Friendly Assist Accountancy Ltd
Company Number 16121429
71 Stanhope Way
Newcastle upon Tyne
United Kingdom
Version: September 2026
These Terms of Business set out the general terms upon which Friendly Assist Accountancy Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our” or “the Firm”) provides professional accountancy, bookkeeping, taxation and related services.
They should be read together with your Letter of Engagement, any quotation or Schedule of Services issued to you, our Privacy Policy, our Anti-Money Laundering Policies and Procedures, and any subsequent written variation agreed between us.
Together, these documents form the agreement between us.
The Letter of Engagement identifies the client or entities for whom we act, the services included and the agreed fees. Where there is any inconsistency between these general Terms and a Letter of Engagement, the Letter of Engagement shall take priority in relation to the specific services and fees stated in it.
Our Anti-Money Laundering Policies and Procedures are available at:
https://faaccountancy.co.uk/anti-money-laundering-policies-procedures
1. Appointment and Commencement
You appoint Friendly Assist Accountancy Ltd to provide only those services expressly set out in your Letter of Engagement or subsequently agreed by us in writing.
Unless otherwise expressly agreed, our engagement does not commence until we have accepted the engagement, completed all required client identification and due diligence procedures, received acceptance of the Letter of Engagement, and received any initial payment required before work begins.
Acceptance may, where stated in the Letter of Engagement, be evidenced by signature, written confirmation to proceed, payment of the agreed fee, or a combination of these.
2. Persons and Entities Covered
We act only for the person, company, partnership or other entity expressly identified in the Letter of Engagement.
Our appointment to act for one person or entity does not automatically extend to a spouse or partner, another director or shareholder, another company, a connected business, a property activity, an employer or employee, another family member, or any other connected person or entity.
Additional persons or entities require separate written agreement and may result in additional fees.
No third party may rely upon our work or advice unless we have expressly agreed in writing that they may do so.
3. Scope of Services
Our professional obligations extend only to the services expressly included within the agreed scope.
The fact that a matter concerns your business, accounts, HMRC affairs or taxation does not, by itself, make that matter part of our engagement.
For example, an engagement to prepare a Self Assessment return does not automatically include tax planning, amendments to earlier returns, historic investigations, capital gains calculations, residence or foreign income analysis, treaty claims, HMRC enquiries, penalty appeals or voluntary disclosures.
Likewise, a bookkeeping package does not automatically include historic reconstruction, software repair or migration, correction of records prepared by another person, detailed tax advice, HMRC investigations or work for additional businesses.
Any service not expressly included remains outside scope unless subsequently agreed in writing.
4. Fixed Fees
A fixed fee relates only to the particular work and assumptions described in the applicable quotation or Letter of Engagement.
A fixed fee does not become an unlimited commitment to resolve every matter connected with the underlying issue.
Unless otherwise stated, a fixed fee assumes that the information supplied is substantially complete and accurate, the records are reasonably usable, the circumstances are substantially as described when the fee was agreed, the client responds within reasonable timescales, and no unexpected investigation, reconstruction or specialist work becomes necessary.
Where those assumptions cease to apply, additional work may be separately chargeable.
Payment of a fixed fee does not enlarge the agreed scope.
5. Changes Requested by the Client
A client may request a change in approach, procedure or intended outcome during an engagement.
We are not obliged to adopt a requested approach where, in our professional judgement, it is inappropriate, unnecessary, creates additional professional risk, conflicts with law or professional standards, duplicates work already substantially undertaken, or materially changes the basis on which the original fee was agreed.
Where you ask us to change an agreed approach after work has commenced, any resulting review, repetition, amendment, reworking, correspondence or additional professional time may be charged separately.
Something which appears administratively small, such as changing one figure, one box or one submission route, may still require professional review of the wider return, disclosure or calculation before it can properly be amended.
Such work is not treated as insignificant merely because the eventual visible change is small.
6. Monthly Packages and Retainers
A monthly package covers only the services specifically described in the relevant Letter of Engagement.
A monthly fee does not provide unlimited accounting services, bookkeeping, tax advice, meetings, telephone consultations, email correspondence, technical support, HMRC correspondence or tax planning.
Where annual compliance work is included within a monthly arrangement, the monthly payments may represent an agreed method of spreading the cost of the overall annual service.
