Novalliance chartered accountants
Your chartered accountant is obliged to have you sign a contract setting out the general terms and conditions of the assignment, which comply with those of the Ordre des Experts-Comptables. For further information, please contact us at click here.
The customer acknowledges having received, read and accepted these general terms and conditions.
The work to be carried out by the chartered accountant is detailed in the engagement letter and its appendices and is strictly limited to its content.
The customer must be informed in advance of any additional assignment or service so that he can express his agreement.
These conditions are applicable to agreements relating to assignments concluded between NOVALLIANCE EXPERTISE COMPTABLE, referred to as the accountancy professional, and its client.
This engagement contract will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with French law.
Any difficulty relating to the interpretation or performance of this contract shall be submitted, failing amicable agreement, to the Commercial Court of Marseille.
The professional accountant receives freely agreed fees from the client, to the exclusion of any other remuneration, even indirect.
It is reimbursed for its travel expenses and disbursements.
Advances on fees may be requested from time to time.
The terms of payment of fees are as follows:
Monthly advance payment
The direct debit date is the 5th of each month
Fees are paid on the due date; in the event of early payment, no discount is granted; in the event of late payment, late payment penalties are payable on the day following the payment date shown on the invoice; the interest rate for these penalties may not be less than three times the legal interest rate applied by the European Central Bank to its most recent refinancing operation plus 10 percentage points.
Late payment penalties are payable without the need for a reminder.
Any objection to an invoice must be made on receipt and must state the grounds on which it is based; such objection may not justify non-payment of other undisputed services, including those included on the same invoice.
Non-payment of fees may, after a reminder by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, lead to suspension of the work or termination of the assignment.
The customer will be informed in advance of any change in invoicing arrangements.
In the event of termination of the contract by either party, assistance in transferring the file to the company or to a new service provider may be provided at the customer's request on the basis of a pre-agreed estimate.
If the right of retention provided for in article 28 of the Code of Deontology is used, the President of the Conseil Régional de l'Ordre des Experts Comptables will be informed.
Any disputes that may arise between the chartered accountant and his client will be referred, before any legal action is taken, to the President of the relevant Regional Council of the Ordre or his representative for conciliation.
The client shall refrain from any action likely to undermine the independence of the chartered accountant or his staff.
This applies in particular to offers made to employees to carry out assignments on their own account or to become employees of the customer.
The customer undertakes:
To provide the professional accountant, prior to the commencement of the engagement, with the information and identification documents required pursuant to the provisions of Articles L 561-1 et seq. of the French Monetary and Financial Code, namely :
As part of the customer identification obligation :
-if the customer is a natural person, to obtain a valid official identity document bearing his or her photograph; ;
-if the customer is a legal entity, a copy of any deed or extract from an official register not more than three months old showing the company's name, legal form, registered office address and the identity of the partners and directors, and a valid official identity document bearing a photograph for each director.
As part of the obligation to identify the beneficial owner :
-Obtaining the identity of the beneficial owner of the business and the information supporting this declaration ;
composition and distribution of share capital ;
-Identity of the members of the management and administrative bodies ;
- If one or more legal entities hold a management or administrative position in the entity, obtain the same information.
This information and identification documents must be regularly updated.
To make available to the chartered accountant, within the agreed deadlines, all the documents and information required to carry out the assignment; ;
To carry out the work for which it is responsible in accordance with the provisions set out in the table of distribution of respective obligations (appendix 2); ;
To comply with the procedures put in place to carry out the assignment, and in particular the timetable for the involvement of the chartered accountant set out in the engagement letter; ;
informing the chartered accountant of new or exceptional events. It should also inform the accountant of any commitments likely to affect the entity's results or financial position; ;
To confirm in writing, if requested to do so by the professional accountant, that the documents, information and explanations provided are complete and give a true and fair view of the entity's assets and liabilities; ;
To check that the statements and documents produced by the professional accountant comply with the requests made and the information provided by him and to inform the professional accountant without delay of any shortcomings or errors.
The client remains responsible for the correct application of the legislation and regulations in force; the chartered accountant cannot be considered as replacing the client's obligations by virtue of this assignment.
In accordance with legal requirements, the client must take all necessary measures to retain the supporting documents and, in general, all documents produced by the chartered accountancy professional for the retention periods required by law or regulation.
Where processing is carried out on the customer's computer system, the customer must ensure that the data and computerised processing are backed up and archived in order to guarantee their preservation, inviolability and subsequent readability.
Generally speaking, the customer must also take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of its computer system.
The professional accountant carries out the assignment entrusted to him in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Ethics of Professional Accountants, the «quality control» standard, the «anti-money laundering» standard drawn up in application of the provisions of the Monetary and Financial Code and, where applicable, the professional working standard specific to the assignment in question.
By virtue of this mission, he is bound by an obligation of means.
The chartered accountant may be assisted by staff of his or her choice.
The customer is given the name of the senior member of staff responsible for the case.
On completion of the engagement, the professional accountant returns the documents entrusted to him by the client for the performance of the engagement.
Professional accountants are required to :
- Professional secrecy under the conditions set out in article 226-13 of the French Criminal Code; ;
- Has an obligation of discretion, distinct from the previous obligation, with regard to the information gathered and the distribution of the documents it has drawn up.
- The latter are sent to the customer, to the exclusion of any dispatch to a third party, unless requested by the customer.
The documents drawn up by the professional accountant will therefore be sent to the client, to the exclusion of any direct dispatch to a third party (unless specifically instructed to do so by the client).
In the event of termination during an accounting period, and except in the event of serious misconduct attributable to the professional accountant, the client must pay the professional accountant the fees due for work already carried out, plus an indemnity equal to 25 % of the annual fees agreed for the current period or the last year's fees if the amount is uncertain.
This indemnity is intended to compensate the professional accountant for the loss suffered as a result of including the client's file in his workload for the current year.
If the client fails to fulfil any of his obligations, the chartered accountant may suspend the engagement by informing the client in writing or terminate the engagement by sending a registered letter to which no response has been received.
Pursuant to article 2254 of the French Civil Code, as amended, the civil liability of the chartered accountant may only be invoked for a period contractually defined as 1 (one) year from the events causing damage to the company.
Any event likely to have consequences, particularly in terms of liability, must be brought to the attention of the chartered accountant without delay by the client.
The professional civil liability of the chartered accountant is covered by an insurance policy taken out with COVEA RISKS located at 19-21 Allée de l'Europe 92616 Clichy Cedex. This insurance covers the whole world.
The professional accountant cannot be held liable in the event that the loss suffered by the client is the result of: erroneous information, fault or negligence on the part of the client or his employees, delay or failure on the part of the client to provide information necessary for the professional accountant, fault on the part of third parties working for the client.
If the assignment is suspended for reasons of force majeure or non-payment of fees, the deadlines for handing over the work are extended for a period equal to that of the aforementioned suspension.
During any period of suspension, all the provisions of the contract remain applicable.
If the client fails to fulfil any of his obligations (e.g. failure to pay fees by the due date), the Chartered Accountant will be entitled to suspend his engagement after sending a formal notice by registered letter to which no response has been received, and will not be held liable for any prejudicial consequences that may arise from this suspension.
In the event of a dispute by the client as to the conditions under which the engagement was carried out or a dispute as to fees, the Chartered Accountant will endeavour to obtain the agreement of the President of the Ordre's Regional Council for conciliation or arbitration before taking any legal action.