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.
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.
Who Prepares a Letter of Engagement? 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.
It is in the interests of both the entity and the auditor that the auditor sends an audit engagement letter before the commencement of the audit to help avoid misunderstandings with respect to the audit.
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.
The service provider typically prepares the Letter of Engagement, be it a law firm, accounting agency, consultancy, or any professional offering services.
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.
We are pleased to accept the instruction to act as your bookkeeper/accountant and we are writing to confirm the terms of our appointment. The purpose of this letter is to set out our terms for carrying out the work and to clarify our respective responsibilities.
An engagement letter is a written agreement that describes the business relationship to be entered into by a client and a company. The letter details the scope of the agreement, its terms, and costs. The purpose of an engagement letter is to set expectations on both sides of the agreement.