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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Examples of such instances include leases, transfers and charges, along with any other types of deeds that must be registered at either the Companies Registry or the Land Registry.
In fact, in the event of a dispute, one of the first documents requested is the engagement letter. Engagement letters can help prevent a disagreement from growing to a claim. If a claim should arise, the existence of an engagement letter generally leads to lower claim severity.
You can e-sign almost any type of document. It's a faster and easier way of getting consent or approval on electronic documents or forms. (But consider using a digital signature when you need to validate a signature for a higher level of security.)