Terms of engagement

These terms apply to every engagement alongside the engagement letter you sign. The engagement letter sets out the scope and the fee; these terms set out everything else.

Parties and regulation

You contract with City Solution (UK) Ltd (company no. 09145699), trading as UK Establishment, of 86–90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE. We are licensed and regulated by the Association of Accounting Technicians, supervised for anti-money-laundering by HM Revenue & Customs, and registered with Companies House as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (AP007847). We hold professional indemnity insurance of £2,000,000 with Hiscox Insurance Company Limited.

Scope

We do what the engagement letter says and nothing else. Additional work is agreed in writing, with a fee, before it starts. We are not a law firm, a registered auditor, an immigration adviser, a bank or an FCA-authorised firm; where a matter needs one of those we will tell you and, if you wish, introduce a specialist who contracts with you directly.

Fees and payment

Fees are fixed and stated in the engagement letter, exclusive of VAT and of disbursements (Companies House and HMRC fees, courier, translation and similar) which are passed through at cost. One-off fees are payable before work starts. Monthly fees are payable monthly in advance by direct debit or card. Fees are reviewed annually and any change is notified 60 days before it takes effect. We may suspend work if an invoice is more than 30 days overdue.

Your responsibilities

To give us complete and accurate information on time; to tell us promptly about changes to directors, shareholders, ownership, activity or address; to approve filings before their deadlines when we ask; to keep your own records of the underlying transactions; and to complete identity and ownership verification for every director and person with significant control before we act and whenever we ask again. We cannot file what we have not been given, and we are not responsible for penalties that arise from late or incomplete information.

Identity checks and refusal

We are legally required to verify identity, understand ownership and monitor the relationship for as long as it lasts. We may decline or end an engagement without giving reasons where we are unable to complete our checks, where information does not add up, or where the law requires us to. Fees paid for work not yet started are refunded in that case; fees for work done are not.

Deadlines and filings

We maintain a calendar of the filings within our scope and tell you what we need before each date. Where you provide what we ask for by the date we ask for it, we file on time. Where a deadline is missed because information arrived late or approval was not given, the penalty is yours. Where it is missed because of our error, we pay the penalty and any interest directly attributable to it.

Liability

Our total liability to you for any engagement, whether in contract, tort or otherwise, is limited to the lesser of £2,000,000 and ten times the fees paid for the engagement in the twelve months before the claim arose. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, or for the consequences of bank, HMRC or Companies House decisions that are outside our control. Nothing limits liability for fraud, death or personal injury.

Confidentiality and data

We keep your affairs confidential, subject to the disclosures the law requires of us — including suspicious activity reports, which we may not tell you about. Personal data is handled as set out in our privacy notice.

Complaints

Tell your named accountant first; if that does not resolve it, write to the director at complaints@ukestablishment.com. We acknowledge within two working days and respond fully within 20. If you remain dissatisfied you may refer the matter to the Association of Accounting Technicians. Details are on the regulatory information page.

Ending the engagement

Either of us may end a monthly engagement on 30 days’ written notice. On termination we complete filings already due within the notice period if we hold what we need, hand over records and provide professional clearance to your new adviser. Fees remain payable to the end of the notice period.

Law

These terms and any engagement are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.

These standard terms are a draft for review by the firm’s director and its professional body before publication. The signed engagement letter prevails where the two differ.