and howsoever caused arising from or in any way connected with this engagement, shall not exceed 12 times the fees charged for the work to which the claim relates.
11.4 The limit on our total aggregate liability will not apply to any acts, omissions or representations that are in any way criminal, dishonest or fraudulent on the part of the firm, its directors or employees.
11.5 Our liability to you is limited to losses, damages, costs and expenses caused by our negligence or wilful default.
11.6 Exclusion of Liability for Loss Caused by Others
We will not be liable for any losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities that are due to the acts or omissions of any other person, to the provision to us of incomplete, misleading or false information, or to a failure to act on our advice or to provide us with relevant information.
11.7 Exclusion of Liability in Relation to Circumstances Beyond Our Control
We will not be liable to you for any delay or failure to perform our obligations under this engagement if the delay or failure is caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control.
11.8 Exclusion of Liability Relating to the Discovery of Fraud
We will not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage or expense incurred or sustained if information material to the service we are providing is withheld or concealed from us or wrongly misrepresented to us, or from fraudulent acts, misrepresentation or wilful default on the part of any party to the transaction and their directors, officers, employees, agents or advisers. This exclusion shall not apply where such misrepresentation, withholding or concealment is or should (in carrying out the procedures which we have agreed to perform with reasonable care and skill) have been evident to us without further enquiry.
11.9 Indemnity for Unauthorised Disclosure
You agree to indemnify us and our agents in respect of any claim (including any claim for negligence) arising out of any unauthorised disclosure of our advice and opinions, whether in writing or otherwise. This indemnity will extend to the cost of defending any such claim, including payment at our usual rates for the time that we spend in defending it.
11.10 Liability That Cannot Be Limited
Nothing in these terms limits or excludes any liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
11.11 Statutory Audit Work
Nothing in this clause 11 limits or excludes our liability as statutory auditor to a company, or requires a company to indemnify us in that capacity, except to the extent permitted by sections 532 to 538 of the Companies Act 2006 (for example under a liability limitation agreement approved by the company’s members).
12. Electronic and Other Communication
12.1 As instructed, we will communicate with you, and with any third parties you instruct us to, by email or by other electronic means, as set out in our engagement letter and privacy notice. The recipient is responsible for virus-checking emails and any attachments.
12.2 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 through emails or electronic storage devices. However, electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses, nor for communications that 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 accept 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 hard copy, other than where electronic submission is mandatory.
12.3 Any communication by us with you sent through the post or DX system is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day that the document was sent.
13. Data Protection
13.1 We will comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 when processing personal data about you, your officers and employees, and your or their families. Processing means:
- obtaining, recording or holding personal data, or
- carrying out any operation or set of operations on personal data, including collecting, storing, organising, adapting, altering, using, disclosing (by any means) or removing (by any means) it from records, whether manual or digital.
13.2 For accounting, tax and other services, we act as a data controller. The personal data we obtain, process, use and disclose will be necessary for:
- the performance of our contract with you
- compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations and crime prevention
- contacting you with details of other services where you have consented to us doing so, and
- our other legitimate interests, including protection against potential claims and disciplinary action against us.
This includes, but is not limited to, purposes such as updating and enhancing our client records, analysis for management purposes and statutory returns.
13.3 Under the ethical and regulatory rules of our professional body, we are required to allow it access to client files and records for the purpose of maintaining our membership or registration.
13.4 Further details on how we process personal data are contained in our privacy notice, which is available on our website at www.accuraaccountants.com or on request, and should be read alongside these terms.
13.5 Where we provide payroll services, you are the data controller and we act as a data processor on your behalf. The processing covers the personal data needed to calculate, pay and report payroll for the duration of the engagement, including names, contact details, National Insurance numbers, tax codes, pay, bank details, pension information and, where relevant, information about sickness or family leave, relating to your employees, directors and other payees. In carrying out this processing, we will:
- process the personal data only on your documented instructions, which are set out in our engagement letter and these terms, unless the law requires otherwise (in which case we will tell you first, unless the law prevents this)
- make sure everyone who processes the data is bound by a duty of confidentiality
- take appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep the data secure
- only use another processor (a sub-processor) with your general written authorisation, which you give by accepting these terms, and on terms giving the same protection as this clause. We will tell you of any intended addition or replacement, and you may object to it
- help you, as far as reasonably possible, to respond to requests from individuals exercising their data protection rights, and to meet your obligations on security, breach notification and data protection impact assessments
- tell you without undue delay after becoming aware of a personal data breach affecting the payroll data
- at the end of the engagement, delete or return the personal data as you choose, unless the law requires us to keep it, and
- give you the information you reasonably need to show that these obligations are being met, and allow reasonable audits or inspections by you or an auditor you appoint, on reasonable notice and at your cost.
