Standard Terms of Engagement

1How these terms apply

Your engagement is the signed engagement form plus the version of these terms in force on the date you signed it. The form controls if the two ever conflict. We may revise these terms for future engagements; a revision never changes an engagement already signed, and each version keeps its own number and effective date so the one that governs you stays identifiable.

Signing an engagement form confirms that these terms were made available to you before you signed and that you accept them. Ask us at any time for a PDF of the version that applies to you.

2What we do

We perform the services your form names, using the information you give us. We do not audit, examine, or independently verify that information, though we may ask you for clarification or supporting documents, and we may decline to complete an engagement if you do not provide them.

We apply the tax law as we understand it and take positions meeting the standards of Treasury Circular 230 and IRC §6694. Where the law is unclear, we will discuss it with you, tell you what disclosure we recommend, and follow your direction on any position properly subject to disclosure. Tax authorities may disagree with a position we take. We do not guarantee any outcome, refund amount, or freedom from examination.

An engagement ends when we deliver the completed work. We have no obligation to update it for later events, guidance, or changes in law, and no obligation to monitor your deadlines in a later year.

3What we need from you

• Complete and accurate information, including income not reported on any information return — cash receipts, platform and gig income, rents, tips, barter, and foreign-source income.
• Your documents by the date on your form. Information arriving after that date may not leave time to file by the original due date, and we do not guarantee timely filing for late-delivered information.
• A careful review of any draft we send you, and prompt word from you about anything wrong or missing.
• The original records that substantiate every item — receipts, invoices, mileage and use logs, canceled checks, closing statements, basis records, and contemporaneous written acknowledgments for charitable gifts of $250 or more. Deductions for meals, travel, vehicles, home office, and other listed property carry specific rules under IRC §274 and are commonly disallowed without contemporaneous records. We rely on your representation that you hold them; we do not review or store them.
• Prompt delivery of any notice you receive from the IRS or a state or local authority. Responding to a notice is a separate engagement — see Part IV.
• Prompt word about changes in marital status, dependents, residency or the states where you live and work, and business ownership.

You remain responsible for the contents of anything filed in your name. Your signature declares, under penalties of perjury, that you have examined it and that it is true, correct, and complete.

4Fees and payment

The fee on your form is an estimate based on the facts you described and on records delivered in organized and complete form. Additional forms, schedules, states, localities, K-1s, rental properties, or bookkeeping cleanup needed to finish the work is billed at the rate on your form, and we will tell you before we incur a material overage.

• Payment is due on completion, before a return is transmitted or work product delivered, unless your form says otherwise.
• Invoices unpaid after 30 days accrue 1.5% per month, or the maximum rate Pennsylvania law permits if lower.
• If an invoice goes unpaid we may suspend or stop work and withhold delivery of work product after notice. Suspension does not relieve you of any filing deadline. Your own original documents come back to you regardless of payment status.
• You are responsible for reasonable collection costs and attorney fees we incur to collect an amount properly due.

5Communications, portal, and electronic signatures

You consent to receive documents, invoices, and notices from us electronically, and to sign engagement forms and related documents electronically under the federal ESIGN Act and Pennsylvania's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.

Use our secure client portal for anything containing a Social Security number, a bank account number, or financial detail. Ordinary email and text messages are not secure, and we are not responsible for information intercepted or misdirected when you choose to send it that way.

6Confidentiality and consent to disclose

We treat your information as confidential and maintain a written information security program consistent with the FTC Safeguards Rule. Four limits are worth knowing:

• Third-party disclosure needs your written consent first. IRC §7216 bars us from disclosing or using your return information for any purpose beyond preparing your return without your prior written consent on a separate, specifically worded form. To send your return or return information to a lender, advisor, attorney, or anyone else, we will give you that consent form to sign first. We cannot act on a verbal request or an email.
• Some disclosures are permitted without consent. To our own personnel and to contractors who assist us under confidentiality obligations, to a professional peer reviewer, to a successor firm at your direction, and where compelled by subpoena, court order, or professional standards. We notify you where we are permitted to.
• The practitioner privilege is narrow. IRC §7525 does not cover return preparation, does not apply in criminal matters, and does not apply in most state proceedings. If a matter may involve criminal exposure, tell us that before you tell us the details, and consult an attorney.
• You get an annual privacy notice. It describes how we collect, use, and protect your information, and accompanies your engagement form.

7Records and retention

We keep copies of returns and our workpapers for seven years, after which they may be destroyed without further notice. Our workpapers are our property and are not a substitute for your records. Original documents you give us come back to you when the engagement is complete. Keeping your own copies of returns and supporting records, for as long as the applicable statutes of limitation stay open, is your responsibility.

