Standard Terms of Business

Version 1.1 — Effective 4 August 2026

These Terms of Business apply to services supplied by Ozworknet Pty Ltd trading as Compact Accounting.

They apply where an engagement letter, proposal, variation or other written agreement incorporates these Terms of Business.

How these terms work

Our engagement with you is made up of:

  • the engagement letter or accepted proposal;
  • any entity, service or pricing schedules;
  • these Terms of Business; and
  • any written variations agreed during the engagement.

Specific terms in an engagement letter or proposal take priority over these Terms of Business where there is an inconsistency.

1. Agreement and Priority

Our agreement consists of the engagement letter, accepted proposal, selected entity and service schedules, these Terms of Business and any written variation.

Specific engagement terms prevail over a service schedule, and a service schedule prevails over these Terms of Business to the extent of any inconsistency.

No oral change is effective unless confirmed in writing.

2. Clients, Entities and Authority

Each legal person or entity receiving services must be identified.

Services provided for a company do not automatically include services for its directors or shareholders.

Services provided for a trust do not automatically include services for its trustees, beneficiaries or related entities.

Services provided for a partnership do not automatically include each partner’s personal taxation or financial affairs.

You confirm that each person giving instructions is authorised to do so.

We may rely on instructions from an authorised contact until we are notified otherwise in writing.

If authorised persons give conflicting instructions, we may pause work until the conflict is resolved.

3. Scope, Changes and Additional Work

We will perform only the services described in the engagement.

Requests outside the agreed scope are not accepted merely because they are discussed with us or documents are sent to us.

Before undertaking material additional work, we will normally describe the revised scope, fee basis and expected timing and request written approval.

Approval may be recorded through:

  • a signed variation;
  • an accepted proposal;
  • an accepted email quote;
  • an electronic signature platform; or
  • another written confirmation identifying the work and fee basis.

If urgent action is reasonably necessary to protect an imminent deadline or preserve your position, we may take limited protective steps where practicable and notify you promptly.

We are not obliged to act without sufficient instructions, information or authority.

4. Our Professional Responsibilities

We will provide the agreed services competently and with due care.

We will comply with applicable law and relevant professional and ethical standards, maintain appropriate supervision and make reasonable enquiries where information appears incomplete or inconsistent.

We cannot contract out of obligations imposed on us by the Tax Agent Services Act 2009, the Code of Professional Conduct or any other applicable law.

5. Your Responsibilities

You remain responsible for your affairs, decisions, records and legal obligations.

You must:

  • provide complete, accurate, current and timely information;
  • disclose all relevant facts;
  • respond to reasonable questions and information requests;
  • review documents before approving or signing them;
  • retain required source records; and
  • notify us promptly if information previously supplied becomes incorrect or incomplete.

Our involvement does not transfer management, trustee, director, employer, taxpayer or superannuation responsibilities to us.

You must not provide false or misleading information or ask us to adopt a position that does not have a reasonable basis.

Where necessary to meet our professional obligations, we may:

  • request supporting evidence;
  • decline a proposed treatment;
  • amend or withdraw previous advice;
  • refuse lodgement;
  • suspend work; or
  • terminate the engagement.

6. Tax Practitioner Information and Client Rights

Tax agent services are provided by:

Ozworknet Pty Ltd trading as Compact Accounting
Tax Agent Registration Number: 25488123

You can verify our registration through the Tax Practitioners Board Public Register and read the TPB’s Information for Clients

You are entitled to expect tax practitioner services to be provided competently, honestly and with reasonable care.

You are responsible for:

  • providing complete and accurate information;
  • keeping required records;
  • meeting your taxation obligations; and
  • reviewing documents before approval or lodgement.

Information about any prescribed event or matter that we are legally required to disclose will be provided separately or through an identified notice published on our website.

7. Basis of Work, Estimates and No Assurance

We may use information supplied by:

  • you;
  • your authorised representatives;
  • government agencies;
  • accounting and taxation software;
  • financial institutions; and
  • other third parties.