Unless otherwise expressly agreed, monthly payments should not be regarded as separate purchases of an equal amount of professional work each month.
The fee is based upon the circumstances, transaction volume, complexity, risk and expected support requirement existing when the engagement is agreed.
We may propose a revised fee or package where those circumstances change materially.
7. Routine Support and Fair Use
Where an engagement includes routine accounting or taxation support, this means reasonable enquiries directly connected with services already included in the engagement.
Routine support does not include unlimited consultancy.
A request may constitute additional chargeable work where answering it requires technical research, detailed calculations, review of substantial documents, investigation of transactions, repeated consideration of the same issue, scenario modelling, tax planning, historic reconstruction, substantial correspondence, liaison with third parties or bespoke written advice.
The amount of professional time required is not measured solely by the length of the final email or telephone response.
Professional time includes reviewing records, researching the issue, considering alternatives, reaching a conclusion and documenting the advice.
Repeated questions about a matter do not automatically become part of a fixed fee merely because earlier correspondence on the same subject was included.
8. Standard Rates for Additional Work
Where work falls outside the agreed service and a separate fixed fee has not been agreed, our normal rates are:
Routine additional accounting, bookkeeping and support: £50 + VAT per hour
Complex taxation, investigation, forensic work or substantial reconstruction: £95 + VAT per hour
We may alternatively quote a separate fixed fee or revise the monthly package.
Where reasonably practicable, we will identify material additional work and discuss the fee before undertaking it.
Minor or unavoidable additional professional work reasonably required to protect a filing position, understand information supplied, deal with an unexpected issue or properly complete instructed work may be undertaken and subsequently invoiced where prior agreement was not reasonably practicable.
9. Records Supplied by the Client
You are responsible for supplying complete, accurate and relevant information.
Providing information to us does not mean that it has automatically been reviewed, reconciled, verified, analysed, classified or incorporated into accounts or tax returns.
Professional processing may still be required.
We are entitled to ask further questions where information is incomplete, inconsistent, unusual or unclear.
A request for additional information does not mean that information previously supplied was ignored.
10. Undisclosed or Additional Accounts and Transactions
You must inform us of all relevant bank accounts, savings accounts, payment processors, credit cards, trading platforms, income sources, businesses, properties, investments, cryptoassets and overseas accounts where they may affect our work.
We are not responsible for identifying accounts, transactions or income which have not been disclosed to us.
If additional accounts, transactions or income sources are identified after work has commenced, we may pause the work while their effect is assessed and may revise the fee where appropriate.
11. Bank Feeds and Digital Records
Where bookkeeping forms part of the engagement, our standard fees assume that transaction data is available through functioning bank feeds or software-compatible records.
Where a bank feed is unavailable, incomplete, delayed, unsupported or disconnected, you remain responsible for providing complete transaction information.
Suitable formats may include CSV, OFX, QFX, QBO, QIF or another format supported by the relevant accounting system.
Standard reconciliation is included only where reconciliation forms part of your agreed service.
Preparation of data before it can be imported is a separate activity.
Where data requires extraction, conversion, restructuring, cleaning, correction, validation, duplicate removal, manual preparation or reconstruction, that work may be charged separately.
This applies even where the underlying technical problem was not caused by the client.
A bank, software provider or other third-party failure does not require us to absorb the resulting additional professional work without charge.
12. Software and Technical Problems
Unless expressly agreed, we act as accountants and not as an IT support provider.
Reasonable assistance directly connected with an accounting process may form part of routine support.
Substantial work involving software configuration, migration, integrations, bank-feed troubleshooting, failed imports, technical investigations, data recovery or liaison with software providers may be treated as separately chargeable work.
We are not responsible for the availability, security, performance or functionality of software supplied by third parties.
13. HMRC and Other Authorities
Where we are authorised to act, we may communicate with HMRC, Companies House or another authority within the agreed scope.
Agent authorisation does not create an obligation for us to monitor every aspect of your affairs.
You remain responsible for forwarding relevant correspondence to us.
Information provided by different HMRC helplines or individual officers may vary. We will exercise our own professional judgement based upon the applicable legislation, published guidance, information available to us and the circumstances of the case.
We are not required to change professional advice merely because a client has received a different verbal explanation from HMRC or another third party.
