Engagement letters every director signs
Terms of engagement with scope, responsibilities, fees, limitation and privacy, from your own template, signed online by every director or trustee.
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QuoteCloud lets accounting firms send engagement letters as branded documents: the scope of services, client and firm responsibilities, fees, limitation of liability and privacy, with your standard terms saved as a locked library block (Business). Each director or trustee signs online with their own signature block, and the signed letter keeps an audit trail.
A fictional practice's engagement letter for Hearth Lane Bakery: the cover page behind a contents panel whose sections tick off one by one: scope, responsibilities, fees, limitation of liability, privacy and confidentiality, ending the engagement, and acceptance by every director, with one of two directors signed. Responsibilities, limitation and privacy are marked as locked blocks.
An engagement letter, read clause by clause
Hearth Lane Bakery's terms of engagement for 2026–27. Each part is a QuoteCloud block: some your client manager edits, some nobody can change, and one that every director signs.
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Client manager edits
Their entity, their year
The letter starts from your engagement template, with the company, its directors and the engagement period filled in as data items.
Ledgerline AdvisoryEngagement letter LA-E-1042 Sample · fictional practiceEngagement letter
Engagement letter and terms of engagement 2026–27
This letter sets out the services we will provide, what we need from you, our fees and the terms that apply, as your professional body's engagement standards expect. Please read it and sign below; each director signs.
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Client manager edits
What's in scope, and what isn't
Your client manager adds the scope blocks this client takes, from the content library. What's not included is written down, so extra work is quoted before it starts.
Content library: Essentials and up
Scope of the engagement
We will
- Financial statements and company tax return, 2026–27
- Directors' individual tax returns (2)
- Quarterly sales tax returns and the annual reconciliation
- Payroll processing and reporting, up to 10 staff
- Monthly bookkeeping review in Xero
- Quarterly management report
Not included
- Tax authority reviews or audits
- New entities or restructures
- Grant or R&D tax credit applications
- Valuations
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Locked terms
Terms the team can't rewrite
Responsibilities, fees, limitation of liability, privacy and ending the engagement, written by your partners to your professional body's engagement standards and saved as a locked company block. Staff drag it into the letter; they can't edit it.
Content locking: Business plan
How content locking worksTerms of engagement
Starts1 July 2026Expires30 June 2027- Our responsibilitiesWe perform the services with due care and in line with the standards of our professional body. Unless agreed in writing, the engagement is not an audit or review.
- Your responsibilitiesYou keep complete and accurate records, give us the information we ask for by the agreed dates, and tell us about changes that affect your tax affairs. You remain responsible for the accuracy of the information you give us.
- FeesThe fixed fees in the schedule apply for the term. Work outside scope is quoted before it starts. We invoice the monthly fee from our accounting system.
- Limitation of liabilityOur liability is limited as set out in our standard terms and any scheme that applies to us.
- Privacy and confidentialityWe collect, hold and use your information only to provide the services. Tax ID numbers and identity documents are collected through our secure client portal, never in this letter.
- Ending the engagementEither party can end the engagement with 30 days' written notice. Fees for work done to that date remain payable.
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Every director signs
Every director signs
Each director has their own signature block and signs in their own browser, with no account. The rows aren't numbered: each director signs when they're ready, and you can see who hasn't.
Acceptance: every director signs
1 of 2 signed
- Ana RibeiroDirector Signed14 Jul 2026
- Tom RibeiroDirector Awaiting signature
Engagement summary
- Entity
- Hearth Lane Bakery Ltd
- Period
- 1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2027
- Fixed fee
- $940/mo + tax
- Expires
- 30 June 2027
Certificate of authenticity and audit trail attached
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Who has signed, at a glance
The letter's activity shows it went to both directors, Ana signed and Tom has opened it. The client manager knows exactly who to call.
Activity
- Sent to both directorsEach with their own signature block
- SignedAna Ribeiro, Director
- OpenedTom Ribeiro
Your terms, written once and locked
The partners write the terms of engagement once. Each letter is assembled from the same library: scope blocks per service, a fee schedule and the locked terms.