ATO pre-fill and third-party data may be incomplete, delayed or later corrected.

Unless an audit, assurance engagement or formal review is expressly included, we do not independently verify all information and do not provide assurance on its completeness or accuracy.

Our work is not designed to detect every error, fraud, misstatement or unlawful act.

Calculations, advice and reports may depend on estimates, judgments and assumptions identified during the work.

You must tell us if an assumption is incorrect or circumstances change.

Advice speaks at the date it is provided and is based on the facts and law available at that time.

We are not required to update previous advice unless separately engaged to do so.

8. Deadlines and Delays

You must provide requested information by the dates we specify.

We will use reasonable efforts to meet agreed or statutory dates, but we cannot guarantee completion where information, approvals or third-party responses are late, incomplete or inaccurate.

You remain responsible for taxation payments, lodgement obligations and other legal deadlines unless we expressly accept responsibility in writing for a specified action.

Late information may result in:

  • revised completion dates;
  • additional fees;
  • urgent-work charges;
  • missed lodgement concessions; or
  • an inability to complete the work by the requested date.

9. Fees, Invoices and Payment

Fees are set out in the engagement letter, accepted proposal, pricing schedule, quote or written variation.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, fees are exclusive of GST, which will be added where applicable.

Estimates and fixed fees assume:

  • complete and orderly records;
  • timely cooperation;
  • the stated transaction volume;
  • the stated number of entities;
  • the agreed level of complexity; and
  • work being provided within the agreed timeframe.

Changes in scope, complexity, record quality or urgency may require a revised fee.

Invoices are payable within 14 days unless otherwise agreed in writing.

You must raise any genuine fee query promptly.

We may suspend work for overdue amounts after reasonable notice.

You are responsible for reasonable third-party debt recovery and enforcement costs, to the extent permitted by law.

Government charges, statutory fees, searches, legal fees, audit fees, software charges and other disbursements are additional unless expressly included.

10. Ownership, Records and Retention

Original records supplied by you remain your property.

Final documents prepared specifically for you also remain yours, subject to any applicable law and lawful rights of retention.

Our working papers, internal calculations, methodologies, templates, checklists, file notes, procedures and systems remain our property.

We may retain copies where required for legal, professional, insurance, regulatory or quality-control purposes.

You remain responsible for retaining source records required by taxation, corporations, superannuation and other laws.

We retain records relating to tax agent and BAS services for at least the minimum period required by law and professional standards, which is generally five years after the relevant service is provided.

We may securely destroy records after the applicable retention period unless another arrangement is agreed in writing.

11. Confidentiality and Privacy

We protect confidential information and do not disclose it to a third party without permission unless disclosure is required or permitted by law, regulation or professional standards.

We collect and handle personal information to:

  • provide agreed services;
  • administer and manage our practice;
  • verify identity and authority;
  • comply with professional, taxation and regulatory obligations;
  • maintain records; and
  • communicate with you.

Further information is available in our Privacy Policy.

12. Third Parties, Outsourcing and Cloud Services

We use reputable software, cloud and service providers to operate the practice and provide services.

We may also use external specialists or service providers where appropriate.

Where applicable law, professional standards or confidentiality requirements require specific disclosure or permission, we will identify the provider or relevant category of provider, the location and the nature of the service and obtain the required permission.

We remain responsible for appropriately supervising services performed on our behalf.

Information may be stored or processed in Australia or in overseas locations identified in our Privacy Policy, engagement documents or provider schedule.

Subject to applicable law and professional requirements, you authorise our ordinary use of the systems and service providers disclosed in those documents for the purpose of delivering the agreed services.

You should raise any concern before services commence.

13. Digital Communication, Portals and Cyber Security

We may communicate and deliver documents electronically, including through:

  • email;
  • secure portals;
  • electronic signatures;
  • accounting platforms;
  • document-sharing systems; and
  • other approved digital services.

Electronic communication carries risks including delay, interception, corruption, unauthorised access and impersonation.

Each party must use reasonable security measures, protect passwords and credentials and notify the other promptly of a suspected security incident.

