The KL2004 General Terms for to the Accounting Services Industry
Accounting firms often apply the YSE KL2004 Terms to services, offers, order confirmations and service agreements.
An offer made by an accounting firm is valid for 30 days as of the date of such offer, unless otherwise stated in the offer. The contract will enter into force upon signature of the commission agreement, or confirmation of the client’s order by the accountancy firm.
Included services are specified on a form attached to the agreement, applying a “tick-the-box”-method. Other specific tasks must be clearly defined.
The accounting firm must commence work without delay after delivery by the client of all necessary information and material, and payment of the agreed advance payment. The client must provide the required information sufficiently in advance. The parties are subject to a duty of confidentiality, and any information received may not be used for any other purposes than fulfilling the contract.
An accounting firm agreement is valid until further notice, with a notice period of two months, unless otherwise agreed. The most important obligation of the client is timely payment of invoices, and the accounting firm is entitled to suspend the service in the event of payment being delayed by more than seven days. The firm may also suspend the service, if the client fails to provide the necessary information or material in due time, or otherwise to properly contribute to the provision of the services. If the client does not correct such a situation within seven (7) days of a written notice by the accounting firm, the accounting firm has the right to terminate the contract with immediate effect. The client has the right to terminate the contract with immediate effect, if the accounting firm materially breaches the agreement and does not commence remedial action within seven (7) days of a written notice by the client.
Particular attention should be paid to the limitation of liability clauses in accounting firm agreements. For example, the accounting firm is not liable for the client’s taxes or other payments governed by public law. Furthermore, the accountancy firm has no liability for business or managerial decisions, which the client has full responsibility for. The accountancy firm is not liable for indirect damage, such as loss of income or turnover or interruptions in production. As regards direct damages, the accounting firm’s liability is capped at 10,000 euros per event, and 20,000 euros in the aggregate for a financial period.