- Welcome and engagement detailsText block
- Scope: returns and sales taxScope block
- Scope: payrollScope block
- Scope: bookkeeping reviewScope block
- Scope: fund accounts and auditScope block
- ResponsibilitiesTerms Locked
- Limitation of liabilityTerms Locked
- Privacy and confidentialityTerms Locked
- Fee schedulePrice table
- Acceptance by every directorSignature blocks
- 1Welcome and engagement details From library
- 2Scope: returns and sales tax From library
- 3Scope: payroll From library
- 4Scope: bookkeeping review From library
- 5Not includedWritten for this client
- 6Responsibilities Locked block
- 7Fees: $940/mo + tax From library
- 8Limitation of liability Locked block
- 9Privacy and confidentiality Locked block
- 10Acceptance: both directors From library
One library, every letter
Scope, terms and fee blocks are saved once and dragged into each client's letter, so every letter reads the same.
Content library: Essentials and up
Locked where it matters
Locked blocks stay non-editable inside every letter. Only admins or roles you permit can unlock them, in the library.
Content locking: Business
Roles decide who edits
Role permissions set who can create, change or add content to the library, so a new client manager can't rewrite the terms.
One engagement template per entity type
Set these up once when you implement QuoteCloud. Each uses the same locked terms, with the scope and the signers that entity needs.
Companies
Every director signs their own block. The company and the directors are filled in as data items.
Trusts
The directors of the corporate trustee, or each individual trustee, sign. Distribution minutes can sit in a scope block of their own.
Structures & successionPartnerships
Every partner signs. The partnership return and each partner's own return are listed separately in the scope.
Individuals and couples
One letter covers a couple's returns, and each partner signs in their own browser.
Trust and retirement funds
Both trustees sign the fund's annual engagement, with the independent audit you arrange set out in the terms.
Fund and audit engagementsSole traders
A shorter letter from the same locked terms: one signer, with scope for the return and sales tax.
Bring your engagement letter to the trial
Free for 14 days, no credit card. Send us your current letter and we'll convert one template for you during the trial on Essentials, Business or Enterprise.
Each director signs in their own browser
Add a signature block for each director, trustee or partner and send the letter once. Each signer opens it on a phone, tablet or computer, needs no account, and signs their own block.
Ask for a one-time passcode before they sign if you want to confirm who is opening it. The completed letter carries a certificate of authenticity and an audit trail.
- Several signers, each with their own block
- Required or optional signatures
- Sign in person on your device when a director is in the office
eSignatures: every plan, including Free
Free eSignaturesAcceptance: every director signs
1 of 2 signed
- Ana RibeiroDirector Signed14 Jul 2026
- Tom RibeiroDirector Awaiting signature
Engagement summary
- Entity
- Hearth Lane Bakery Ltd
- Period
- 1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2027
- Fixed fee
- $940/mo + tax
- Expires
- 30 June 2027
Certificate of authenticity and audit trail attached
An expiry date for next year's letter
Give each letter an expiry date at the end of the engagement, such as 30 June. The Expiring Soon filter lists the letters coming up, so re-issuing starts weeks before, not after.
Update the template once with next year's fees and send a fresh letter to each client with bulk send. Nothing renews by itself: every client signs the new letter.
- An expiry date on every letter
- The Expiring Soon smart filter
- Bulk send: Essentials and up
5 engagements expire in the next 30 days
- Engagement letter 2026–27Hearth Lane Bakery · LA-E-1042 Expires 30 Jun 2027in 12 days Signed
- Engagement letter 2026–27Okafor Family Trust · LA-E-0977 Expires 30 Jun 2027in 12 days Signed
- Annual fund engagement 2026–27Marlow Family Fund · LA-S-0560 Expires 30 Jun 2027in 12 days Signed
- Bookkeeping & payroll agreementTessellate Labs · LA-E-1105 Expires 30 Jun 2027in 12 days Signed
- Virtual CFO retainerHearth Lane Bakery · LA-A-0188 Expires 15 Jul 2027in 27 days Signed
From template to signed letter in five steps
How a practice sends terms of engagement once its templates are set up.
Start from the entity's template
Pick the company, trust, partnership, individual or fund template. The locked terms are already in it.
Set the scope and fees
The client manager adds the scope blocks this client needs and fills in the fixed fees, or copies them from the fee proposal.
