Terms and Conditions

Upon registration as a client of Virtue Accountants, the following terms and conditions apply.

Agreement
1. You agree to the appointment of Virtue Accountants as your accountants, to represent you in matters relating to your selected services. Virtue Accountants have been appointed to assist with dealings between yourself and HMRC. Any changes to this agreement, must be agreed by all designated parties in writing prior to changes being prescribed.
Confidentiality
1. Virtue Accountants take data protection compliance very seriously. We confirm full compliance with data protection laws, when entrusted with personal data. Data protection laws specifically include General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directives) Regulations.
2. Our team are committed to a strict policy of never misusing any personal information provided, this includes the commitment to never share with any third parties. Any information provided is used exclusively for the requirement of preparing accounts, statements and reports. Personal information is used exclusively by Virtue Accountants for these requirements.
3. We may collect personal data to contact you in relation to news and offers. We make an active attempt to allow you to opt in or out of marketing emails, which can be updated without too much effort.
4. The data controller of your personal data is Waqas Majid. To see our full privacy policy (which provides further details to your rights and what we do with your personal data), please visit our privacy policy page.
Communication
1. Our preferred method of communication is via email or other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus checking emails and attachments.
2. Virtue Accountants do not accept any responsibility for changes made to communications after dispatch, and those associated with data corruption.
3. We do not agree to take responsibility for any errors or problems that may arise through internet communication. All risks associated with sending commercially sensitive information are borne with you, the client.
4. If you are to provide access to the HMRC portal to allow Virtue Accountants to act on your behalf, we may have access to more information that what is required. Virtue Accountants are obliged to only access information relevant to carry out the services agreed.
5. You agree to allow Virtue Accountants to record all telephone conversations, on the unlikely event they will need to be referred to. All conversations are recorded for training and development purposes.
6. You agree for Virtue Accountants to store all communications between yourself and all members of our company.
Disengagement and agreement of cancellation
1. Our agreement is effective immediately after the receipt of your completed registration form. Either party has the right to terminate the agreement at any time, without incurring any penalty charges.
2. If the agreement is cancelled within the first month of appointment, the client is liable to pay a one-off charge for £50 to cover administration charges incurred by Virtue Accountants.
3. For termination of agreement to take place, the customer must write to Virtue Accountants, by means of letter or email. The cancellation is effective from the date correspondence is received by Virtue Accountants.
4. No monthly payments will be refunded, if you make monthly payments for services provided by Virtue Accountants.
5. Services cannot be transferred, irrespective if they have been used. Virtue Accountants are not liable to complete your year-end procedures if you cancel monthly payments.
6. You may be entitled to a prorated refund if you elected to make an annual payment, minus our administration charge of £15.
7. If an indemnity claim is made against Virtue Accountants, you are responsible to repay this immediately, along with an administration charge of £30 which will be used to reimburse our payment providers.
Payments and fees
1. Virtue Accountants operate a fixed fee policy scoped to your level of work. This is made clear for all clients and provides absolute clarity for the work we have outlined.
2. If it is necessary to carry out work outside the responsibilities which were initially agreed, for example, if we reasonably consider your books and records are not at the standard that you expressed to us and we need to spend time improving them, it will involve additional fees. Your quotation is based on you providing relevant and necessary information, allowing us to provide you with a correct and appropriate service. This includes the information being in a readily usable format.
3. Upon registration of services with Virtue Accountants, you will be required to make 1-month’s payment. All further monthly payments will be made in advance of commencing periods. If you chose to pay in full for the 12-month period, this payment will need to be made immediately, for a contract to exist.
4. If you decide to terminate our service part way through a financial year, but wish for Virtue Accountants to still complete your financial year-end work, we can either request you to make a one-off full payment until the end of the year, or continue to collect monthly payments until end of the financial year.
5. If you decide to terminate our service and cease all requirements, we require 1-months’ notice before stopping payments. If you made a full annual payment, you may be entitled to a refund, which will be calculated minus our administration charge of £15. If you are owed a refund, our team will advise you on how this will be repaid.
6. If a client is to sign up to our services and we find there is outstanding work on previous periods, we will notify you of this immediately. We will inform you of the specifics relating to the work and provide a quotation to complete it. An example of previous work outstanding is 1st June 2020 and a self-assessment was due for 5th April 2019 to 6th April 2020.
  In some instances, we will be required to terminate the agreement for the commencing period, if the previous work is not completed. Virtue Accountants accepts no responsibility for any consequences, following the termination of our agreement. The agreement will be treated as ceasing to exist.
