Outsourcing and Subcontracting Agreement for Accounting Work

An agreement for an accountancy practice to outsource bookkeeping, accounts, tax or payroll work to another firm or freelancer, protecting client confidentiality, quality, data and AML compliance.

Editable Word document
14
10pages
Guidance notes included
aml consultancy solutions

Accountancy practice – compliance & management

Outsourcing and Subcontracting Agreement for Accounting Work

About this document

What it’s for

An agreement between an accountancy or bookkeeping practice (the “Firm”) and a provider – another practice, a freelance accountant or an outsourcing company, in the UK or overseas – that will carry out accounting work for the Firm’s clients. The Firm keeps the client relationship and professional responsibility; the provider does the work to agreed standards, keeps everything confidential, protects personal data and reports any money laundering concerns to the Firm’s MLRO.

When to use it

  • Outsourcing year-end accounts, bookkeeping, tax return preparation or payroll
  • Using freelance accountants or bookkeepers to cover peaks in workload
  • Using an offshore processing team

What’s inside

The document is laid out in the sections below. Each one comes with a plain-English guidance note explaining what it does and what to change.

  1. Definitions and interpretation
  2. Appointment and scope
  3. Provider’s obligations
  4. Firm’s obligations
  5. Professional responsibility and quality control
  6. Personnel
  7. Confidentiality
  8. Data protection
  9. Information security
  10. Anti-money laundering and regulatory compliance
  11. Fees and payment
  12. Intellectual property and working papers
  13. Insurance
  14. Liability and indemnity
  15. Non-solicitation
  16. Term and termination
  17. Consequences of termination and exit
  18. Subcontracting by the Provider
  19. Force majeure
  20. General
  21. Dispute resolution and governing law

Also included

  • 1. Services
  • 2. Key personnel
  • 3. Work Request form
  • 4. Exit plan
  • Schedule 2 – Fees
  • Schedule 3 – Service levels
  • Schedule 4 – Data processing
  • Schedule 5 – Security and business continuity requirements

How to complete it

  • Complete the parties, the services and fees in Schedules 1 and 2 and the service levels in Schedule 3
  • Complete the data processing details in Schedule 4 and check the security standards in Schedule 5
  • Set the liability cap and insurance levels in clauses 13 and 14
  • Tell your clients about the outsourcing, as your professional body requires

Key points to check

  • Check whether the provider is itself supervised for AML
  • Freelancers working like employees may raise employment status and IR35 questions

Our templates are professionally structured starting points for UK businesses, not legal advice. For anything complex, unusual or high-value, have your final version checked by a solicitor.

Included in the pack

Accountancy practice – compliance & management

£20

for every document in this category

Editable Microsoft Word files

Guidance notes in every document

Written for UK businesses

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