8No third-party reliance

Our work is prepared solely for filing with the authorities your form names and for your own use. No third party is an intended beneficiary of it. As a matter of firm policy we do not issue comfort letters, verification-of-income letters, or certifications of self-employment to lenders, brokers, landlords, or agencies, and we do not confirm the accuracy of a return to any third party.

9Term, termination, and withdrawal

An engagement begins when we receive your signed form and ends when we deliver the completed work, or earlier if terminated. Either of us may terminate on written notice. We may withdraw if you do not provide information we request, if you ask us to take a position we cannot support, if a conflict of interest arises, or if fees go unpaid.

On termination you remain responsible for fees for work performed through that date, and you become solely responsible for all filing deadlines. We confirm any withdrawal in writing and, in a representation matter, file a withdrawal of our power of attorney.

10Limitation of liability

You and we agree to the following allocation of risk, which is a material part of the fee charged:

• Neither of us is liable to the other for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits.
• Our total liability for any claim arising out of an engagement, on any theory, is limited to the greater of the fees you paid for the services giving rise to the claim or the floor stated on your engagement form.
• We are not responsible for tax you properly owe, for interest measuring your use of money you owed, or for penalties and interest resulting from information you failed to provide, provided late, or misstated.
• You agree to indemnify us against third-party claims, and our reasonable defense costs, to the extent they arise from information you failed to disclose or misrepresented, or from your direction to take a position we advised against in writing.
• Any claim against us must be brought within one year after we deliver the work to which it relates, regardless of any longer statutory period.
• Nothing here limits liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or any liability applicable law does not permit to be limited. If any part of this section is held unenforceable, the rest stays in effect.

11Governing law and dispute resolution

Pennsylvania law governs, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Before either of us files any action, we will attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute through mediation before a mutually acceptable mediator, with the cost shared equally. If mediation does not resolve it, the exclusive venue is the state or federal courts in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and both of us consent to that jurisdiction. The prevailing party may recover reasonable attorney fees and costs.

12General provisions

Your engagement form together with these terms is the entire agreement on its subject and supersedes prior discussions, proposals, and correspondence. It may be amended only in a writing signed by both of us. If any provision is held invalid, the rest stays in effect. Sections 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and this section survive completion or termination. Neither of us may assign an engagement without the other's written consent. Forms may be signed in counterparts and by electronic signature. An engagement renews only when we issue and you sign a new form; there is no automatic renewal.

13Scope and reliance

We prepare only the returns checked on your form, for the years it names, from the information you provide. Any return, schedule, form, election, or filing not checked is outside the engagement. If you need something added we will confirm it in writing and quote the additional fee before doing the work.

14Services not included

A tax return engagement does not include, and we are not responsible for, any of the following unless a separate signed form covers it:

• Bookkeeping, write-up, general ledger cleanup, or reconciliation of any account.
• Payroll processing or payroll tax returns — 941, 940, W-2, 1099, PA UC-2/2A, local EIT and LST.
• Sales and use tax, property tax, gross receipts, business privilege, mercantile, or excise filings.
• Foreign information reporting. See section 15.
• Representation before any authority on a notice, examination, appeal, or collection matter. See Part IV.
• Amended returns for any year, including years we did not prepare.
• Tax planning, projections, entity structuring, or advice on transactions not yet completed.
• Any audit, review, compilation, or other attest service, and any assurance on financial statements.
• Legal advice, investment advice, insurance advice, or valuation services.
• Beneficial ownership information reporting with FinCEN.
• Detection of fraud, embezzlement, defalcation, or theft. Our procedures are not designed to detect them, though we will tell you if we become aware of anything of that nature.

15Foreign accounts, assets, and transactions

Penalties for failing to report foreign financial accounts, assets, entities, trusts, and gifts are severe, assessed per form and per year, and often not abatable. By signing an engagement form you represent that you will disclose to us in writing:

• Any financial account outside the United States over which you have signature authority or a financial interest, where the combined value exceeded $10,000 at any point in the year — FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR).
• Any specified foreign financial asset — Form 8938.
• Any interest in a foreign corporation, partnership, or disregarded entity — Forms 5471, 8865, 8858.
• Any transfer to, ownership of, or distribution from a foreign trust, and any gift or bequest from a foreign person — Forms 3520, 3520-A.

We prepare these forms only on your written request and our written agreement, at an additional fee. If you do not disclose a foreign account, asset, or transaction to us, we are not responsible for the resulting tax, penalty, or interest.

16Digital assets

Form 1040 asks, under penalties of perjury, whether you received, sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of a digital asset during the year. You are responsible for telling us about every digital-asset transaction — sales, trades between assets, purchases of goods or services, staking and mining rewards, airdrops, and transfers between wallets or exchanges — and for providing complete cost-basis records. We cannot reconstruct basis from exchange statements alone.

