An engagement letter is drafted by the company rendering the service, often with the help of a lawyer. It is than presented to the client, and both parties must sign in order for it to be legally binding.
The engagement letter is required to be signed by those that are deemed authorized representatives of the engaging party. For an audit firm, the engagement letter should be signed by one of the partners of the firm.
Due diligence is informed by engagement with stakeholders It involves the timely sharing of the relevant information needed for stakeholders to make informed decisions in a format that they can understand and access. To be meaningful, engagement involves the good faith of all parties.
Purpose of Engagement Letters It's the responsibility of the service provider to draft this document in alignment with the services to be rendered and in compliance with legal and professional standards.
Due diligence reports typically include an executive summary, company overview, purpose of due diligence, financial analysis, legal review, operational assessment, market analysis, regulatory compliance, asset information, growth prospects, recommendations, and appendix.
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.
The due diligence in business circumstances refers to organizations practicing prudence by carefully assessing associated costs and risks prior to completing transactions. Examples include purchasing new property or equipment, implementing new business information systems, or integrating with another firm.
In summary, both the auditing firm and the organization being audited must sign the SOC report, with the organization signing the Management Assertion and Representation and the auditor signing the independent Auditors opinion within the SOC report.
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.
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.