The financial statement review engagement letter is designed to spell out the who, what and how of the review. It generally contains five parts: the introduction, the CPA responsibilities, the company responsibilities, the report and other matters. Like any contact it is a binding legal agreement if properly prepared.
Engagement letters set the terms of the agreement between two parties and include details such as the scope, fees, and responsibilities, among others. Some of the benefits of engagement letters are that they are legally binding documents, they reduce misunderstandings, and they set clear expectations.
An engagement letter is a legally binding agreement that establishes a working relationship between a firm or independent contractor and a client hiring their services.
An accounting engagement letter is a comprehensive legal document that outlines and then details the terms of your business relationship with each client. Though it is generally shorter than a contract, it is legally binding and designed to reduce liability.
The content of an engagement letter often includes important details such as the scope of services to be provided, fees or billing arrangements, confidentiality clauses, dispute resolution mechanisms, and any other relevant terms agreed upon by both parties.
Engagement letters set expectations for both the client and the party providing the service, it specifies the exact service or task to be performed by the firm and the information to be provided by the client. All engagement letters also generally contain various deadlines for each sub-task.
The engagement letter is a legally binding document and the purpose of the engagement letter is to: Specify the parties of the audit engagement. Define the scope of the audit, including the in-scope services and systems. Specify the timeline of the audit and related deliverables.
An engagement letter protects the firm by provide a record of the contract between your firm and the client, and minimises the risk of any future misunderstandings between the parties. Information on the best ways to develop relationships with your clients.
For an engagement letter to be binding, there must be agreement to the terms on both sides. The engagement letter is drafted and, in most cases, signed by the firm, therefore there is clear evidence of the agreement of the contents of the letter on the firm's side.
Your designated audit firm will prepare the specific terms of engagement using the appropriate AICPA-issued engagement letter template. It should be noted that there are many terms for audit engagements that are deemed required by the AICPA and therefore unable to be negotiated.