August 2026

We are a responsive accounting practice and strive to provide strong, timely and effective communication with our clients.

Effective communication is a two-way process. While clients engage us to provide professional services, our ability to deliver those services efficiently and within required timeframes is often dependent upon clients responding promptly to the matters we raise and providing complete information when requested.

Many of the matters we attend to are subject to deadlines. These may be deadlines requested by you or imposed by external organisations such as the Australian Taxation Office, ASIC, financial institutions, lenders or other government agencies.

Our ability to meet those deadlines is substantially dependent upon receiving your instructions, responses and supporting information within a reasonable timeframe. Put simply, we need you to help us to help you.

For a variety of reasons, individual team members may not always be immediately available. They maybe attending client meetings, completing work requiring uninterrupted concentration, dealing with urgent deadlines, undertaking professional development or taking approved leave.

This policy has been prepared to clearly explain how and when we communicate with clients, how client matters are prioritised and what we require from clients so that reasonable expectations can be established and, wherever possible, consistently met.

We will do our best to operate in accordance with this policy. However, due to operational requirements, peak workload periods, unexpected absences and team leave, there may occasionally be circumstances where we are unable to meet the response objectives set out below.

We communicate with clients in three main ways:
1. Email — our primary method of communication
2. Telephone — a secondary method of communication
3. Meetings — either virtually or, where appropriate, face-to-face

1. Email — Primary Communication Method

Email is our primary method of communicating with clients.

Email allows us to communicate efficiently and promptly while providing a clear written record of the matters discussed, information requested, decisions made and actions required.

Where we request information or provide advice by email, we ask that you read the correspondence carefully and provide a clear, complete and timely response. Wherever possible, please provide all requested information in a single response. This helps us progress your matter efficiently and reduces unnecessary follow-up communication and administrative handling.

Although email is our preferred communication method, it should not be relied upon for matters requiring an immediate response. Where a matter is genuinely urgent, please telephone us and leave a voicemail if your call is not answered.

2. Telephone — Secondary Communication Method

Telephone calls are a secondary method of communication.

We may contact you by telephone where a matter is urgent, time-sensitive or requires a prompt response or clarification. If we are unable to reach you, we will generally leave a voicemail asking you to return our call.

Rob and Andrea may provide clients with their direct mobile telephone numbers. When contacting either Rob or Andrea directly, please understand that they may not always be available to answer immediately due to client meetings, scheduled work commitments, periods of focused work, leave orother professional responsibilities.

If Rob or Andrea’s mobile telephone is unanswered, you may:

• Leave a voicemail explaining the reason for your call;
• Send a text message requesting a return call; or
• Telephone our office number on
• 03 5221 1601, where another member of our team may beavailable to assist you or take a message.

If the office telephone is unanswered, including where the call is made outside our normal business hours, you will have the opportunity to leave a voicemail.

Where a voicemail or text message is received, we will return your call at our earliest reasonable opportunity, generally within 24 hours during normal business days.

If you do not leave a voicemail or send a text message, we will assume the matter is not urgent and will not ordinarily return the missed call.

Repeated calls without a voicemail or message will not result in a faster response.

3. Meetings

We are a modern accounting practice and use contemporary technology to deliver services efficiently and effectively.

Our practice operates under a remote business model and does not maintain a permanent client-facing office. Accordingly, meetings conducted through Microsoft Teams are our standard and recommended meeting format.

Virtual meetings provide clients with convenient access to our team while allowing documents, reports and other information to be reviewed and discussed securely during the meeting.

Face-to-face meetings may be available where we consider them appropriate or necessary. These meetings are offered at our discretion and will generally be held at a serviced office in Geelong West or another agreed location.

Face-to-face meetings are not our standard meeting format and should not be expected for every matter or on every occasion.

Requests for Information and Follow-Up Reminders

Our ability to commence and complete an engagement depends upon receiving all information reasonably required to undertake the work.

Typically, where information or a response is outstanding, we will issue:

• An initial request;
• A first reminder; and
• A second and final reminder.

If the requested information or response remains outstanding after the second reminder, we will generally conclude that the matter is not currently a priority for you.

In those circumstances, we may suspend the matter. A suspended matter will be removed from active processing and will return to the end of the work queue once the outstanding information has been received.

This may result in delays and may affect our ability to meet a requested, statutory or external deadline.
We are not responsible for delays, penalties, interest, missed opportunities or other consequences arising where requested information, instructions or approvals have not been provided to us within sufficient time.

Commencement and Priority of Client Work

In the interests of fairness and equity to all clients, we generally commence engagements in the order in which they become ready for processing.

An engagement will not ordinarily be treated as ready to commence until all information and documents requested by us have been received.

Providing only part of the requested information does not reserve a position in the work queue. The engagement will generally enter the queue when the complete information request has been satisfied.

To avoid unnecessary delay, please provide all requested information promptly and, wherever possible, in one complete submission.

Where further information is identified as necessary after work has commenced, the matter may be paused until that information is received. Once received, the matter will be returned to the processing queue based on our available capacity and competing client commitments.

We may give priority to matters involving genuine emergencies, unavoidable statutory deadlines or circumstances where a delay could result in significant and immediate consequences. Priority treatment is at our discretion and cannot be guaranteed.

Secure Document Portal

We provide clients with access to a secure online portal for the uploading, exchange and storage of documents.

The portal is our preferred method for receiving financial records, identification documents, signed forms and other confidential or sensitive information. It provides greater efficiency and better protects client confidentiality and privacy than ordinary email.

We strongly encourage clients to upload documents directly to the secure portal rather than attaching them to emails.

Photographs, screenshots and documents embedded within the body of an email are discouraged. These formats can:

• Be difficult to read, download, save and organise;
• Reduce the quality or completeness of the information provided;
• Require additional administrative handling;
• Increase the risk of documents being overlooked or misfiled; and
• Provide a lower level of security for confidential information.

Where possible, documents should be uploaded to the portal as complete, legible PDF files and clearly named so that their contents can be readily identified.

If documents are provided in an inefficient, incomplete or unsuitable format, we may ask you to resubmit them through the portal before the engagement can commence or continue.

Response Expectations

We aim to respond to client communications within a reasonable timeframe. However, an immediate response cannot always be provided, particularly during peak lodgement periods, client meetings, team leave, unexpected absences or periods of high workflow.

The time required to respond may also depend on the nature and complexity of the matter. Some enquiries require us to review records, undertake research or consult with another team member before providing a complete and considered response.

As communication is a two-way process, our ability to meet deadlines and progress your work depends upon receiving complete information, instructions, approvals and responses from you in a timely manner.

Sending repeated emails, telephone calls or text messages about the same matter does not increase its priority and may delay our ability to attend to the underlying work.

We ask clients to allow us a reasonable opportunity to review their matter and provide an appropriate response.

Respectful and Efficient Communication

We are committed to communicating with clients professionally, clearly and respectfully. We expect the same courtesy in return.

This communication policy allows our team to manage competing client priorities, maintain appropriate records and devote sufficient uninterrupted time to completing client work accurately and efficiently.

By engaging us, you acknowledge and agree that communication and the management of your work will generally be conducted in accordance with this policy.