Family group engagement letter template

[Firm letterhead]
[Firm name] ABN [ABN]
Registered tax agent number [number]
[Optional: membership of [professional body], shown in line with your body's rules on designations]
[Only if you participate in a scheme: Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.]

[Date]

[Primary contact name(s)]
[Postal address]

Dear [names],

Our engagement for the [Family name] group for the year ending 30 June [year]

1. About this letter

This letter sets out our understanding of the work each entity in the [Family name] group has asked us to do, and the terms on which we will do it. Although it is one letter, each entity listed in Schedule A is a separate client of ours, with its own services, fees and responsibilities. Please read the letter and the schedules before signing.

2. The entities we act for

We act for the entities listed in Schedule A only. We do not act for any other entity, beneficiary, shareholder or member unless they are listed. If an entity is added or removed, we will update Schedule A and ask the relevant signatory to confirm it.

3. What the work is for

We will prepare the financial statements, returns and other documents listed in Schedule B from the information each entity gives us, and lodge them once approved. Our work is limited to those services. We will not audit or review the information provided and will not express any assurance on it. Unless we agree otherwise in writing, our work cannot be relied on to find fraud, other illegal acts or errors.

4. Scope

This engagement covers the income year ending 30 June [year] [and continues for later years on the same terms until ended or replaced]. We will do the work under the taxation laws, including the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 and the Code of Professional Conduct, the corporations and superannuation laws that apply to each entity, and the professional standards issued by the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board that apply to members of [Professional body: Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand / CPA Australia / the Institute of Public Accountants].

Work not listed in Schedule B is not included, for example ATO reviews and audits, restructures, asset sales advice, succession planning, and the SMSF audit. We will agree any extra work in writing before we start.

5. Who can instruct us

For each entity, we will take instructions from the people named in Schedule A for that entity. [Optional: Any one of them may instruct us on routine matters. Decisions such as approving returns, trust distribution resolutions and changes to this engagement need [each / any one] of them.]

6. Sharing information within the group

We must keep each client's information confidential. By signing, each entity agrees that we may share its information with the other entities in Schedule A and their signatories, to the extent needed for the services in Schedule B. Any entity can withdraw this consent in writing. If it does, we may need to change how we act for the group, and we will tell you.

7. Your responsibilities

Each entity is responsible for the completeness and accuracy of the information it gives us and for keeping the records the law requires. The trustee of each trust is responsible for the trust's decisions, including making any distribution resolution by the time the trust deed and the law require. The trustee of the SMSF is responsible for running the fund in line with its deed and the law. Please give us the information listed in Schedule B by [date] and review each document before you approve it.

8. Our responsibilities

We will do the work with competence and due care, tell you about matters we become aware of that affect any entity within the scope of this engagement, remind the trustee of [the family trust] before 30 June about the distribution resolution [optional], and keep you informed about timing.

9. Timing

We will give you the documents for each entity for approval within [number] business days of receiving everything listed for that entity in Schedule B. Lodgement due dates are [dates or "based on our lodgement program with the ATO"].

10. Fees and payment

The fees for each entity are in Schedule C. Unless Schedule C says otherwise, each entity is responsible only for its own fees and is invoiced separately. [Optional: The group has asked for a single combined invoice addressed to [entity]. That entity is responsible for paying it.] Fees for the SMSF are invoiced to the fund and relate only to services to the fund.

If any entity asks for work outside Schedule B, we will tell that entity the fee or rate before we start and will not proceed until it agrees. Payment is due within [number] days of each invoice by [methods].

[Optional, only if your firm holds client money under APES 310 Client Monies: Money we receive for an entity, such as a tax refund, will be held in our trust account for that entity only and dealt with on its written authority.]

11. Outsourcing, cloud storage and confidentiality

Schedule D lists any outsourced service provider we use, where the work is done and what they do, and the cloud software that stores your information, where it is hosted and how it is protected. We keep each entity's information confidential except as clause 6 allows or as the law or our professional duties require or permit. As members of [professional body], our files may be selected for review under its quality or practice review program, and reviewers are bound by confidentiality. If we become aware of actual or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations, our professional standards may require us to raise it with you and in some cases to take further steps, which may include withdrawing from the engagement.

