Essential Office Support

Accountants & Bookkeepers

TAX CONSULTING

As registered tax agents, accountants and bookkeepers we offer a holistic approach to your small business needs. This includes tax compliance with tax return and financial statement preparation but also tax advice and planning. With links to financiers, mortgage brokers, financial planners, training & assessment and HR solutions you will be glad you came to us!

INDIVIDUAL TAX RETURNS

With the ATO's increased scrutiny on work related deductions and the preparation of rental schedules, it is important to get your tax return right. We can provide you with advice on deductible expenses such as motor vehicle & travel claims, work related uniform and laundry expenses, depreciation of tools and electronics, donations, costs of managing your tax affairs and deductible superannuation contributions.

BOOKKEEPING

Are you spending too much time on paperwork? Are you a bit unsure when it comes to payroll? Are you constantly chasing your tail? We offer very competitive bookkeeping solutions to suit your needs. Our specially trained staff will look after your invoicing, payroll and reconciliations, allowing you to concentrate on what you do best - looking after your valuable customers!

BUSINESS STRUCTURE: SET UP & REVIEW

We want you to thrive in your small business and one of the key elements is choosing the right business structure. A thorough assessment of your goals and your current position is required to ascertain the right structure for you, your family and your business. As your business evolves and grows through the life cycle, it is imperative that the structure maintains it's relevance to your goals and needs. This may mean revisiting the structure type and determining if it is still the most effective. So you have been thinking about it for a while now and you are finally ready to take the plunge! But where do you start? We can offer you support from the get-go, from business name registration, company set up, ABN and GST registration. We are not going to just leave you on your own though, we offer on-going support and advice for when it all gets a bit too tricky. We have been there, done it and enjoy the processes and challenges. Lean on us and use our experience to keep you up and running!

SOFTWARE SET UP & TRAINING

Here at Essential Office Support we know that one of the things that can set your business apart is having the right software and systems, as well as making sure you are fully utilising those systems. We offer set up and training of Xero, QuickBooks Online, Reckon accounts, MYOB, Receiptbank, Hubdoc, and POS solutions such as Kounta and ServiceM8. We can come to you, work with you onsite, get you up and running and then once you are comfortable with the software provide ad-hoc support on an ongoing basis to tweak the setup to be fully optimised and automated to suit your business. We can train your staff to use the software you've chosen to streamline processes from sales and invoicing to time-sheets and payroll.

Here at Essential Office Support we specialise in supporting small business and individuals with their tax compliance, accounting and bookkeeping needs. Registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) and members of the National Tax and Accountants' Association (NTAA), we keep up to date with the latest developments in tax legislation.

When you deal with us, you are dealing with a small team, a local business, just like yours. This allows us to empathise with you and what you are going through as we live and work in the region too! We know the pressures facing small business in our area as we are one!

You are in the best of hands when you work with Essential Office Support.

