This Client Engagement Agreement (the “Agreement”) is between Elite Accounting & Advisory LLC, a Virginia limited liability company (“Firm,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), and the individual or entity identified in the applicable service request, proposal, invoice, engagement confirmation, or client account (“Client,” “you,” or “your”). The Agreement becomes effective when you affirmatively accept it electronically, sign it, or otherwise execute a service-specific engagement that incorporates it.
The Firm may provide one or more professional services selected or separately confirmed by the Client, including:
Individual income tax return preparation and electronic filing;
Business and entity tax return preparation and electronic filing;
Bookkeeping, accounting cleanup, reconciliations, and financial reporting support;
Payroll processing or payroll-related support and reporting;
Sales and use tax support, where specifically agreed;
Tax planning and general tax advisory services;
Assistance responding to notices from the IRS or state/local taxing authorities; and
Other accounting or advisory services expressly identified in a written service request, proposal, statement of work, or engagement confirmation.
Only services expressly identified and accepted for a particular engagement are included. Any service not expressly included is outside the scope of the engagement and requires separate written confirmation. Unless specifically agreed in writing, the Firm is not engaged to perform an audit, review, compilation, attestation, forensic examination, fraud investigation, legal service, investment service, or continuous monitoring service.
Tax return preparation does not include representation in an examination, audit, appeal, collection matter, litigation, amended return, or response to a taxing-authority notice unless separately agreed. Bookkeeping and payroll services do not constitute an audit or other assurance engagement, and the Firm will not independently verify underlying transactions unless specifically engaged to do so.
You are responsible for the completeness, accuracy, authenticity, and timely delivery of all information provided to the Firm. You agree to:
Provide all requested records, source documents, prior returns, payroll information, ownership information, foreign asset/account information, and other relevant facts by the deadlines communicated by the Firm;
Answer questions completely and truthfully and promptly notify us of corrections or changes;
Maintain adequate books, records, receipts, substantiation, and supporting documentation required by law;
Review draft returns, reports, payroll information, filings, and other work product carefully before approval or submission;
Confirm bank account, routing, direct-deposit, direct-debit, mailing address, taxpayer identification, dependent, and filing information before authorizing filing; and
Make management decisions and accept responsibility for the results of bookkeeping, payroll, and advisory services.
We may rely on information you provide without audit or independent verification unless the engagement specifically requires otherwise. We may ask for clarification or supporting documents and may suspend or withdraw from an engagement if information appears incomplete, inconsistent, unreliable, unlawful, or potentially fraudulent.
For tax engagements, the Firm will prepare returns based on information supplied by you and applicable law and guidance reasonably available at the time of preparation. You have final responsibility for your tax return. You must review the completed return and confirm that all information is accurate and complete before filing.
The Firm will not electronically file a return until all required authorizations have been received, including applicable IRS or state e-file authorization forms. Clicking “accept” on this general Agreement alone is not intended to substitute for any tax-agency authorization form required by law or procedure.
Taxing authorities may examine or challenge a return, and tax law may be uncertain or subject to differing interpretations. The Firm does not guarantee a refund, tax outcome, audit result, acceptance of a position, or absence of penalties or interest. If a taxing authority changes a return or asserts additional tax, responding to that matter is a separate service unless expressly included.
Unless otherwise stated in a service-specific engagement, bookkeeping services are based on information and classifications provided or approved by Client. Client is responsible for internal controls, safeguarding assets, preventing and detecting fraud, authorizing transactions, and reviewing financial information. The Firm’s bookkeeping work is not designed to detect fraud, embezzlement, illegal acts, or material misstatements, although we may communicate matters that come to our attention.
Any financial statements or management reports prepared as part of bookkeeping services are intended for Client’s internal use unless the Firm expressly agrees otherwise. Third parties should not rely on them as audited, reviewed, or otherwise assured financial statements.