7. The quotation you received was based on the information provided to us by you and your business. If the information is deemed to be incorrect, or if your circumstances change, then Virtue Accountants have the right to align our fees in accordance with this change.
  An example of this could be, if we agreed a price based on a certain number of bookkeeping transactions, but as the business grows the transactions become more frequent too. This will involve more work for our team, and the cost will therefore be passed onto you.
8. Any disbursements incurred by Virtue Accountants, on your behalf, will be included in monthly invoices where appropriate.
9. We have the right to increase our fees subject to prior notice, by at least the rate of inflation on an annual basis.
10. You authorise us to settle our agreed fees from any money held in a client account on your behalf.
11. In so far as we are permitted to do so by law or professional guidelines, we reserve the right to exercise a lien over all funds, documents and records in our possession relating to all engagements for you, until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.
12. You agree to relinquish introductory offer if you cancel part way through a financial year. In such instances you are expected to make a payment in full for the services provided.
Client Monies
1. In some instances, we may be required to hold money on your behalf in a client account, which is separate from Virtue Accountants main business account. This is not an interest-bearing accounting, so Virtue Accountants do not seek to benefit from holding your money in any way, nor will you receive any interest for the period the amount is held.
2. We aim to transfer the amounts to clients in the first instance.
3. Virtue Accountants will make every effort to return the monies to their rightful owners, however if this is unclaimed after 5 years, the amount may be paid to a registered charity.
Late payments and additional fees
1. Our payment terms relating to invoices are strictly 21 days. If you have elected to pay by Direct Debits, this will automatically be collected from your account.
2. We reserve the right to charge a late payment of £20 on any amounts not paid within 21 days.
3. If you feel a payment has incorrectly been charged and is not reasonable, you have 21 days to notify us. If you fail to do so, Virtue Accountants are not obliged to review, and it is deemed you have accepted the payment as due.
4. The responsibility for any outstanding balances owed to Virtue Accountants is with the owners, if your business is either a sole traders or partnership. For limited companies the ultimate responsibility is with the director that signed the registration form.
Compliance & Authorisation
1. Once you have registered with Virtue Accountants and have agreed to allow us to represent you, we will request an authorisation code which is posted to you by HMRC. We expect the code to be forwarded to our business address as soon as possible, to avoid any unnecessary delays with your work.
2. As part of Anti-Money Laundering regulations, we will carry out an identity check on our clients. This will include a credit check, to which you agree to.
Accounts and Financial statements – Your responsibilities
1. You and/or your company have agreed to make disclose of full information to Virtue Accountants, of all relevant information.
2. You and/or your company have agreed to provide up to date information, as and when required.
3. You and/or your company are responsible for the approval of final accounts prior to submission to HMRC or Companies House.
4. You and/or your company are responsible for ensuring to the best of your knowledge, the information provided to Virtue Accountants is reliable and accurate. This includes ensuring business activities are honestly and compliantly conducted.
5. As a business you agree to safeguard your assets, establishing arrangements to deter fraudulent activities. You agree to ensure you conduct regular internal checks to detect dishonest and/or fraudulent activities.
6. You agree that you and your business activities are in accordance with all jurisdiction laws and regulations.
7. We request you to provide contact details for previous accountants who provided similar services to you, or your business. If you unable to provide this information, we may need to succumb to additional work, which will be charged to you as a client.
8. If you require an adjustment to be made to completed accounts, after all the work has already been completed, Virtue Accountants hold the right to request an additional payment for the work involved.
9. You agree to allow Virtue Accountants to approach third parties on your behalf.
10. You agree to indemnify us of any claims (including negligence) made against us, due to unauthorised disclosures made by you, or someone whom you are responsible for. This indemnity extends to the cost of defending Virtue Accountants and our usual costs for the time spent defending ourselves.
11. If the annual turnover which you initially specified has been exceeded during the period, or is likely to more than anticipated, it is the client’s responsibility to inform Virtue Accountants, so we can adjust our service package accordingly. If we identify you to be using services which are above those in your assigned package, Virtue Accountants have the right to backdate the charges and request full payment for the additional work which was carried out.
12. You agree not to make any claims in connection to services provided to you, against any of our employees on a personal basis.
Accounts and Financial statements – Our responsibilities
1. Virtue Accountants will act on your behalf for all your (or your businesses) accounting and tax matters, from the date we receive your registration form.
2. We will use your information and explanations to compile annual accounts. We have a duty to prepare accounts which follow generally accepted accounting principles.