You remain responsible for having a lawful basis for the processing and for giving your employees and other payees the privacy information they are entitled to.
13.6 To deliver our services efficiently, we may engage third-party service providers to carry out certain administrative or professional functions, such as bookkeeping, data processing and other support tasks. Any provider we engage is contractually required to keep your information confidential and to comply with UK data protection law, including UK GDPR.
13.7 Some of our service providers may access personal data from outside the United Kingdom. Where this happens, we will make sure the transfer is protected as UK data protection law requires, for example by using the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses, or by transferring only to countries covered by UK adequacy regulations.
13.8 If you have any concerns or specific requirements about the use of outsourced providers, please tell us in writing before work begins and we will discuss them with you. Further details of our arrangements with third-party providers and the measures we use to protect your data are available on request.
14. Anti-Money Laundering
14.1 In accordance with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, you agree to waive your right to confidentiality to the extent of any report made, document provided or information disclosed to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
14.2 You also acknowledge that we are required to report directly to the NCA, without prior reference to you or your representatives, if during the course of our work we know or suspect that money laundering or terrorist financing is taking place. The law may also prevent us from telling you that a report has been made.
14.3 Like other professional services firms, we are required to have appropriate risk-based policies and procedures for assessing and managing money laundering risks. These apply at the start of any business relationship and throughout its lifetime, and include carrying out appropriate customer due diligence. We may request from you, and retain, such information and documentation as we require for these purposes and may 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.
14.4 Records created as part of the customer due diligence process, including any non-engagement documents relating to the client relationship and ongoing monitoring of it, will be retained by us for five years after we cease to act for you. We may keep them for longer if we are required to do so by law or for legal proceedings, or if you consent, in which case they will be retained for no more than 10 years.
15. Quality Control
15.1 As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a quality service, our files are periodically reviewed by an independent regulatory or quality controller. Our reviewers are highly experienced and professional people and are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as our directors and staff.
16. Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999
16.1 Only someone who is a party to this agreement has the right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of its terms, except that our directors and employees may rely on and enforce clause 11.2. This clause does not affect any right or remedy that exists independently of the Act.
16.2 The advice we give you is for your sole use and is not for any third party to whom you may communicate it. We accept no responsibility to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them.
17. Fees
17.1 Our fees are normally calculated on the basis of the time spent on your affairs and on the levels of skill or responsibility involved, together with any disbursements incurred in connection with the engagement. We will issue invoices at intervals which we consider appropriate during the course of the year. We will add value added tax (VAT), if applicable, at the current rate.
17.2 Charges for recurring work are subject to an agreed fee reviewed on an annual basis. Fees for any other non-recurring matters are charged at our appropriate hourly rates, which are available on request, and invoiced at the conclusion of the particular matter.
17.3 Our invoices are payable on presentation. We reserve the right to charge interest at 3% per year over the Bank of England base rate on overdue accounts. We may terminate our engagement and cease acting if payment of any fees billed is unduly delayed. It is not our intention, however, to use these arrangements in a way which is unfair or unreasonable.
17.4 If it is necessary to carry out work outside the scope of our engagement letter, we will tell you in advance. This will involve additional fees. It is therefore in your interest to ensure that your records are completed to the agreed stage.
17.5 If our fees are not paid, we will stop all further work until they are paid. We accept no responsibility or liability for any fines, penalties or interest that arise in these circumstances.
17.6 Where the client is a company, limited liability partnership or other organisation, and our engagement letter records that the person signing it accepts personal liability for our fees, that person agrees, in their personal capacity, to be jointly and severally liable with the client for all fees and disbursements due to us under the engagement if the client does not pay them.
Where the client is a company or limited liability partnership, it must tell us in writing within 14 days of any new director or member being appointed. We may ask any new director or member to sign a confirmation accepting personal liability on the same basis. If they do not do so, we may stop acting for the client on written notice, and our fees and disbursements for work already carried out will remain payable.
A person who has accepted personal liability under this clause remains liable for our fees and disbursements for work carried out up to the date we receive written notice that they have ceased to be a director or member, even after they leave, unless we release them in writing.
17.7 We reserve the right to pass any unpaid debt to a collection agency, and any costs we incur in doing so will be passed on to you. We also reserve the right to pass details of non-payment to relevant credit reference agencies, as explained in our privacy notice.
