Letter of Engagement for Payroll Service
This letter is to confirm our understanding of the terms and objectives of our engagement and the nature and limitations of the services we will provide.
Beginning with the first pay date processed through the termination of services, we will provide the following payroll services:
- Perform payroll calculations including withholding
- Prepare your payroll checks including direct deposits
- Prepare and deposit any related local, state and federal tax deposits
- Prepare and file any related local, state and federal withholding returns
- Prepare and file state unemployment returns (if applicable)
- Prepare and file Forms W27
Provide consultation when needed, reasonable to the extent of providing the services aforementioned. Beginning with the first pay date processed through the termination of services, you will be responsible for the following:
- Providing us with timely, true and accurate salary and wage information
- Have funds sufficient to cover your ministry’s payroll, payroll taxes, additional withholdings and service fees. These funds will be debited from your ignated checking account approximately three (3) banking days prior to the payroll date to allow time for processing.
- Forward all communication from governmental agencies regarding payroll and withholding to our office immediately upon receipt. Failure to do so may result in penalties and/or interest for which we will not be responsible.
Our engagement is limited to the period and the accounting services indicated above. However, if neither party has terminated service, this engagement will automatically renew for the next calendar year. We will rely on the accuracy and completeness of the documents and information you provide to us. Accordingly, our engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose errors, fraud, or other illegal acts that may exist. However, it may be necessary to ask you for clarification of some of the information you provide, and we will inform you of any material errors, fraud or other illegal acts that come to our attention, unless they are clearly inconsequential. In addition, we have no responsibility to identify and communicate significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in your internal controls as part of this engagement, and our engagement cannot, therefore be relied upon to make disclosure of such matters.
If we elect to terminate our services for nonpayment, or for any other reason provided for in this letter, our engagement will be deemed to have been completed upon written notification of termination. You will be obligated to compensate us through the date of termination.
If you elect to terminate our services for any reason, our engagement will be deemed to have been completed upon written notification of termination. You will be obligated to compensate us through the date of termination. Additionally, if services are terminated at any time other than year end, a termination fee of $99 will apply.
In connection with this engagement, we may communicate with you or others via email transmission. As emails can be intercepted and read, disclosed, or otherwise used or communicated by an unintended third party, or may not be delivered to each of the parties to whom they are directed and only to such parties, we cannot guarantee or warrant that emails from us will be properly delivered and read only by the addressee. Therefore, we specifically disclaim and waive any liability or responsibility whatsoever for interception or unintentional disclosure of emails transmitted by us in connection with the performance of this engagement. In that regard, you agree that we shall have no liability for any loss or damage to any person or entity resulting from the use of email transmissions, including any consequential, incidental, direct, indirect, or special damages, such as loss of revenues or anticipated profits, or disclosure or communication of confidential or proprietary information.
It is our policy to retain engagement documentation for a period of seven years, after which time we will commence the process of destroying the contents of our engagement files. To the extent we accumulate any of your original records during the engagement, those documents will be returned to you periodically throughout the engagement, and you will provide us with a receipt for the return of such records. The balance of our engagement file, other than the reports which we will provide to you throughout the engagement, is our property, and we will provide copies of such documents at our discretion and if compensated for any time and costs associated with the effort.
In the event we are required to respond to a subpoena, court order or other legal process for the production of documents and/or testimony relative to information we obtained and/or prepared during the course of this engagement, you agree to compensate us at our standard hourly rates then existing for the time we expend in connection with such response, and to reimburse us for all of our out-of-pocket costs incurred in that regard.
In the event that we are or may be obligated to pay any cost, settlement, judgment, fine, penalty, or similar award or sanction as a result of a claim, investigation, or other proceeding instituted by any third party, and if such obligation is or may be a direct or indirect result of any inaccurate or incomplete information that you provide to us during the course of this engagement, you agree to indemnify us, defend us, and hold us harmless as against such obligation.
You agree that any dispute (other than our efforts to collect an outstanding invoice) that may arise regarding the meaning, performance or enforcement of this engagement or any prior engagement that we have performed for you, will, prior to resorting to litigation, be submitted to mediation, and that the parties will engage in the mediation process in good faith once a written request to mediate has been given by any party to the engagement. Any mediation initiated as a result of this engagement shall be administered within the county of Cabell, WV, according to its mediation rules, and any ensuing litigation shall be conducted within said county, according to West Virginia law. The results of any such mediation shall be binding only upon agreement of each party to be bound. The costs of any mediation proceeding shall be shared equally by the participating parties.
Any litigation arising out of this engagement, except actions by us to enforce payment of our professional invoices, must be filed within one year from the accrual of the cause of action, notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary. In the event of litigation brought against us, any judgment you obtain shall be limited in amount, and shall not exceed the amount of the annual fee charged by us, and paid by you, for the services set forth in this engagement letter.
This engagement letter is contractual in nature, and includes all of the relevant terms that will govern the engagement for which it has been prepared. The terms of this letter supersede any prior oral or written representations or commitments by or between the parties. Any material changes or additions to the terms set forth in this letter will only become effective if evidenced by a written amendment to this letter, signed by all of the parties.
If, after full consideration and consultation with counsel if so desired, you agree that the foregoing terms shall govern this engagement, please sign the copy of this letter in the space provided and return the original signed letter to me, keeping a fully-executed copy for your records.
Thank you for your attention to this matter, and please contact me with any questions that you may have.
Very truly yours,
Tiffany Tatum,
CPA Managing Accountant/CEO