14. Client Contact with HMRC
You remain entitled to contact HMRC yourself.
If you do so while we are acting in relation to the same matter, you should tell us promptly and provide details of any material communication.
Where your independent contact with HMRC changes the position, creates additional correspondence, duplicates work, requires us to reconsider advice, results in an amendment or changes an agreed filing or disclosure strategy, the resulting additional professional work may be chargeable.
15. Authorisations
Certain work may require appropriate HMRC, Companies House, software or other authority.
Different services may require different forms of authorisation, and appointment as agent for one tax or service does not necessarily constitute authority for another.
Where necessary authority has not been provided, we may pause the relevant work.
A delay in obtaining authorisation does not transfer responsibility to us for a deadline which cannot reasonably be met as a consequence.
16. Third-Party Representatives
We will normally take instructions directly from the client.
We will not discuss confidential client affairs with a spouse, partner, employee, adviser, friend or other third party unless we are satisfied that appropriate authority has been given.
Where a client authorises a third party to participate, that authority does not transfer the engagement to the third party and does not make that person our client.
Substantial liaison with an authorised third party may be chargeable if it materially increases the work required.
Where instructions from the client and an authorised third party conflict, we may require written clarification from the client before proceeding.
17. Meetings and Appointments
Meetings and telephone appointments are subject to availability and must be mutually confirmed.
A proposed time is not treated as confirmed unless we have expressly confirmed the appointment.
Where a client or third party attends, waits for or arranges resources around an appointment which has not been confirmed by us, we are not responsible for resulting loss or inconvenience.
Substantial meetings and consultations outside the agreed service may be charged separately.
18. Client Responsibilities
You agree to provide complete and accurate information, provide records within reasonable timescales, answer reasonable questions, disclose relevant accounts and income sources, inform us of material changes, review and approve returns or accounts where required, forward official correspondence promptly, maintain legally required records, pay tax and other liabilities by the relevant deadline, and complete identity or compliance checks when requested.
You remain legally responsible for your own tax affairs and for the information supplied to us.
19. Deadlines
We will use reasonable efforts to complete instructed work within statutory deadlines.
Our ability to do so depends upon receiving complete information, responses, authority and approval in sufficient time.
We do not accept responsibility for penalties, interest or other consequences caused by late or incomplete records, inaccurate information, delayed replies, delayed approval, missing authorisation, circumstances arising before our appointment or third-party system failures outside our reasonable control.
Where work is supplied or materially changed close to a deadline, an urgent-work fee may apply.
We may decline urgent work where we do not consider that it can be completed to an appropriate professional standard.
20. Fees and Invoicing
Fees are stated in the Letter of Engagement, quotation, invoice or other written agreement.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, fees are exclusive of VAT.
One-off fees are normally payable before the relevant work begins.
Recurring fees are invoiced in accordance with the agreed billing schedule.
Unless another payment date is stated on the invoice or separately agreed, invoices are due upon receipt.
21. Instalment Arrangements
We may, at our discretion, agree that a larger one-off fee may be paid by instalments.
Unless expressly agreed otherwise, individual instalments will not be less than £100.
An instalment arrangement changes the timing of payment only. It does not reduce the agreed fee, divide the engagement into separate contracts, or create an entitlement to continued work regardless of the amount outstanding.
The instalment schedule will be structured having regard to the work required and relevant statutory or agreed deadlines.
Unless we expressly agree otherwise, the arrangement will be set so that the main agreed fee is substantially or fully paid before the next relevant filing, submission or completion deadline.
Where necessary, the amount of later instalments may therefore be adjusted so that the required balance is paid before the relevant deadline.
The amount and due date of each instalment will be confirmed in writing.
If an instalment is missed or paid late, we may suspend further work, decline to make further submissions, require the missed payment to be brought up to date before work resumes, revise or withdraw the instalment arrangement, or require the remaining invoiced balance to be paid before further work is undertaken where legally permissible and reasonable.
Acceptance of a late instalment on one occasion does not waive our right to require future payments on time.
An instalment arrangement does not require us to continue working while agreed payments are overdue.
22. Late Payment
Where an invoice or agreed instalment is not paid when due, we may suspend work without liability for resulting delay after giving reasonable notice where appropriate.
We may also withhold the commencement of new discretionary work until the account is brought up to date.
