Our standard working terms, read together with the scope and fixed fee in your engagement letter.
In effect from 7 September 2026
Read the terms
The working agreement in four parts
These terms apply to all services MDX Consultants Pty Ltd (ABN 30 699 163 669) provides to you, unless we agree otherwise in writing.
Before we start work we send you an engagement letter. That letter describes the specific services, the fee basis, and anything particular to your matter. If the engagement letter and these terms disagree, the engagement letter wins.
Your continuing instructions to us confirm your acceptance of these terms.
We do the work described in the engagement letter, and nothing beyond it. Work outside that scope has to be agreed separately, and we will quote it before we begin.
Unless the engagement letter says so specifically, our work does not include an audit or a review, and we do not express an audit opinion. We do not provide legal advice, and we do not provide financial product advice. We are not licensed under the Corporations Act to do so. Where a matter needs a lawyer or a licensed adviser, we will tell you.
Our work depends on the information you give us. You are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of that information, and for keeping the records the law requires you to keep.
We rely on what you provide and do not audit or independently verify it, unless the engagement letter says we will. We may ask you to confirm significant matters in writing.
You agree to give us what we ask for in time for us to meet the relevant deadline, and to tell us promptly when something changes. This includes a new entity, a change of address, a letter from the ATO or anything else affecting the work. If information arrives late, we may not be able to meet a lodgment date, and any resulting interest or penalty is yours.
As a taxpayer you are responsible for the accuracy of what is lodged in your name, and for the substantiation behind it. That responsibility stays with you even though we prepare the documents.
You must keep records substantiating your position for the period the law requires, generally five years. We will tell you what we think you need to keep, but we do not hold your records for you unless we have agreed to.
We are required to tell you about your rights and obligations under the taxation laws that are materially related to the services we provide. We do that in the engagement letter, and as matters arise.
We are a member firm of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and a registered tax agent. We are bound by the Code of Professional Conduct in the Tax Agent Services Act 2009, and by the professional and ethical standards of CA ANZ, including APES 110, the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants.
Those obligations require us to act honestly and with integrity, to act lawfully in your best interests, to manage conflicts of interest, to keep your affairs confidential, and to maintain the competence to do the work. Where a professional obligation and your instructions conflict, the professional obligation prevails.
We must not make a false or misleading statement to the Commissioner of Taxation. If we become aware that a statement made to the ATO is materially incorrect, we are required to take steps to have it corrected. If it is not corrected, we may have to withdraw from the engagement and, in some circumstances, notify the ATO.
We check for conflicts before we take on work, and we keep watching for them as an engagement goes on. Where we act for more than one party to the same arrangement, such as spouses, business partners, or a company and its shareholders, there is always a possibility their interests will diverge.
If a conflict arises, we will tell you, and we will either put arrangements in place to manage it with the informed consent of everyone affected, or stop acting for one or more of you.
We keep your information confidential and use it only for the work, except where you consent to disclosure, where we are compelled by law, a court, a tribunal or a regulator, or where disclosure is required by our professional obligations. This includes a CA ANZ or Tax Practitioners Board quality review of our practice.
Our privacy policy explains how we handle personal information, including tax file numbers.
Our fee basis for your matter is set out in the engagement letter. Where we quote a fixed fee, it covers the scope in that letter; work outside it is quoted separately before we do it.
The engagement letter or invoice states when we will invoice, the payment due date and the available payment methods. Any advance payment requirement, overdue interest or right to pause work applies only where it is disclosed and agreed in writing.
Unless the engagement letter says they are included, third-party costs such as ASIC fees, searches and specialist software charges are billed separately at cost. We will tell you before incurring a material or unusual third-party cost.
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. The scheme limits the amount of our liability for claims of the kind it covers. Further information is available from the Professional Standards Councils at psc.gov.au.
Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Documents we prepare for you and deliver to you are yours. Our working papers, including the files and calculations behind the deliverable, remain our property.
Where we hold documents belonging to you, we will return them on request, subject to any lien we are entitled to exercise for unpaid fees.
Where we give you access to the client portal, you are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for the activity that happens under your account. Tell us immediately if you think someone else has access.
Use the portal rather than email for anything carrying a tax file number, bank details or identity documents. Email is not a secure channel, and neither of us can control what happens to a message in transit.
You can end the engagement at any time by telling us in writing. We can end it by giving you reasonable written notice. We may end it immediately where continuing would put us in breach of a professional or legal obligation, where required information is not provided, or where fees remain unpaid after notice.
If the engagement ends, you are liable for fees for work done and disbursements incurred up to that point. We will co-operate with an incoming adviser and provide the information a change of agent normally requires, subject to payment of outstanding fees.
Tell us first. Raise it with the person doing your work, or write to the Practice Principal at hello@mdxconsultants.com.au. We will acknowledge your concern promptly and aim to provide a written response within 30 calendar days.
If we cannot resolve it, you can complain to the Tax Practitioners Board about a registered tax agent at tpb.gov.au, or to Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand about the conduct of a member at charteredaccountantsanz.com.
These terms are governed by the law of Victoria, and you and we submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that State.
These documents set out what you are agreeing to. If a clause does not read plainly, that is worth a call. Ask us before you sign, not after.
hello@mdxconsultants.com.au