Donna Robinson

Director

Founder & General Business Extraordinaire

Renee Jones

Bookkeeper & BAS Specialist

Bookkeeping Whiz

Elisabeth Litchfield

Accountant

Tax Accountant

Caitlin Holmes

Bookkeeper & Office Manager

Office Whiz

3 Dawson Street, Cooma NSW, Australia
PO Box 995 COOMA NSW 2630

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Terms of Engagement*

Thank you for appointing us as your Tax Agent, accountant and business consultant. These terms of engagement are directed to all those persons (individual/s and entities) for whom we are to act.This page sets out our terms of engagement and the scope of the work to be performed by us within that engagement and supersedes any previous engagement terms provided by us. Please read through carefully and if you have any queries or wish to discuss any aspect, do not hesitate to contact us.By agreeing to these terms and conditions of engagement you specifically authorise us to act on your behalf when liaising with the Australian Taxation Office. Further, you give your consent for our firm to add yourself and associated entities to our Tax Agent’s Portal to perform our role as your Tax Agent. Acceptance of this engagement provides your express written authority to designate your preferred address(es) for service for ATO communications to our firm’s address. Some ATO communications may still be sent directly to you or retrieved digitally (via myGov for example) and others may be sent by post. Purpose, Scope and Output of the EngagementThis firm will provide accounting, management and taxation services, which will be conducted in accordance with the relevant professional and ethical standards issued by the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board Limited (APESB). The extent of our procedures and services will be limited exclusively for this purpose only. As a result, no audit or review will be performed and, accordingly, no assurance will be expressed. Our engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities including fraud, other illegal acts and errors that may exist. However, we will inform you of any such matters that come to our attention and the financial statements and income tax return for your entities will be prepared for distribution to the directors and shareholders for the purpose noted above. We disclaim any assumption of responsibility for any reliance on our report to any person or entity other than those parties indicated, and for any purpose other than for which it was prepared. Our report will contain a disclaimer to this effect.Fees & Billing ArrangementsThe fee arrangement is based on the expected amount of time and the level of staff required to complete the services as agreed, as mentioned above. This fee arrangement may be subject to change if any circumstances come to our attention which may have an impact upon the scope of work. Should this occur we will advise you before commencing the additional work. In addition, we may charge for disbursements and costs we incur on your behalf. Our terms of payment are strictly 7 days from the date of invoice.Accounting & Record KeepingIn undertaking this engagement, it is understood that you will generally ensure that:The bookkeeping for all business entities/ individuals is maintained on a regular basis; Reconciliations for bank accounts, debtors and creditors are performed at the end of each month for each of the business entities; A stock take will be performed during the last weekend in June for each entity that deals in trading stock; andIt is expected that the trial balance of each of the business entities will be completed no later than 31st October unless otherwise discussed.In respect of the personal tax returns for you and your family, it is expected that all relevant information will be collated and forwarded to our office by 31st January. We shall detail more specific requirements in respect of the individual tax returns later in these terms.No Statutory Financial Audits are ConductedYou and your employees are responsible for the maintenance of the accounting systems and internal controls for all the business entities. That includes the keeping and maintenance of all required books of account. Our firm is not being engaged to conduct a statutory audit of the financial records of any of your business entities and we will not express an auditor’s opinion as to the truth and fairness of the financial statements.DocumentationBefore we lodge any returns on your behalf, we will forward the documents to you for your approval. We will endeavor to ensure that the returns are lodged by the due dates. If you are late in providing information, we will do our best to meet the time limits, but we will not be responsible for any lodgement penalties or interest you may incur.Ownership of DocumentsThe financial statements, tax returns and any other documents which we are specifically engaged to prepare, together with any original documents given to us by you, shall be your property. Any other documents brought into existence by us, including general working papers, the general ledger and draft documents, will remain our property at all times.If our services are terminated (by either party) we shall be entitled to retain all documents owned by you until payment in full of all outstanding fees. Where copies of any documents released to you are required for our records, you will be charged for the cost of photocopying at our normal rates.Additional ServicesOur agreed fee is only for the preparation and lodgement of the accounting and taxation matters detailed above. Any agreed fee applies only to services and advice provided within the scope of our engagement. This fee includes the checking, processing and forwarding of original assessments and original payment notices that are received from the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC).However, any additional services or advice that you request are outside the scope of our engagement and not included in this agreed fee. These services will be charged on the basis of the time and degree of skill and acumen required to complete the task undertaken by us, including any direct out-of-pocket expenses. Please note, any correspondence from the Australian Taxation Office or ASIC that does not relate to initial assessments or original payment notices will be treated as additional services. Limitations to AdvicePlease be aware that:Any advice given is an opinion only and is based on our knowledge of the particular circumstances; andThat there are limitations attached to tax advice and service so that you should not interpret an expression of opinion by us as an assertion of fact.We shall now outline the basis of our engagement in the context of the specific services to be provided. It should be noted at the outset that as a general proposition we rely on our clients to provide us with accurate and timely information to enable us to properly perform our engagement obligations. Consequently, any rectifying work performed by us on the basis of incorrect or late information will be work which is outside the scope of our engagement and will be charged as additional services.Bookkeeping, Payroll & Superannuation Processing1. Bookkeeping Services:Entering and/or verifying the entry of customer and supplier invoices into accounting softwareEntering and/or verifying the entry of payments