For clients contracting with us in the course of business, where the debt qualifies under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts legislation, we reserve all rights available under that legislation, including statutory interest, fixed recovery compensation and any further reasonable recovery costs permitted by law.
For private clients, interest, administration charges or debt-recovery costs will only be sought to the extent permitted by law and the applicable agreement.
Failure to exercise a late-payment right on one occasion does not amount to a waiver of that right on another occasion.
23. Payment Disputes
If you believe an invoice is incorrect, you should tell us promptly and explain which element is disputed and why.
A genuine dispute concerning one part of an invoice does not automatically suspend the obligation to pay any undisputed amount.
We may provide an explanation or itemised statement where reasonably necessary to explain the professional work undertaken.
An itemised statement does not convert a previously agreed fixed fee into an hourly-rate engagement.
Professional time may include review of records, correspondence, research, calculations, professional consideration, meetings, telephone calls, preparation of submissions and file administration directly associated with substantive professional work.
24. Suspension for Non-Payment
Where fees are overdue, we may suspend work.
During suspension we are not responsible for a deadline which is missed because work could not reasonably continue while the account remained unpaid.
Payment after suspension does not guarantee immediate completion of the work. Work will resume subject to our reasonable availability and applicable deadlines.
25. Additional Work Arising During an Engagement
Accounting and taxation work sometimes reveals matters which could not reasonably have been identified when the original fee was quoted.
Where additional work becomes necessary, this does not mean that the original service was incorrectly priced or incorrectly performed.
Additional work may arise from missing transactions, undisclosed accounts, inaccurate bookkeeping, new tax issues, additional periods, changed instructions, additional HMRC correspondence, technical system problems or information received later in the engagement.
Where reasonably practicable, we will explain material additional work before undertaking it.
26. Advice and Professional Judgement
We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill and in accordance with applicable professional and ethical requirements.
Our advice is based upon the information made available to us, the applicable law and guidance, and the circumstances existing at the relevant time.
No advice, return, disclosure, calculation or professional opinion constitutes a guarantee that HMRC or another authority will agree with the position taken.
We may decline to submit a return, claim, disclosure or other document which we believe is incorrect, misleading, unsupported or inconsistent with our professional obligations.
27. Changes in Law and Circumstances
Advice given at one time may cease to be appropriate following changes in legislation, HMRC guidance, court decisions, your circumstances or subsequently discovered information.
Unless ongoing monitoring is specifically included, we are not responsible for revisiting previous advice automatically.
You should contact us before relying upon earlier advice where circumstances have materially changed.
28. Anti-Money Laundering and Client Due Diligence
We are required to comply with applicable UK anti-money laundering legislation and professional obligations.
We may require photographic identification, proof of address, beneficial ownership information, details of business activities, source-of-funds information, source-of-wealth information or other supporting documentation where appropriate.
We may delay, suspend, refuse or terminate work where required due diligence cannot be completed satisfactorily.
In certain circumstances we may be legally required to make reports to the appropriate authorities and may be prohibited from informing you that such a report has been made.
29. Confidentiality and Data Protection
We will keep information obtained during our engagement confidential except where disclosure is authorised by you, necessary to perform the agreed service, required by law, required by professional or regulatory obligations, or otherwise lawfully permitted.
Friendly Assist Accountancy Ltd is the data controller in relation to personal data processed in delivering our professional services.
Our Privacy Policy provides further information.
30. Electronic Communications
We normally communicate electronically, including by email and cloud-based systems.
Electronic communication may be subject to delay, interception, corruption, misdirection or non-delivery.
You should notify us promptly if an expected important communication has not been received.
We do not guarantee that email will always be available or secure.
31. Disengagement and Termination
Either party may terminate the engagement by written notice, subject to any specific provisions contained in the Letter of Engagement.
We may terminate or suspend an engagement where fees are overdue, information is repeatedly not supplied, instructions remain unclear or contradictory, the agreed scope is no longer workable, the nature or volume of work changes materially, required client due diligence cannot be completed, professional or legal requirements prevent us from continuing, or the professional relationship has broken down to the extent that continuation is no longer reasonably practicable.
Fees for work properly undertaken before termination remain payable.
Termination does not retrospectively cancel services already performed.
