The basis of our retainer service
Our four hour retainer services for £140 enables an accountant, a charity advisor or a trustee to ring us up or email us with an urgent technical enquiry on any charity related subject. This can be five minutes - It can be an hour or two hours or whatever. Provided the total time engaged in a year of subscription does not exceed two hours, you will get our undivided attention.
If within the course of such a consultation it becomes apparent that further more detailed work is required, then that additional work would be the subject of a separate engagement letter and the fee basis would be agreed.
By using our retainer service you reduce the risk of making a mistake, and can ensure that you provide your client with the level of service they expect.
Our retainer service is on a normal professional basis. When you sign up for the service, we send you a letter of engagement in a standard form, a copy of which you can download from the resources tab on this product.
By signing up for the retainer service, you are deemed to have agreed to that standard letter of engagement.
We also carry out the required checks under the Money Laundering Regulations. If you are a partner or principal of a CCAB qualified firm of accountants, and yourselves subject to Money Laundering Regulations, we will require the firm's name, address, professional body and membership number. For any other person, we will require to see the usual identity and residence information, in either original form, or copies certified by a solicitor.
If the Money Laundering checks are not satisfactory, we will decline to act, and your payment will be refunded.
Assuming the Money Laundering checks are all in order, you can then contact us at any time during working hours for up to a year after your payment, on any subject related to charity accounting , examination, audit or governance.
We will record the time engaged on a time sheet, and provided you have not used up your four hours, we will endeavour to advise you. If you have used up the time allocation, we will invite you to make a further payment.
In the course of our discussions, it might become apparent that further, more detailed, work is required. If so, this will be the basis of a separate letter of engagement on a fee basis to be agreed
If you want an urgent answer to a technical query - you want it now!! - By prepaying a retainer fee, all you need do is ring up.
Technical queries on the content of accounts
Charity accounts are complex, and those accountants who do not prepare many charity accounts are often unaware of the pitfalls and some of the complexities. Trustees and charity advisors are sometimes unclear what accounts mean. This means that technical accountancy issues can arise that are often quite simply resolved. It is useful to sometimes discuss such technical issues with a fellow professional.
Technical queries on audit or examination
Examination is a process of negative assurance, unlike audit, which is a process of positive assurance. This difference reflects itself not only in the level and detail of work required, but also in the precise wording of the report at the end of the examination. For example, an examiner (and indeed, an auditor under the Charities Act) is required to highlight any material inconsistencies between the trustees report and the accounts. An auditor under the Companies Acts, by contrast, is required to state that the Trustees Report is consistent with the accounts - quite a different matter.
Charity accounting , and more especially, charity examination is a high risk area for accountants because:
The basis of our retainer service
Our four hour retainer services for £140 enables an accountant, a charity advisor or a trustee to ring us up or email us with an urgent technical enquiry on any charity related subject. This can be five minutes - It can be an hour or two hours or whatever. Provided the total time engaged in a year of subscription does not exceed two hours, you will get our undivided attention.
If within the course of such a consultation it becomes apparent that further more detailed work is required, then that additional work would be the subject of a separate engagement letter and the fee basis would be agreed.
By using our retainer service you reduce the risk of making a mistake, and can ensure that you provide your client with the level of service they expect.
To download a specimen letter of engagement click here
Prices
- Retainer for four hours in any one year from the date of payment £140
From 1st January 2015, no VAT is added to the fees.