17Electronic filing and signature authorization

• We electronically file the returns on your form that are eligible. Returns that must be paper-filed come to you with filing instructions; mailing them is your responsibility.
• IRS rules require your signed Form 8879 before we may transmit. A return cannot go to the IRS until we have it.
• If you sign Form 8879 remotely rather than in our presence, IRS Publication 1345 requires us to verify your identity, normally including a knowledge-based authentication step. We cannot waive this.
• A return is not filed until the authority accepts it. If a return is rejected and we cannot clear the rejection, you may need to paper-file; we will tell you promptly.

18Extensions and estimated payments

An extension extends the time to file, never the time to pay. Where an extension carries an electronic funds withdrawal, IRS rules require your signed Form 8878 first. Making your own estimated tax payments and keeping records of them is your responsibility; we will provide vouchers or a payment schedule on request, but we do not make payments for you and do not monitor whether you made them.

19Scope

We perform only the services checked on your form. Not included: income tax returns of any kind, representation before any authority, transaction-tax filings not checked, funding of payroll or payroll taxes, worker-classification determinations or Form SS-8, benefit plan administration, workers' compensation audits, Form 5500 filings, and human-resources advice.

20No assurance is provided

Financial statements we prepare are for your internal management use. We do not audit, review, or compile them, we express no opinion or assurance of any kind on them, and they should not be given to a bank, investor, or bonding company as though they carried assurance. Each statement we prepare carries a legend saying so. If a third party requires assurance, that is a separate engagement with a firm performing that service.

21Management responsibility

These are non-attest services. You retain responsibility for your books and records and designate on your form an individual with suitable skill, knowledge, and experience to oversee our services, evaluate their adequacy, and accept responsibility for the results. That individual is responsible for establishing and maintaining internal control, safeguarding assets, providing complete statements and source documents by the monthly cutoff, and reviewing and approving every classification, journal entry, and financial statement before it is used.

22Payroll funding and trust-fund taxes

You approve each payroll and confirm hours, rates, bonuses, terminations, and benefit changes before we process it. You fund payroll and payroll tax liabilities on time and maintain sufficient balances. Payroll tax deposits are trust-fund obligations, and responsible persons can be assessed personally under IRC §6672. We are not a responsible person and do not control your funds. Penalties assessed for late deposits or filings caused by late or incomplete information from you, or by unfunded liabilities, are your responsibility.

You provide a signed Form W-9 for every vendor before payment and tell us of any vendor who should receive a Form 1099.

23Scope and levels

We represent you in the matter your form identifies, through the level it checks and no further. Each additional level — notice response, examination, Appeals, collection, offer in compromise — requires a new signed form and a new fee quote. Within the checked level we review the notice and relevant records, file Form 2848 or 8821, obtain transcripts, communicate with the authority on your behalf, prepare a written response or represent you in conference, request penalty abatement where the facts support first-time abate or reasonable cause, and advise you on the outcome.

24Limits of our authority

• No returns. Preparation or amendment of a return is not part of a representation engagement. We will quote that separately.
• No court. As an Enrolled Agent we are authorized to practice before the IRS in examination, Appeals, and collection. We are not admitted to the United States Tax Court and cannot file a petition. If a Notice of Deficiency is issued you have 90 days to petition, and you will need an attorney or a USTCP.
• No criminal matters, and no privilege there. If a matter suggests potential criminal exposure — unreported income, false documents, willful conduct — we stop and refer you to an attorney. Communications with us are not privileged in a criminal matter, and we can be compelled to testify.
• No fabrication. If a document does not exist, tell us. We will not create, alter, or backdate a record, and we will withdraw if asked to.
• No contingent fees for this work, consistent with Circular 230 §10.27.

25No guarantee of outcome

We cannot and do not guarantee any result — that a penalty will be abated, that a proposed adjustment will be withdrawn, that an offer will be accepted, or that the matter resolves within any particular time. Authorities exercise discretion and processing times are outside our control. Any estimate we give you of a likely outcome is professional judgment, not a promise. Decisions on settlement, concession, and payment are yours; we explain the options and our recommendation but do not act without your authorization.

26Joint representation and conflicts

Where we represent two or more taxpayers in one matter — spouses on a joint return, or an entity and its owner — a conflict may develop between you. By signing, each of you consents to the joint representation, acknowledges that information one of you gives us may be shared with the other, and agrees that if an actual conflict arises we may need to withdraw from representing one or all of you. If you may seek innocent spouse relief, tell us at the outset: that position is adverse to your spouse and we cannot represent both of you on it.

27ACH fee payments

An ACH authorization lets us collect professional fees you owe by debit to a bank account you name, and lets us push money back by credit or adjusting entry if we ever debit in error. Authorizations are collected only through our secure portal, never by email, text, or fax, and are stored encrypted with access limited to authorized personnel. We keep each authorization for at least two years after it ends, as the Nacha Operating Rules require, and will give you a copy on request.