For payroll engagements, Client is responsible for providing accurate employee/contractor classifications, compensation, hours, benefit deductions, tax withholding instructions, work locations, and timely funding. Client remains the employer and is responsible for employment-law compliance, wage-and-hour compliance, worker classification, hiring and termination decisions, and maintaining sufficient funds for payroll and tax deposits. The Firm may rely on payroll information supplied or approved by Client.
Unless specifically agreed, the Firm is not responsible for penalties, interest, rejected payments, missed deposits, or late filings caused by Client’s late/inaccurate information, insufficient funds, bank or payment-processor delays, government-system outages, or events outside the Firm’s reasonable control.
Client must provide requested information sufficiently in advance of applicable filing, payment, payroll, or reporting deadlines. The Firm does not guarantee completion by a deadline when information is incomplete, late, or requires substantial clarification. If appropriate and separately authorized, the Firm may prepare an extension request; however, an extension of time to file generally does not extend the time to pay tax. Client is responsible for timely payment of all taxes, deposits, assessments, and other amounts due.
Fees will be stated in the applicable proposal, service request, fee schedule, invoice, or other written communication. Fees may be fixed, recurring, per-return, per-transaction, or hourly, depending on the service. Additional work outside the agreed scope may result in additional fees.
Unless different terms are stated in writing, invoices are due upon receipt and must be paid before the Firm releases or files final work product where permitted by law. The Firm may require retainers or advance payments and may suspend work for overdue balances. Client remains responsible for fees earned and authorized expenses incurred through the date of termination. Any collection costs or late charges will be imposed only to the extent separately disclosed and permitted by applicable law.
The parties agree that communications, records, invoices, engagement documents, and signatures may be transmitted and maintained electronically. Where required by applicable law, the Firm will request a separate, conspicuous consent to conduct transactions electronically. An electronic signature or affirmative electronic acceptance may have the same legal effect as a handwritten signature when applicable legal requirements are satisfied.
Client is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of account credentials, using secure devices and networks, and promptly notifying the Firm of suspected unauthorized access. Email and internet communications carry inherent security risks. Do not send sensitive information through an unapproved or insecure channel when the Firm has provided a secure alternative.
The Firm will use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect confidential Client information and will handle information in accordance with applicable professional and legal obligations and the Firm’s privacy and security policies. No information system or transmission method can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
The Firm may use tax software, accounting software, payroll platforms, secure portals, cloud hosting, electronic signature services, payment processors, document-management systems, contractors, and other service providers as reasonably necessary to operate the practice and perform services, subject to applicable confidentiality and tax-return-information rules. Where law requires Client consent before a particular disclosure or use, the Firm will obtain that consent separately before making the disclosure or use.
Federal law restricts a tax return preparer’s disclosure or use of tax return information for purposes other than permitted tax return preparation activities. Some disclosures or uses may be permitted without consent; others require a knowing and voluntary consent that satisfies specific federal format, content, timing, and signature requirements. Accordingly, the Firm may present one or more separate § 7216 consent forms when required. Refusal to provide an optional consent will not, by itself, authorize the Firm to make the proposed disclosure or use, and the Firm will follow applicable rules regarding whether a service may be conditioned on a particular consent.
When permitted by law, the Firm may engage service providers to assist with hosting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll, payment processing, document delivery, cybersecurity, or administrative functions. Client may also direct the Firm to send information to a bank, lender, attorney, financial adviser, payroll provider, taxing authority, or other third party. The Firm may require a separate written authorization before doing so. The Firm is not responsible for a third party’s acts, omissions, systems, security practices, or use of information after a lawful disclosure, except to the extent responsibility cannot legally be disclaimed.
The Firm provides accounting and tax services within the scope of the applicable engagement. Unless expressly stated in a separate written engagement and legally permitted, the Firm does not provide legal advice, investment advice, securities advice, insurance advice, or other services requiring a separate professional license. Client should consult qualified legal counsel or other professionals for matters outside the Firm’s engagement.