Important payment security warning

Never rely solely on an email requesting payment or advising of changed bank details.

Verify any payment instruction or change of bank details using a known telephone number or another independent communication channel.

We are not responsible for loss caused by a client’s failure to follow this verification requirement, except to the extent that liability cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

14. Identity Verification and AML/CTF

We may verify the identity and authority of:

  • clients;
  • representatives;
  • directors;
  • trustees;
  • partners;
  • beneficial owners; and
  • other relevant persons.

Tax practitioner proof-of-identity requirements apply independently of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing regime.

We generally record that an identity check has been completed rather than retaining identity documents unless retention is necessary, appropriate and lawful.

From 1 July 2026, AML/CTF obligations apply where we provide a designated service.

For those services, we may be required to:

  • conduct customer due diligence;
  • understand ownership and control;
  • assess money laundering and terrorism-financing risk;
  • monitor the business relationship;
  • keep prescribed records; and
  • make reports to AUSTRAC.

We may be legally prevented from explaining whether a report has been made.

If required information is not provided, or the engagement is outside our risk appetite, we may delay, refuse, suspend or terminate the service.

15. Non-Compliance With Laws and Regulations

Professional standards require us to respond appropriately if actual or suspected non-compliance with laws or regulations comes to our attention.

Our response may include:

  • making further enquiries;
  • discussing the matter with management, directors, trustees or those charged with governance;
  • requesting corrective action;
  • seeking legal or specialist advice;
  • withdrawing from the engagement; or
  • disclosing information where permitted or required by law.

This does not mean that every matter is automatically reported externally.

16. Conflicts of Interest

We may act for related clients where professional and legal requirements permit.

We will assess material conflicts and disclose them where required.

Depending on the circumstances, we may:

  • seek informed consent;
  • implement safeguards;
  • restrict access to information;
  • limit the engagement scope;
  • require separate advice; or
  • cease acting for one or more parties.

We may be unable to share one client’s confidential information with another client, even where they are members of the same family, business group or ownership structure.

17. Liability and Professional Standards Scheme

Our liability is subject to applicable law and, where available, the IPA Professional Standards Scheme.

Nothing in the engagement excludes rights, guarantees or liabilities that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

18. Complaints

Please raise any concern promptly with:

Sanel Music, Principal
Email: info@compactaccounting.com.au

We will acknowledge your concern, investigate it fairly and explain our response.

Where a matter cannot be resolved directly, you may have rights to approach:

  • the Institute of Public Accountants;
  • the Tax Practitioners Board;
  • an applicable consumer body; or
  • a court or tribunal,

depending on the nature of the issue.

19. Suspension, Termination and Handover

Either party may end an engagement by written notice.

We may suspend or terminate services immediately where required by law or professional obligations, or where there is:

  • non-payment;
  • missing or materially incomplete information;
  • false or misleading conduct;
  • unlawful instructions;
  • an unresolved conflict;
  • an independence concern;
  • an unacceptable AML/CTF risk;
  • abusive or threatening behaviour; or
  • a breakdown of trust and confidence.

On termination, you remain responsible for fees for completed work and authorised commitments.

We will explain outstanding work and known deadlines, return client records subject to lawful retention rights and cooperate reasonably with an authorised successor accountant.

We do not remain responsible for deadlines or services after the effective termination date unless expressly agreed in writing.

20. General

The agreement is governed by the laws of New South Wales.

The parties submit to the courts and tribunals having jurisdiction in New South Wales, subject to any mandatory law.

If a provision is invalid or unenforceable, it is severed to the minimum extent necessary and the remaining provisions continue.

A failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of that right.

Electronic counterparts, electronic signatures and electronic acceptance are permitted.

Questions About These Terms?

These Terms of Business form part of our client engagement arrangements.

Please contact Compact Accounting before accepting an engagement if you have any questions or would like clarification about how the terms apply to your circumstances.

Contact Us

Compact Accounting Standard Terms of Business — TOB-001, Version 1.1, effective 4 August 2026.