1. Acceptance and authority
By accessing this website, requesting services, signing an agreement, approving a proposal, or paying an invoice, you agree to these Terms and Conditions. If you act for an organization or another person, you represent that you have authority to bind that party. You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter a contract.
2. Firm status and services we do not provide
Aouad Associates LLC is an accounting, bookkeeping, consulting, outsourcing, internal audit support, audit preparation, financial leadership, and advisory firm. Aouad Associates LLC is not a licensed CPA firm and does not hold itself out as one.
We do not perform audits, reviews, compilations, examinations, agreed-upon procedures, or other attest engagements that require an independent licensed CPA firm. We do not issue an audit opinion, review report, compilation report, attestation report, or any other form of assurance on financial statements, controls, compliance, forecasts, valuations, or other information. Internal audit and audit preparation services are management support services and are not an independent financial statement audit or attestation engagement.
We are not a law firm, investment adviser, broker-dealer, insurance producer, benefits broker, or valuation credentialing body. We do not provide legal opinions, investment advice, or any regulated service unless a written agreement expressly identifies an appropriately licensed provider. Tax preparation services are provided through David G. Senger Accounting & Tax Services, an Aouad Associates LLC company DBA, within the scope of its written engagement.
3. Engagement scope controls
Services are limited to the work expressly stated in the applicable written agreement. Any service, deliverable, period, entity, location, filing, transaction, system, or responsibility not expressly included is outside scope. We may require a written change in scope and additional fees before performing added work. Advice or assistance on one matter does not create an ongoing duty to monitor other matters.
4. Client responsibilities
You remain responsible for management decisions, the accuracy and completeness of information supplied to us, safeguarding assets, maintaining appropriate controls, reviewing work and reports, approving transactions, meeting deadlines, and complying with applicable laws. You must provide complete, accurate, and timely records and promptly correct information that becomes inaccurate.
Unless a written agreement states otherwise, you retain final authority over banking, payments, payroll funding, hiring, contracts, tax elections, filings, journal entries, budgets, forecasts, and business decisions. We may rely on information provided by you, your employees, and your other advisers without independently auditing or verifying it.
5. Fees, advance payment, and refunds
All fees are due in advance according to the applicable proposal, invoice, subscription, or engagement letter. All fees paid to Aouad Associates LLC are nonrefundable, including onboarding fees, retainers, recurring fees, prepaid services, deposits, reserved capacity, and project fees, except where applicable law expressly requires otherwise or we agree otherwise in a signed writing.
Recurring services may be billed automatically using the payment method authorized by you. Cancellation stops future billing only after any required notice period and does not create a refund, credit, proration, or offset for a current or prior billing period. We may suspend work, withhold unfinished deliverables, or terminate services for nonpayment, a failed payment method, missing information, security concerns, abusive conduct, conflicts, unlawful requests, or material breach.
You are responsible for taxes, third-party charges, bank fees, software costs, filing fees, travel, and out-of-pocket expenses when the applicable agreement assigns those costs to you. Disputing a charge does not relieve you of payment obligations.
6. Timing, estimates, and no guaranteed result
Dates and completion estimates depend on timely client cooperation, complete records, third-party access, and matters outside our control. Unless expressly guaranteed in a signed writing, timelines are estimates. We do not guarantee a tax result, refund, financing decision, valuation outcome, cost savings, business result, regulatory acceptance, system performance, or error-free outcome.
7. Website content and professional advice
Website articles, calculators, questions and answers, examples, illustrations, and other content provide general information only. They are not accounting, tax, legal, investment, cybersecurity, benefits, valuation, or other professional advice for a particular person or organization. Website use does not create a client relationship. A client relationship begins only through a written engagement accepted by Aouad Associates LLC.
8. Confidentiality, security, and communications
We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect information. No internet transmission, email system, portal, software, or security control can be guaranteed to be completely secure or continuously available. You must use the designated secure portal for sensitive records and must not send Social Security numbers, banking credentials, tax returns, or similarly sensitive material through ordinary email or website forms.
You authorize electronic communications and understand that routine email and third-party platforms involve inherent risks. You are responsible for protecting credentials, using multifactor authentication when available, and promptly reporting suspected unauthorized access.
9. Third-party systems and providers
Services may depend on banks, payroll providers, accounting platforms, cloud applications, government systems, benefit providers, and other third parties. Their terms and privacy practices apply separately. We do not control and are not responsible for their availability, security, accuracy, changes, fees, data loss, or performance. References or links to third parties do not constitute an endorsement.
10. Ownership and permitted website use
The website, brand, designs, text, graphics, methods, templates, and original materials are owned by or licensed to Aouad Associates LLC and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You may view and print reasonable portions for personal, noncommercial use. You may not reproduce, sell, modify, scrape, harvest, reverse engineer, remove notices from, or use website content to train or operate an artificial intelligence or machine-learning system without prior written permission.
11. Disclaimer of warranties
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the website and its content are provided “as is” and “as available.” We disclaim express and implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, noninfringement, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, availability, security, and results. Any warranties for professional services are limited to those expressly stated in a signed engagement agreement.
12. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Aouad Associates LLC and its owners, employees, contractors, and service providers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, opportunities, goodwill, anticipated savings, business interruption, or loss of data.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, total aggregate liability arising from a service will not exceed the fees actually paid to Aouad Associates LLC for the specific service giving rise to the claim during the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to liability. This section does not limit liability that cannot lawfully be limited.
13. Indemnification
To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Aouad Associates LLC and its owners, employees, and contractors from third-party claims, losses, and reasonable costs arising from information or instructions you provide, your unlawful or unauthorized conduct, your breach of these terms, or your infringement of another party’s rights.
14. Termination and records
Either party may terminate services as allowed by the applicable engagement agreement. Termination does not eliminate accrued payment obligations, and prepaid fees remain nonrefundable. We may retain or delete records according to our retention practices, legal obligations, and professional requirements. You remain responsible for maintaining your own original records and complete backups.
15. Pennsylvania law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Before filing a claim, each party will provide written notice describing the dispute and allow 30 days for good-faith resolution. Unless a signed engagement agreement provides otherwise, exclusive jurisdiction and venue will lie in the state or federal courts serving Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Any claim relating to these terms or the website must be brought within one year after it accrues, unless applicable law requires a longer period.
16. General provisions
These terms, together with the applicable written engagement, form the entire agreement concerning their subject matter. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. If a provision is unenforceable, it will be limited to the minimum extent necessary and the remaining provisions will continue. You may not assign an engagement without our written consent. We may update these website terms by posting a revised version with a new effective date. Continued website use after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised website terms.
17. Contact
Questions about these terms may be sent to reachout@aouadassociates.com or mailed to Aouad Associates LLC, PO Box 4502, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18018.
For service questions, visit the Contact Us page.