3. Prior to submission, we will request final approval from you. We must have a record of this. It is the responsibility of the client to ensure the sign off is completed within necessary time, to avoid any losses or fines.
4. We will request improvements where necessary in relation to the accurateness and trustworthiness of your accounting records. If you incur any losses or penalties by not taking our advice, Virtue Accountants will not be taking any responsibility for this.
5. Virtue Accountants will produce accurate financial statements, using the information, which is provided by you, in relation to your business dealings. We will not take any responsibility relating to errors, misrepresented, concealed or omitted information.
6. Virtue Accountants have the right to seek negligence from their clients, in the evident the information provided was misrepresented, purposely omitted, concealed or altered. We will only seek to do this in the event the business was to suffer losses, both reputationally and/or financially.
7. We will be responsible for advising you on tax liabilities owing and when they are owed.
8. We will not be responsible for losses, penalties, interest, surcharges or additional tax liabilities due to HMRC, Companies House or to any other organisation under any circumstances. We will take specific circumstances into account and will partake thorough investigations when required. If the outcome of our investigation uncovers fault, then we will contribute towards relevant losses.
9. We will make every effort to meeting deadlines, providing we have all information in reasonable time. We will provide services using care and expertise, ensuring professionalism.
10. Virtue Accountants will take no responsibility for any delay or failure, if the event which occurred was out of our reasonable control.
11. Virtue Accountants have a legal obligation to adhere to all civil and criminal legislations.
12. We will retain records belonging to you after submission periods for a reasonable time, should they require investigation in the future. Retained records will be automatically destroyed after 7 years.
13. Any liability resulting from errors in the preparation of accounts, tax returns or any other work carried out is limited to the fee we charge for completing that work.
14. You agree to have any overpayments by HMRC, paid in our client account, with the funds then transferred to you.
15. Virtue Accountants will take responsibility to all correspondence with HMRC on your behalf. If you wish to represent yourself, we request you to provide something in writing to confirm this.
16. In some instances, for us to accommodate your full requests we may need to consult specialists, an example of this would be Research & Development tax repayments and EIS/SEIS form completion. In such instances, we will request quotations on your behalf and the cost will be passed on to you. Virtue Accountants will have no liability for losses incurred as a result of actions or advices from any third parties.
Value Added Tax (VAT)
1. If you have included VAT within your package, Virtue Accountants will act on your behalf in relation to VAT affairs, from when the VAT registration form is received. We will deal with all HMRC correspondence on your behalf, unless requested to do otherwise. If you wish to represent yourself, we request written confirmation.
2. You agree to make all relevant company records available to us at the first instance. It is of importance to provide relevant information to us in a timely manner allowing our team to prepare your returns. If we do not receive all information in a timely manner and your business subsequently incurs a fine and/or loss, this is not the responsibility of Virtue Accountants.
3. Virtue Accountants are responsible for informing you on how much VAT is owed or repaid, and when it should be paid.
4. If you register for VAT during the period, or adjust the frequency of the reporting, you must inform Virtue Accountants immediately and this must be in writing.
Bookkeeping
1. If we have been requested to complete your bookkeeping, we expect you to provide all relevant documentation, including sales invoices, purchase invoices, expense receipts, bank statements etc.
2. If you are to prepare your own bookkeeping but request Virtue Accountants to prepare your annual accounts, we expect to receive the bookkeeping in a reconciled state.
3. Virtue Accountants will check some of the information provided for prudence and await your instructions on anomalies prior to preparing any accounts. If you are unable to amend the error, Virtue Accountants will provide a quotation for the work and may offer to complete on your behalf.
4. If there are errors in bookkeeping produced by you, or due to delayed information which leads to a late submission, Virtue Accountants are unable to borne responsibility.
5. If there is a need to adjust, after the completion of bookkeeping and accounts, you will be quoted a price, for the additional work.
6. If your business reports any currencies other than GBP, there will be an additional 25p charge for convert each transaction. This is to cover the cost of a single conversion. We will use the closing spot rate for each period, unless otherwise specified.
7. If your bookkeeping requirements, are especially complex and/or there are special requests, Virtue Accountants have the right to charge an hourly rate rather than the previously agreed transactional amount. This is due to the additional time needed to complete the bookkeeping. We will provide a quotation prior to raising payments. We will inform you of your options should we be able to simplify the procedures.
8. If the number of transactions exceeds the amount from your initial quoted, Virtue Accountants have the right to increase payments to reflect the true amount of transactions. In such instances, we have a responsibility to inform you prior to changing the amount of payments.