32. Work in Progress at Disengagement
Where an engagement ends before all contemplated work is complete, we will identify, where reasonably practicable, work completed, submissions already made, work substantially prepared but not submitted, outstanding information, known approaching deadlines and unpaid fees.
The fact that a fee has been paid does not require us to complete work after termination where legal, professional, information, authorisation or cooperation requirements prevent completion.
Where a genuinely separable fixed-fee task has already been paid and can properly be completed notwithstanding termination, we will consider whether completion is appropriate having regard to the Letter of Engagement, professional requirements and the circumstances.
33. Disengagement Administration and Handover
Reasonable professional cooperation will be provided to a successor accountant in accordance with our professional obligations.
Routine professional clearance and reasonable transfer of existing client records will not be used as a means of improperly withholding records because of a fee dispute.
However, substantial additional work requested following termination, including reconstruction, bespoke schedules, extensive explanations, conversion of data, preparation of new reports or work not previously included in the engagement, may be separately chargeable where permitted by law and professional standards.
Any specific disengagement or closure fee will apply only where it was expressly included in the applicable Letter of Engagement or otherwise agreed.
34. Client Records
You remain responsible for retaining records required by law.
We may retain copies of documents and working papers in accordance with our legal, regulatory, insurance and professional requirements.
Our own working papers remain our property except where law or professional requirements provide otherwise.
35. Limitation of Liability
We will perform the agreed services with reasonable care and skill.
Any specific contractual limitation of liability applicable to an engagement will be set out in the Letter of Engagement or other applicable written terms.
We shall not be responsible, to the extent permitted by law, for losses arising from incomplete or inaccurate information, information withheld from us, failure to follow advice, delayed information or approval, matters outside the scope of our engagement, events preceding our appointment, changes in law or circumstances after advice was given, third-party failures outside our reasonable control, or indirect or consequential loss.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability to the extent that such exclusion or limitation would be unlawful.
36. Professional Indemnity Insurance
We maintain professional indemnity insurance in accordance with applicable professional requirements.
Our current insurer is:
Trafalgar Risk Management Ltd
51 Eastcheap
London
EC3M 1JP
Relevant further information may be supplied where required.
37. Complaints
We aim to provide a professional, fair and supportive service.
If you are dissatisfied with our services, please contact:
Please explain the nature of the concern and the outcome you are seeking.
We will investigate complaints in accordance with our complaints procedure.
Where applicable, unresolved professional conduct concerns may also be referred to AAT in accordance with its procedures.
38. Fee and Service Reviews
We may periodically review recurring fees where there is a material increase in transaction volume, number of accounts or entities, employees, VAT or payroll obligations, complexity, risk, record-keeping difficulties, manual processing or support requirements.
We will normally communicate a proposed material change before it takes effect.
Continuing to provide assistance outside scope on one or more occasions does not permanently expand the agreed package.
39. No Waiver
If either party does not enforce a contractual right immediately, that does not mean the right has been waived.
A concession made on one occasion, including additional free assistance, extension of a payment date or acceptance of a late instalment, does not create an entitlement to the same concession in future.
40. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in effect so far as legally possible.
41. Entire Agreement
The Letter of Engagement, these Terms, applicable schedules, quotations and written variations form the agreement between us in relation to the services concerned.
Informal conversations, estimates or correspondence do not vary the agreed scope unless the variation is subsequently agreed by us in writing.
42. Amendments
Any specific change to the scope or fees of an individual engagement should be agreed in writing.
We may revise our general Terms of Business from time to time to reflect legal, regulatory, professional or operational changes.
Material changes affecting an existing engagement will be applied subject to the applicable agreement and law.
43. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms and the professional engagement are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
Subject to any mandatory rights which cannot lawfully be excluded, the courts of England and Wales shall have jurisdiction in relation to disputes arising from the engagement.
Clear Scope, Clear Fees and Fair Treatment
We believe a professional relationship works best when both parties understand what has been agreed.
If work is included within your engagement, we will perform it as part of the agreed service. If circumstances change or additional professional work genuinely falls outside that scope, we will normally explain the position and agree an appropriate way forward before undertaking substantial additional work.
This protects both the client and Friendly Assist Accountancy Ltd.
Friendly Assist Accountancy
Helping you stay on top of your accounts and tax
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