T.K.TONG & CO.

How we calculate our charges

 

Our charges are calculated in accordance with the scale rates published annually by the Society of Chinese Accountants and Auditors. This is what we use as our base fees. In general our fees are computed on the basis of the time spent on your affairs by the partners and our staff and on the levels of skill and responsibility involved plus out-of-pocket expenses.

 

In accordance with our firm’s policy, we will bill at predetermined periods based on a fee and expenses estimated during the course of the audit, and submit final bills to your at completion of the engagement for your settlement. Our estimated fee is calculated with reference to a simple formula based on the number of hours spent (as recorded in our timesheets) on your affairs multiplied by the responsible staff’s hourly rates. Our timesheets are available for review on request.

 

Our bills are due on presentation. We reserve the right to charge interest on bills that are overdue for thirty days at the rate of the Hong Kong dollar prime lending rate of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.

 

We also require payment of our bills without any deduction or withholding on account of taxes or charges of any nature. If a deduction or withholding is required by local law and legislations, you will be responsible for paying such additional amount as is necessary so that we receive the full amount of the bill.

 

Disbursements and other expenses

 

We will invoice you for additional expenses incurred, including photocopying, international telephone calls, fax, postage and courier charges, overtime charges for support staff, as well as stamp duty, land searches, lawyers’ fees, court filing fees and/or search fees where appropriate. Our bill will provide you with an itemised breakdown of these expenses. In most cases our disbursements are charged on a reimbursement basis but some service costs like photocopying and courier charges are charged with a markup.

 

Payment on account

 

We require all non Hong Kong based clients to make a payment to us on account of our charges and expenses. We will credit it against payment of your bill(s).

 

Ownership and storage of materials

When we complete your matter we shall, if requested, return to you all documents and other material loaned by you to us for the purpose of carrying out that matter. Our working materials and audit working papers, all correspondence between you and us and other material generated by us in that matter will remain our property (and, unless we agree otherwise, we shall own the copyright in any documents prepared by us on your behalf).

 

We will keep these materials (except for any of your materials which you ask to be returned to you) for such periods as we think fit unless a special arrangement is made.

 

Unless otherwise agreed, all original documents will be returned to you upon completion of the matter and payment of all outstanding bills.