Are Your Engagement Letters Up to Date?

Once upon a time it was possible to have the same client engagement letter in place for several years, without too much upset.

However, the pace of change in the various pieces of overlapping legislation that impact on engagement letters, seems to be getting faster and faster.  Different obligations under criminal law, tax law, company law and anti-money laundering that are now required in the typical contract with your client, mean that there is a never-ending requirement to review your letters and issue revised and updated letters to your clients on an annual basis.

Here is a quick checklist of the legislation you need to include in audit engagement letters:

All the templates on our website have had a refresh as of June 2026 and the letters of engagement have had new paragraphs added for:

• the potential use of artificial intelligence and machine learning on client assignments;

along with auto enrolment for payroll assignments.

If you need an up-to-date engagement letter, there is a search bar near the bottom of our home page (www.jmcc.ie) to quickly look up the item you need. More details see here.

For those of you still in the process of ISQM 1 implementation, please see our ISQM TOOLKIT or if you prefer to chat through the different audit risks and potential appropriate responses presented by this new standard, please call or e-mail John McCarthy FCA or e-mail him at john@jmcc.ie.

We typically tailor our training and brainstorming sessions to suit each firm’s unique requirements.

Publications:

• • The ISQM TOOLKIT 2022 is available to purchase here.
  • See our latest Anti-Money Laundering Policies Controls & Procedures Manual (March 2022) – View the Table of Contents click here.
  • To ensure your letters of engagement and similar templates are up to date visit our site here where immediate downloads are available in Word format. A bulk discount is available for orders of five or more items if bought together.