18. Implementation
18.1 We will only assist with implementation of our advice if specifically instructed in writing.
19. Intellectual Property Rights
19.1 We will retain all copyright in any document prepared by us during the course of carrying out the engagement, except where the law specifically provides otherwise. You may use the documents we provide to you for the purpose for which they were prepared, including filing them with HMRC, Companies House or other authorities.
20. Applicable Law
20.1 Our engagement with you is governed by, and interpreted in accordance with, English law. The Courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning our engagement letter and terms of business and any matter arising from them. Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have to object to any action being brought in those courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inconvenient forum, or to claim that those courts do not have jurisdiction.
21. Period of Engagement and Termination
21.1 Unless otherwise agreed in our engagement letter, and subject to clause 25 for consumer clients, our work will begin when we receive your implicit or explicit acceptance of that letter. Except as stated in that letter, we will not be responsible for periods before that date.
21.2 Each of us may terminate this agreement by giving not less than 21 days’ notice in writing to the other party. We may terminate this agreement immediately where you fail to cooperate with us or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or HMRC with misleading information. Termination will be without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued to either of us before termination.
21.3 If this agreement is terminated, we will endeavour to agree with you the arrangements for completing work in progress at that time, unless we are required for legal or regulatory reasons to cease work immediately. If we are required to cease work immediately, we will not be required to carry out further work and will not be responsible or liable for any consequences arising from termination.
21.4 If we are appointed as a company’s statutory auditor, that appointment can only end in the ways set out in the Companies Act 2006, such as resignation or removal, and not by notice under clause 21.2.
22. Disengagement
22.1 Should we resign or be requested to resign, a disengagement letter will be issued to ensure that our respective responsibilities are clear. If we have no contact with you for a period of twelve months or more, we may issue a disengagement letter or simply cease to act.
23. Tax Advice
23.1 Tax law and HMRC practice change over time and can be interpreted in different ways. Our advice is based on the law and practice at the time it is given, and we are not responsible for updating it for later changes unless we agree to do so in writing.
23.2 We will confirm important advice in writing. Advice given orally, including in meetings or by telephone or video call, should not be relied on unless we have confirmed it in writing. If you wish to rely on oral advice, please ask us to confirm it in writing.
24. Use of Artificial Intelligence
24.1 We may use secure artificial intelligence (AI) tools that have been approved for business use to support our work, for example to help with research, analysis, drafting and summarising. These tools are used under business or enterprise accounts, and our staff are not permitted to put client or other confidential information into personal or unapproved AI accounts. Where appropriate, we will anonymise or pseudonymise data (remove or disguise details that identify you or other individuals) before using it in an AI tool, and no confidential information will be put into the public domain. Our privacy notice explains how personal data is handled when we use these tools.
24.2 AI tools support our staff but do not replace their professional judgement. Everything we provide to you is reviewed by a member of our team before it is sent, and our use of AI does not change our responsibility for our advice and work under these terms. No decision with legal or similarly significant effects on an individual is made solely by an AI tool. If you ask us, we will explain how the AI tools we use operate.
24.3 Please do not upload our advice, accounts, returns or other work to publicly available AI tools that may keep, share or learn from the material, as this may result in a loss of confidentiality. If any information or documents you send us were largely produced using AI, please tell us so that we can check them before relying on them.
24.4 Subject to these terms and the law, we are not responsible for any loss arising from your own use of AI tools on our work, or from errors in AI-produced information you have given us without telling us that it was produced using AI.
25. Consumer Clients and Your Right to Cancel
25.1 This clause applies if you are an individual engaging us for purposes outside your trade, business or profession, and our engagement is agreed at a distance (for example by email, telephone or online) or away from our office.
25.2 You have the right to cancel the engagement within 14 days of the date you accept our engagement letter, without giving any reason. To cancel, please tell us clearly in writing before the 14 days end, by email to info@accuramail.com or by post to our office address. You may use the cancellation form provided with our engagement letter, but you do not have to.
25.3 We will not start work during the cancellation period unless you expressly ask us to in writing, for example by email. If you ask us to start work during the cancellation period and then cancel, you will need to pay a reasonable amount for the work carried out up to the time you tell us you are cancelling. By asking us to start work during the cancellation period, you acknowledge that you will lose your right to cancel once the work has been fully completed.
25.4 Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer.
26. Changes to These Terms
26.1 We may update these terms from time to time, for example to reflect changes in law, regulation or professional rules, or in the way we work. We will give you at least 30 days’ notice in writing of any change.
26.2 If you are a business client and continue to instruct us after the notice period ends, you will be treated as having accepted the updated terms. If you are a consumer client, we will only make changes that are required by law or are reasonable, and if you do not accept them you may end our engagement without charge for work not yet carried out.