Professional judgments, projections, tax estimates, planning calculations, and advisory recommendations depend on assumptions, facts supplied by Client, and laws or circumstances that may change. The Firm does not guarantee any specific financial, tax, payroll, business, or governmental outcome.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE FIRM WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES, ARISING FROM THE SERVICES OR THIS AGREEMENT, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE FIRM’S AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF A PARTICULAR ENGAGEMENT WILL NOT EXCEED THE FEES ACTUALLY PAID TO THE FIRM FOR THE SPECIFIC SERVICE GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM DURING THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.
Client remains responsible for tax, interest, penalties, payroll obligations, or other amounts legally owed by Client. Nothing in this Agreement prevents Client from asserting a claim that a penalty or interest amount was directly caused by the Firm’s actionable error, subject to the other lawful terms of this Agreement.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Client will indemnify and hold harmless the Firm and its owners, employees, and agents from third-party claims, losses, penalties, or costs arising from materially inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, fraudulent, or unauthorized information or instructions supplied by Client, or Client’s violation of law, except to the extent caused by the Firm’s negligence, willful misconduct, or other liability that cannot lawfully be shifted.
The Firm may rely on prior-year returns, opening balances, reports, valuations, legal documents, or work prepared by Client or third parties unless the Firm is specifically engaged to verify them. The Firm is not responsible for errors originating in prior periods or third-party work that were not known to the Firm and were not reasonably apparent within the agreed scope. Correcting prior-period items, amended returns, cleanup work, or reconstruction of records may require a separate engagement and fee.
Client is responsible for retaining original records and copies of filed returns, payroll records, financial records, and supporting documents for the periods required by applicable law. The Firm may maintain engagement records according to its document-retention policy and applicable legal or professional requirements. Unless a longer period is required by law or a specific engagement, the Firm generally intends to retain core engagement records for at least seven (7) years after the engagement closes, after which records may be securely destroyed without further notice. This policy does not create a duty to retain every document for seven years, and Client should not rely on the Firm as the sole repository of Client records.
Either party may terminate an engagement by written notice. The Firm may immediately suspend or withdraw from services for nonpayment, failure to provide information, loss of trust, conflicts of interest, suspected fraud or illegality, abusive conduct, professional-standard concerns, or other circumstances making continued performance impracticable or inappropriate. Upon termination, Client remains responsible for fees and expenses incurred through termination. The Firm will comply with applicable law and professional obligations concerning return of Client records.
Before initiating arbitration or litigation, the parties agree to provide written notice of the dispute and make a good-faith effort for at least thirty (30) days to resolve it informally. Except for claims that may properly be brought in small claims court and requests for temporary or injunctive relief, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the Firm’s services shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its applicable rules. The arbitration will take place in Virginia, unless the parties agree to a remote proceeding or another location. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.
THE PARTIES UNDERSTAND THAT BINDING ARBITRATION GENERALLY MEANS THEY ARE WAIVING THE RIGHT TO HAVE THE DISPUTE DECIDED BY A JUDGE OR JURY IN COURT, SUBJECT TO THE EXPRESS EXCEPTIONS ABOVE. Nothing in this section prevents either party from pursuing a remedy that applicable law makes non-waivable.
This Agreement and any dispute not required to be arbitrated will be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except where federal law or another jurisdiction’s non-waivable law controls. Subject to the arbitration provision, the parties consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in a state or federal court located in Virginia having proper subject-matter jurisdiction.
The Firm will not be responsible for delay or failure caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including government or tax-agency outages, software or telecommunications failures, cyber incidents not caused by the Firm’s failure to use reasonable safeguards, natural disasters, labor disruptions, utility failures, banking interruptions, or similar events. The Firm will use commercially reasonable efforts to resume affected services.