and receipts from bankEmailing / communicating any queries related to the accounts for the periodEnsuring the correct integration of different business systems into the accounting record, (for example point-of-sales systems or add-on solutions)Reconciliation and/or verification of the balance of all bank, loan and credit card accountsReporting Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss, other reports as requiredReporting outstanding debtors and creditors (if applicable) 2. Payroll:Setup employees in payroll systemPrepare payroll weekly/fortnightly/monthlyMonitor, calculate and lodge employee entitlements including superannuation guarantee contributionsLodge Tax File Number declarationsReview, advise and lodge PAYG Withholding and SuperannuationReconcile End of Year wagesReport, lodge and send employee payment summariesRoll over payroll year if applicable3. End Of Financial YearReview end of year reportsProvide accountant with information as required for year endLiaise with the accountant as to any End of Year journals or adjustmentsEnsure essential and required business records are maintained and stored for the financial yearIf applicable, roll file over to new financial year4. Other Services:Analysis and advice on Industry AwardConsulting/Training of staff in bookkeeping/ accounting softwareInitial advice and set up of appropriate bookkeeping/ accounting softwareBudget planning and cash-flow analysisOther: As requiredIf additional work is required beyond the items listed above, then we require it to be specifically outlined to us. We will confirm additional instructions in writing, (email), before commencement of the work. If this work is outside our experience or competency we shall discuss with you how to ensure the work is performed appropriately including seeking assistance from a person who holds the expertise.The bookkeeping services we provide to you will be performed by us at your office, at our office and/or a combination of at your business and also remotely.We will be provided with or establish specific user access to your software and systems to enable our processing and the identification of the work performed.Single Touch PayrollWith the mandatory introduction of single touch payroll for all employers from 1 July 2019, we each have certain responsibilities:You accept responsibility of providing staff salaries and worked hours to us by the appropriate payrun date. You acknowledge your staff wages are paid in line with the appropriate payroll awards and Fairwork guidelines. Your staff have the appropriate PAYG amounts withheld from each pay along with the statutory rate of superannuation paid quarterly.We accept responsibility of collating and entering payroll data each payrun. We accept responsibility for the calculation, reconciliation and submission of PAYG and super reporting, along with providing this information to you for payment in a timely manner. We acknowledge that all payroll data processed under my authority is compliant inline with the ATO and Fairwork guidelines.Business Activity StatementsIf the Business Activity Statements are not prepared and lodged by us during the financial year, it is not possible for this firm to review the correctness of the underlying financial information as part of the preparation of the annual accounts and tax returns. This is because where we are engaged to prepare the annual accounts, these are prepared at the conclusion of the financial year.It is therefore possible that, when the annual accounts are prepared, some discrepancies will exist between the information disclosed in the quarterly Business Activity Statements and the financial statements. Should any discrepancies arise, we will discuss the need to correct either the Business Activity Statements and/or financial accounts and the fee for those services.Where we are engaged to prepare and lodge Business Activity Statements and Instalment Activity Statements, we will rely on and process the financial information provided to us without any review of the primary source documents (unless we are specifically engaged for bookkeeping). In doing that, we will make the following specific assumptions:The financial information provided to us is accurate;     The financial information correctly states the GST position. For example, all input tax credits and GST payable amounts have been correctly recorded in the general ledger;       You have the necessary supporting documentation to satisfy the Australian Taxation Office for GST purposes; and       You hold valid tax invoices and adjustment notes for all expenditure incurred by you in respect of which an input tax credit is being claimed.       If you are unsure of the correct GST position or documentary evidence required we are able to provide this as work which is outside the scope of our engagement and charged as additional services.Financial AccountsIf this firm has been engaged to prepare the annual financial accounts of your business. This service includes preparation of:A profit and loss statementA balance sheet; Depreciation Schedules; andNotes for the above accounts.This service includes maintenance of the charts of accounts for the general ledger of your business entities. It also includes telephone support should you require any assistance as to how to record specific transactions in the general ledger. The fee of this service also includes the preparation and lodgement of standard reports to be furnished to ASIC. This service does not include the preparation of one-off accounts for presentation to your financiers for additional finance and the like.Income Tax ReturnsThis firm has been engaged to prepare and lodge income tax returns for your business and yourself. In addition to the basic financial information required to complete these tax returns, it is expected that the source documentation will be available to allow this firm to analyse the income tax implications of any transaction. It is also expected that, in respect of individual income tax returns, each person will comply with the substantiation provisions of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936.We will specifically advise as to the requirements of the substantiation provisions relating to your income tax return and of the necessity to obtain acceptable receipts as specifically required by the legislation. We will not, however, be checking that the requirements of the substantiation provisions have been satisfied. This specifically means that we will not be reviewing your log book or any calculations or information you provide us, for example a rental property schedule either prepared by you on spreadsheet or by a property manager. If you require assistance in completing a log book or preparing any calculations or you would like us to review such work, please discuss this with us. This will entail work which is outside the scope of our engagement and will be charged as additional services.The fee for this service does not cover any inquiries or investigations conducted by the Australian Taxation Office. Substantial penalties may apply for an incorrectly prepared tax return. If you have any queries in relation to this please contact our office for assistance.DisclosureYou must provide all information and documents relevant to the proper performance of the work at the outset of the engagement and during the engagement. This