12. Information the Tax Practitioners Board requires us to give you

• The Tax Practitioners Board keeps a public register of registered tax agents and BAS agents. You can search it at [link to the TPB register].
• To make a complaint about our service, contact [name, role, email]. You can also complain to the Tax Practitioners Board at [link to the TPB complaints page].
• [Include if you are a member of a professional body:] We are members of [professional body]. If you are not satisfied with how we handle your complaint, you can also complain to [professional body] about our professional conduct at [link to the body's complaints page].
• Our rights, responsibilities and obligations as a registered tax agent, and your obligations to us, are summarised in [attachment / the Board's factsheet for clients attached / clauses 7 and 8 and our website at [link]].
• [Disclosure of any events in the last five years and any current registration conditions or suspension that must be disclosed, or a statement that there are none.]

13. Documents, records and ending the engagement

Documents each entity gives us remain its property. Our working papers belong to us. Returns, financial statements and advice belong to the entity they relate to. We keep records of tax agent services for at least five years after the service. [Optional lien policy and dispute process.]

Any entity, or we, can end this engagement for that entity by written notice, without ending it for the others. The entity pays for work done to that date. If the group's circumstances change (for example a separation, a sale of the business or a change of trustee), we may need to issue new terms for some or all entities.

14. Limitation of liability [only if you participate in a scheme]

[Include this clause only if your firm, or the members acting for this client, participate in [your body]'s professional standards scheme in the state or territory concerned. Otherwise delete it. Use the wording exactly.]

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

15. Changes and acceptance

We will tell you in writing before changing these terms, services or fees, and a change applies only once the affected entity agrees. Please sign below for each entity you represent to confirm you have read, understood and agree to this letter and the schedules.

Yours sincerely,

[Name]
[Position], [Firm name]

Schedule A: Entities and signatories

Entity	Type	ABN / identifier	Signs for entity	Capacity
[Person 1 full name]	Individual	[TFN held on file]	[Person 1]	Self
[Person 2 full name]	Individual	[TFN held on file]	[Person 2]	Self
[Trust name]	Discretionary trust	[ABN]	[Name(s)]	[Director(s) of corporate trustee [company name] / individual trustee(s)]
[Company name] Pty Ltd	Company	[ABN / ACN]	[Name(s)]	Director(s)
[Fund name]	SMSF	[ABN]	[Name(s)]	[Director(s) of corporate trustee [company name] / individual trustee(s)]

Schedule B: Services and information needed

Entity	Services	Information needed by [date]
[Person 1]	Individual tax return	[List]
[Person 2]	Individual tax return, rental property schedule	[List]
[Trust]	Financial statements, trust tax return, [distribution resolution reminder and draft minute]	[Bank statements, loan statements, asset register, details of beneficiaries]
[Company]	Financial statements, company tax return, [quarterly BAS], [ASIC annual review]	[Access to accounting file, payroll reports, loan agreements]
[SMSF]	Financial statements, SMSF annual return, [liaison with the fund's auditor]	[Bank and investment statements, contribution details, member information]

Schedule C: Fees and who pays

Entity	Fee basis	Fee (ex GST)	Invoiced to
[Person 1]	[Fixed]	$[amount]	[Person 1]
[Person 2]	[Fixed]	$[amount]	[Person 2]
[Trust]	[Fixed]	$[amount]	[Trustee of the trust]
[Company]	[Fixed / monthly]	$[amount]	[Company]
[SMSF]	[Fixed]	$[amount]	[Trustee of the fund]
Group total		$[total]
Extra work	Agreed in writing first	$[rate] per hour or quoted	The entity that asks for it

Schedule D: Outsourcing and cloud storage

Provider	What they do	Location	How your information is protected
[Provider]	[Description]	[Country or region]	[Description]

Acceptance

Each person below confirms they have authority to sign for the entity named, and accepts this letter and Schedules A to D for that entity.

Entity	Name	Capacity	Signature	Date
[Person 1]	[Name]	Self	__________	[Date]
[Person 2]	[Name]	Self	__________	[Date]
[Trust]	[Name]	[Capacity]	__________	[Date]
[Company]	[Name]	Director	__________	[Date]
[SMSF]	[Name]	[Capacity]	__________	[Date]