9. Virtue Accountants endorse a paperless working environment; however, we understand this isn’t always feasible. Should you provide paper copies, of any information, we expect this to be presented in date order. If there is a significant amount of information which is not presented in any useful format, we have the right to charge an hourly rate to file accordingly. In such instances, we will take the business relationship on board and seek a revised solution before introducing a charge.
Payroll
To process your payroll, we will require certain information from you. This includes:
1. Notification of employees engaged by you or leaving your employment.
2. Hours worked, rates of pay, bonuses etc.
3. Details of any money or benefits made available to employees by you or by a third party through you.
4. Details of holiday pay paid to employees.
5. Whether you are part of any pension scheme, along with details of employees who are enrolled within the scheme. We will need details of the scheme, the amount paid, and the companies’ contributions towards the scheme.
6. Notification within two weeks of any employee who is unfit to work for four or more calendar days, including weekends, bank holidays etc. This will enable us to operate statutory sick pay for you.
7. Notification of any employee who becomes pregnant. This will enable us to operate statutory maternity pay.
8. You agree to make all relevant company records available to us, at the first instance. It is of particular importance to highlight the need to provide information to us in a timely manner allowing our team to prepare your returns. If we do not receive all information in a timely manner, and your business subsequently incurs a fine and/or loss, this is not the responsibility of Virtue Accountants.
9. If you registered with Virtue Accountants using a prefixed package, then need to alter the reporting requirements part way through the period, Virtue Accountants will charge this as a separate request. For example, if your package included payroll for 5 employees, and then you employed the 6th, Virtue Accountants have the right to charge for the 6th employee individually.
Intellectual property
1. Virtue Accountants reserve the right to retain all copyrights for any documents, reports or statements prepared during our engagement.
Conflicts of Interest
1. If there is an instance which compromises our relationship with you or another client, our first protocol would be too safeguard all parties’ interests.
2. In the unfortunate event, should we face an event where we are unable to safeguard your interests, we will be unable to provide you with further services. In such situations you will be duly notified. We reserve the right to work with clients, who have interests which conflict with yours. This is providing they compliant as mentioned in section 9 above.
Business reporting assurance
1. By including business reporting assurance within your package, Virtue Accountants will provide backing to your business in the event of an investigation by HMRC or Companies House.
2. Virtue Accountants will support with any information requirements and dedicate resources to you and your business.
3. The assurance package does not require Virtue Accountants to represent the client, but to work alongside them.
4. This service is solely to assist the client during the investigation period. It is not an insurance policy to cover additional costs or fines which the client faces.
5. Virtue Accountants do not take any responsibilities in the event of fines or penalties being enforced.
6. Our assurances team has a fair usage policy determined by the size and formation of your business. If it is deemed the usage has exceeded the usage amount, Virtue Accountants reserve the right to invoice additional payments to the client.
Fair usage policy
1. Virtue Accountants reserve the right to increase fees for clients who are deemed to be requiring excessive business services. This is to ensure the business remains profitable and to cover additional resource costs.
2. This policy allows charges to be invoiced to clients who raise queries which are not specific to accountancy or to the services we offer. Virtue Accountants have a corporate responsibility to accommodate such requests, we also have the right to charge if it is deemed to be taking ‘unreasonable’ time from our accountants. It is expected, new clients are to request additional help, and this is taken into consideration.
3. Clients who are deemed to be breaching our fair usage policy will be notified by writing. We will make you aware of options to either reduce the demand for our accountants or request an increase in fees to meet the needs for the client.
4. Virtue Accountants can accommodate additional requests which are outside of the scope of your quotation, such as providing references and writing personalised letters. However, we reserve the right to request payment in such instances.
5. Additional payments are dependent on the seniority of staff needed to complete the task and the length of time taken. There is a 1-hour minimum charge for each request. Fees will be agreed by both parties prior to any additional work taking place.
Professional indemnity insurance
1. Professional indemnity insurance for Virtue Accountants is provided by Axa Insurance of address 5 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1AD. The territorial coverage is worldwide excluding professional business carried out from an office in the United States of America or Canada and excludes any action for a claim brought in any court in the United States of America or Canada.
Complaints procedures
1. In the unfortunate event if you wish to make a complaint, please email [email protected]. Our complaints team will investigate further and respond to you in due course with the findings and a solution.
Jurisdiction
1. All parties conclusively agree the Courts of England have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim that arises out of or in connection with this Agreement or its subject matter or formation.