Partner review
A partner reads it before it goes. On the Business plan an approval workflow can hold it In Review when a discount or the fee value needs sign-off.
Send to every director
One send, a signature block for each director or trustee, and an optional one-time passcode.
Signed, with an expiry date
Each director signs in their own browser. The letter expires on 30 June, ready for next year's re-engagement.
Engagement letter templates to start from
Real QuoteCloud templates with engagement details, services, responsibilities, fees, terms and a signature acceptance. Add your own terms and lock them.
- Engagement letter template Accounting Engagement Letter Template Engagement details, services and deliverables, client and accountant responsibilities, fees, terms and signature acceptance. View template
- Agreement template Accounting Services Agreement Template Ongoing accounting and advisory work: scope, responsibilities, fees, billing terms, confidentiality, liability and termination. View template
- Contract template Accounting Contract Template An accounting contract with electronic signature fields for you and your client. View template
Engagement letter questions, answered
Can each director sign the engagement letter separately?
Yes. Add a signature block for each director, trustee or partner and send the letter. Each signs in their own browser with no account needed, and the signed document carries an audit trail and a certificate of authenticity. You can also ask for a one-time passcode before someone signs.
Can we stop staff changing our standard terms?
Yes, on the Business plan. Save your terms of engagement as a company block in the content library and lock it: staff can drag it into a letter but can't edit it. Only admins or users with the right role permissions can unlock it in the library.
Does QuoteCloud make our engagement letter meet professional standards?
No. Your partners write the terms to meet your professional body's engagement standards. QuoteCloud holds them in your branded template, keeps locked wording unchanged in every letter on the Business plan, sends the letter and collects every signature with an audit trail.
Do the directors have to sign in a set order?
Each director opens the letter and signs their own signature block when they're ready, and the letter shows who has signed and who hasn't. A director in your office can also sign in person on your device.
Should tax ID numbers go in the engagement letter?
No. Keep tax ID numbers, identity documents and bank details out of the letter and collect them through your practice's own secure process or client portal. The letter can say how the client should send them.
Can clients ask questions before they sign?
Yes. Clients can leave a comment in the document, such as a question about what payroll covers, and your client manager replies in the same thread before anyone signs.
How do we re-issue engagement letters every year?
Give each letter an expiry date, such as 30 June. The Expiring Soon filter lists those coming up; update the template with next year's fees and send a personalised letter to each client with bulk send on Essentials and up. Nothing renews automatically: each client signs the new letter.
More of QuoteCloud for accounting
The letter is one document of many. Here is the rest of the practice.
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Annual re-engagementExpiry dates, the Expiring Soon filter and next year's letters sent in bulk and tracked until signed.Explore
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Client onboarding & information requestsInformation requests with a Forms block and checklist, every director signing and an onboarding fee on signing.Explore
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Fixed-fee packages & pricingGood, better, best packages, add-ons the client ticks and monthly fees set out in the agreement.Explore
- Tax, bookkeeping & payrollTax returns, sales tax and VAT, financial statements, bookkeeping and payroll, quoted as clear fixed fees.
- Advisory & virtual CFOForecasts, budgets, business plans and a monthly CFO retainer, with discounts approved by a partner first.
- Structures, sales & successionCompany, trust and partnership set-ups, restructures, valuations, business sales and succession plans.
- Fund and compliance auditsAnnual fund engagements every trustee signs, and audit proposals with clear scope and independence.
- Government grant engagementsScope and price grant application work: fixed or success-fee options, a timetable and a signed engagement.
- Grant application documentsInformation requests, budget schedules, milestones, risk and signed declarations, exported as a PDF for the funder's portal.
- R&D tax credits and incentivesRegistration and claim engagements with clear limits, and activity descriptions the client's team confirms.
- Xero, QuickBooks & practice integrationsSigned engagements to Xero or QuickBooks Online through Zapier, and practice tools through Zapier, Make or the API.
- Accounting templatesReal QuoteCloud templates for engagement letters, accounting proposals, bookkeeping, audit, grants and budgets.
- QuoteCloud implementation for practicesYour services price book, locked engagement terms, a template per service line, approvals and training.
- FAQAnswers to the questions accounting firms, bookkeepers and grant consultants ask most.
Every director signed, before the work starts
Free for 14 days. No credit card required.