second opinions: an old service under a new label

bonus: a sample engagement letter.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

second opinions are just that – an outside look at a client’s business or personal situation.

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we used to call them second opinions and promoted them as such. we no longer do that, but offer this as a separate and distinct service or product such as we do for performance measurement services. we feel that the difference is how the service is marketed, not how it is performed for the client.

who needs this service

every client who has a business or complicated personal financial situation would need this service.

why the accountant is suited to offer this service

this is doing what we always do with a different name to it. rather than make the push to become someone’s “permanent” accountant we sell this as a single-assignment engagement.

introducing the client to the service

suggestions of your availability to review complicated business and tax situations can be made when a tax client mentions problems at his or her company with current issues, or a general lack of clarity of a business’ financial affairs.

sample engagement letter for second opinion service

date

mr. patrick boyle
street address
city, state and zip code

dear pat,

this letter sets forth a proposal of the terms and objectives of our being engaged by you to provide financial, tax, planning, conceptualization and general consulting services.

consultation services

the scope and nature of the services to be provided will include all consulting services, discussions and exploratory work on any of the items we discussed at our meeting, and any other issues you wish to raise. it will not include any detailed written memos, letters or analyses that are intended for third parties.

some of the items we will cover are as follows:

• we will help you articulate your broad goals and objectives, understanding that these will continuously change based on your activities.
• we will discuss your individual financial statement, your significant assets, an overview of your company and cash flow. we will also review all agreements you have with people in the business.
• we will review your life insurance policies, their ownership and payment arrangements for them.
• we will prepare or review your detailed income tax projection for the current year, and discuss it with you.
• we will review the wills, trusts and estate plans for you and your wife. we will make suggestions of things that should be considered or followed through on. we will also review all designation of beneficiary forms for your retirement accounts and coordinate them with your estate plan.
• we will discuss the advisability, benefit and cost, if any, of rolling over your ira into a roth ira.
• we will meet with you, your wife, your attorney or other advisers, and your staff as necessary to accomplish what is necessary for us to effectively and appropriately advise you.
• we will use our full efforts and resources to obtain an overall familiarity and thorough understanding of your complete financial affairs.

fee

the fee for the consulting services will be billed as incurred according to our standard billing rates, which range from $xx per hour to $xxx per hour for staff accountants and $xxx per hour for partners. the work will be completed by our personnel at the appropriate level for the task being performed. in order to begin, we will require a retainer payment in the amount of $x,xxx. bills will be submitted to you periodically. the retainer will be applied against the final billing for this engagement.

fees are payable as billed. there will be an additional charge of 1.5 percent per month for past due amounts. additionally, we will bill you for out-of-pocket disbursements, if any. also, should you hire any of our personnel it is acknowledged that we would be entitled to a $xx,xxx “search” fee.

limitation on scope of services

these services are not designed, and should not be relied upon, as a substitute for your own business judgment nor are they meant to mitigate the necessity of an ongoing review. these are not investment advisory services. these services are designed to supplement your own planning and analysis and aid you in fulfilling your financial, business and estate planning objectives. in addition, these services are not designed to discover fraud, irregularities or misrepresentations made in materials provided to us.

the services described in this letter do not include other services that may also be provided by us, upon your request, including but not limited to:

• tax compliance services, including income tax and gift tax return preparation;
• accounting and auditing services;
• appraisals and business valuations; and
• any other services not specifically outlined herein.

we will bill separately for any such additional services provided, based on a predetermined agreed-upon fee.

right to terminate

either party may terminate the relationship at any time, for any reason, within 10 days of written notice to the other party. it is understood that any unpaid services that are outstanding at the date of termination are to be paid in full within 10 days from the date of termination.

conclusion

if this letter correctly sets forth your understanding of the terms and objectives of the engagement, please so indicate by signing in the space provided below and returning a copy to us.

cordially,

posted on august 9, 2023