Engagement letters are a daily requirement in fields like law, accounting, and consulting. They serve as a formal agreement outlining the scope of work, terms, and conditions between a professional and their client. If you haven't drafted one already, chances are you'll need to in the future.
The service provider typically prepares the Letter of Engagement, be it a law firm, accounting agency, consultancy, or any professional offering services.
An auditor's engagement letter most likely would include: management's acknowledgment of its responsibility for maintaining effective internal control. the auditor's preliminary assessment of the risk factors relating to misstatements arising from fraudulent financial reporting.
8 Critical Elements of an Effective Engagement Letter CLIENT NAME. The first critical element may seem obvious—the identities of the parties involved in the engagement. SCOPE OF SERVICES. CPA FIRM RESPONSIBILITIES. CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES. DELIVERABLES. ENGAGEMENT TIMING. TERMINATION AND WITHDRAWAL. BILLING AND FEES.
1. ​ We are pleased to accept the instruction to act as auditor for your company and are writing to confirm the terms of our appointment. 2. ​ The purpose of this letter, together with the attached terms and conditions, is to set out our terms for carrying out the work and to clarify our respective responsibilities.
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.
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.
When should the engagement letter be sent and signed? The audit engagement letter should be sent after verbal confirmation of the appointment of you as the auditor and ideally signed before the start of any audit work.
While a proposal is focused on showcasing your services and convincing a client to engage with your firm, an engagement letter is a legal document that sets the terms of the agreement, including the scope of work and other contractual terms.