includes promptly advising us of anything that occurs subsequently to render information already provided misleading or incomplete, or advising of any change in your circumstances relevant to the work.If during the engagement you become aware of any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest or there is a change of circumstances which may result in a conflict, you must advise us. Events which may give rise to a conflict of interest or potential conflicts during the engagement include events affecting you, such as deaths, matrimonial disputes as well as litigation (threatened or actual) or changes in the nature or structure of your business or your business relationships.There are provisions in the Taxation Administration Act 1953 that provide you (as from 1 March 2010) with “safe harbors” from administrative penalties for incorrect or late lodgement of returns if, among other things, you give us “all relevant taxation information” in a timely manner. This means that it is to your advantage to give us all information necessary for us to do the work.ConfidentialitySubject to the law, we must not disclose any information relating to your affairs to a third party without your consent. We may from time to time use contractors to assist with the preparation of your work. By signing this engagement letter you agree to us disclosing your confidential information to the extent required. Where we use the services of third party contractors, we are nevertheless responsible for the conduct and activities of those contractors and for the delivery of the services we are engaged to perform for you. From time to time, our firm and our third party contractors may engage external IT service providers (including in relation to “cloud computing” services) in the performance of services under this engagement.The list of external IT service provider(s) currently used by our firm or our third party contractors, to whom client information will or may be disclosed, is as follows:• Dropbox• Xero• Hubdoc• ReceiptbankWe will notify you of any change to this list from time to time. Each client in the Group hereby authorises us and our third party contractors to disclose information relating to those clients' affairs to such external IT service providers as we or our third party contractors may choose to engage.We may also need to disclose information relating to one client’s affairs to other clients in the Group to assist in performing our work, to persons responsible for the governance of an entity to comply with accounting standards, or to a professional body of which we are a member, in relation to a quality review program undertaken by that body. Each client in the Group hereby authorises us to do so when we consider it appropriate to further our performance of work for the Group, or when required by that professional body.Your Rights and Obligations Under Tax LawThe taxation laws confer on you certain rights (such as to challenge a decision of, or an assessment issued by, the Australian Taxation Office) but also impose obligations on you (such as the keeping and retaining of adequate and accurate records and the filing of relevant returns with the Australian Taxation Office within the required time limits).Duty to Comply with the LawWe will act in your best interests but like all people, we must comply with the law, even where that may be contrary to your interests. For example, we must comply with certain statutory notices from the ATO, which may require the production of documents or information.Professional CompetenceYou must provide all information and documentation which we should take into account in applying the taxation laws. Any failure by you to provide all such information and documentation, both voluntarily and in answer to our questions, may affect your ability to access the safe harbor provisions and will be taken into account when assessing our obligations under the Code. Our obligations under this principle are also limited to the extent of any disclosure by us in this letter of specific specialties, skills, or lack thereof, or other limitations.Quality ReviewAs members of the National Tax and Accountants Association (NTAA) we may be subject to periodic quality assurance reviews. Unless otherwise advised by yourself, by engaging our firm, you are consenting to your files possibly being part of such a quality reviews.StandardsWe aim to provide the highest standard of professional service and are focused on the concerns of my/our clients. If for any reason you feel you have not received the level of service expected or have an issue to raise, please contact myself to discuss how the problem may be resolved.Furthermore, as members of the NTAA in public practice, we are subject to the ethical requirements of the NTAA and its Investigations and Disciplinary processes. These requirements cover issues such as a Code of Conduct and Ethics, adherence to Accounting and Auditing Standards, requirements to undertake Continued Professional Education. Should there be an issue regarding the ethical or business practices of this firm, such matters may be referred to the NTAA. However, as the accounting profession does not have regulated fees, the NTAA will not investigate purely fee- based disputes but may recommend the parties seek mediation to resolve such disputes.Previous AccountantAs a matter of professional courtesy, and in line with the requirements of the NTAA, we will need to inform your previous accountant that we have been engaged by you as your new accountant and to receive from them any outstanding matters and files. You may refuse to provide this information but in doing it may cause problems in the efficient transfer of your files.Confirmation of EngagementObviously, there are many issues to consider in this engagement and we ask that you consider all aspects of these terms to ensure that you are satisfied with the scope of our engagement. Please contact us if you have any queries about this.As mentioned above, if you do not forward your acknowledgement of the engagement, nor contact us with changes to the engagement, yet continue to provide us with information and instructions regarding your financial affairs, the terms and information provided in this letter will bind us both.Once you are satisfied with the terms of our engagement, would you please list your full name and any entities you control for which we will also be acting for (eg. company, partnership, trust legal name) in the box below and proceed to "Accept". If we are acting for more than one individual, each of you will have to accept these terms yourselves by completing the acceptance below separately.We thank you for the opportunity to provide accounting and taxation services to you and your business and we look forward to developing a close accounting relationship with you for many years to come.

Please complete the details above and proceed to read through and accept our terms of engagement and we will be in touch with you soon.

Happy New Financial Year!

Essential Office Support

Services

TAX CONSULTING

INDIVIDUAL TAX RETURNS

BOOKKEEPING

BUSINESS STRUCTURE: SET UP & REVIEW

SOFTWARE SET UP & TRAINING

About EOS

Meat our Fabulous Team

Donna Robinson

Renee Jones

Elisabeth Litchfield

Caitlin Holmes

Contact EOS

Terms of Engagement

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