Engagement to be conducted in accordance with the relevant standards and ethical requirements of CPA Australia and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
Apes 110
Whether there was a failure to act in accordance with standards and requirements and therefore a breach of agreement
Quick Take
1An accountant retained by multiple related clients does not face a conflict of interest under APES 110 merely because an adversarial relationship develops between those clients, where the accountant is not providing professional services related to a particular matter for two or more clients whose interests with respect to that matter are in conflict.
2The relationship between an accountant and client is not a recognised category of fiduciary relationship; it will only be fiduciary where the accountant undertakes to exercise a power or discretion on behalf of the client that could detrimentally affect the client's interests, creating vulnerability — the mere provision of tax compliance, tax planning and general accounting services does not meet this threshold.
3Where terms of engagement expressly limit the accountant's services to assisting the client to discharge obligations imposed under law, and the client independently obtains legal and specialist tax advice, indicia of vulnerability, reliance and trust necessary to establish a fact-based fiduciary relationship are lacking.