This Agreement, together with any service-specific proposal, statement of work, engagement confirmation, required tax authorization, separate privacy notice, and separate legally required consent, constitutes the agreement for the applicable services. If a service-specific written term expressly conflicts with this Agreement, the service-specific term controls for that engagement. The Firm may update website terms prospectively, but material changes to an active professional-services engagement will not retroactively alter accrued rights or obligations without appropriate notice or consent.
If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the remaining provisions will remain in effect. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. Client may not assign an engagement without the Firm’s written consent. The Firm may assign this Agreement in connection with a lawful merger, reorganization, or transfer of the practice, subject to applicable confidentiality and tax-return-information requirements.
By affirmatively checking the acceptance box and selecting the acceptance button, signing electronically, or signing a service-specific engagement that incorporates this Agreement, Client acknowledges that Client has had an opportunity to read this Agreement, understands it, and agrees to be bound by it. The Firm should maintain an electronic record of the version accepted, date and time of acceptance, and other available audit-trail information.
This Part is intentionally presented separately because Virginia law may require conspicuous and separate consent to conduct transactions electronically when that consent appears in a standard-form contract.
These Website & Client Portal Terms of Service (“Website Terms”) govern access to and use of www.eliteaccountingandadvisory.com and any client portal, forms, scheduling tools, payment pages, or related online features operated by or for Elite Accounting & Advisory LLC (collectively, the “Site”). Professional services are governed additionally by Part I and any service-specific engagement terms.
By using the Site, you agree to these Website Terms. If you use the Site for a business or other entity, you represent that you have authority to act for that entity. Creating an account or browsing the Site does not by itself create an accountant-client relationship; a professional relationship begins only when the Firm accepts an engagement.
General Site content is provided for informational and marketing purposes only and is not individualized tax, accounting, legal, investment, or financial advice. You should not act or refrain from acting solely because of general Site content. No professional duty is created merely because you visit the Site, send an inquiry, or upload unsolicited information before the Firm accepts an engagement.
You must provide accurate registration information, safeguard passwords and authentication methods, restrict access to authorized users, and promptly notify the Firm of suspected compromise. You are responsible for actions taken through your account to the extent attributable to you or your authorized users under applicable law.
You may not use the Site to violate law, infringe rights, upload malware, probe or bypass security, access another person’s information without authorization, interfere with Site operation, scrape or copy Site content at scale, impersonate another person, or transmit material you do not have a lawful right to provide.
The Site, branding, text, graphics, workflows, forms, and other Firm-created content are owned by the Firm or its licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws. Subject to these Website Terms, the Firm grants you a limited, revocable, nonexclusive right to use the Site for legitimate personal or business purposes related to evaluating or receiving the Firm’s services. You retain ownership of information and documents you submit, subject to rights reasonably necessary for the Firm to process them and provide requested services.
Use of personal information is governed by the Firm’s separately posted Privacy Policy and, where applicable, separate tax-return-information consents. The Site may use essential cookies and similar technologies and may use additional analytics or advertising technologies as described in the Privacy Policy or cookie notice. The Firm should not use this Website Terms document as a substitute for a complete Privacy Policy.
The Site may integrate or link to third-party platforms. The Firm does not control third-party websites or services and is not responsible for their content, availability, terms, or privacy practices. Use of third-party services may be subject to separate terms.
THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. THE FIRM DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, COMPLETELY SECURE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THIS DISCLAIMER DOES NOT LIMIT EXPRESS PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS THE FIRM HAS ACCEPTED IN A SEPARATE ENGAGEMENT.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Firm will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising solely from use of or inability to use the Site. Any liability arising from professional services is governed by the applicable professional-services agreement, not solely by this Website section.
The Firm may revise these Website Terms prospectively. The current version and “Last revised” date should be posted on the Site. Material changes will apply as permitted by law after reasonable notice. Changes to Website Terms do not automatically amend an already accepted professional-services engagement where additional consent is legally required.
These Website Terms are governed by Virginia law, except where federal law or non-waivable law provides otherwise. Questions may be directed to info@eliteaccountingandadvisory.com.