Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSikitch Agreement 09.30.25September 30, 2025 Town of Los Altos Hills Beth Viajar 26379 Fremont Road Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 Dear Beth: This Master Professional Services Agreement (this "Agreement"), effective as of September 30, 2025, between Sikich LLC, a_Delaware limited liability company, ("Sikich", "we", "us", or "our") and Town of Los Altos Hills (`Town," "Client", "you", or "your") sets forth the mutual agreements of the parties regarding Sikich's provision of one or more professional CPA services to Client, from time to time, as more fully described in Sikich Statements of Work (each, an "SOW") issued hereunder (collectively, the "Services"), This Agreement is intended to serve as the framework for entering into separate SOWs. The SOWs entered into pursuant to this Agreement shall be: (a) executed by authorized individuals on behalf of each of the parties, and (b) incorporated into this Agreement. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, all SOWs that are entered into pursuant to this Agreement shall be governed by the terms of this Agreement and are hereby made part of, and incorporated into, this Agreement. In the event of a conflict between this Agreement and a SOW, the terms of this Agreement shall prevail, unless the SOW expressly references the specific provision in this Agreement to be modified by the SOW. This Agreement shall not govern engagements related to Sikich's affiliated entities or Sikich services or offerings other than CPA Services, and a separate agreement for such services will be required. To the extent the term of an SOW extends beyond the expiration or earlier termination of this Agreement, the terms of this Agreement shall apply to such SOW until expiration of such SOW. The general terms governing this Agreement are as follows: ENGAGEMENT ADMINISTRATION In connection with this Agreement, we may communicate with you or others via e-mail transmission. As e-mails can be intercepted and read, disclosed, or otherwise used or communicated by an unintended third -party or may not be delivered to each of the parties to whom they are directed and only to such parties, we cannot guarantee or warrant that e-mails from us will be properly delivered and read only by the addressee. Therefore, we specifically disclaim and waive any liability or responsibility whatsoever for interception or unintentional disclosure of e-mails transmitted by us or in connection with the performance of this Agreement. In that regard, you agree that we shall have no liability for any loss or damage to any person or entity resulting from the use of e-mail transmissions, including any consequential, incidental, direct, indirect, or special damages, such as loss of revenues or anticipated profits or disclosure or communication of confidential or proprietary information. Communications by email are authorized unless written objection is provided to us prior to any such communication. We may from time to time, and depending on the circumstances, use third -party service providers in serving your account. We may share confidential information about you with these service providers but remain committed to maintaining the confidentiality and security of your information. Accordingly, we maintain internal policies, procedures, and safeguards designed to protect the confidentiality of your personal information. In addition, we will enter into confidentiality agreements with all service providers to maintain the confidentiality of your information and we will take reasonable precautions to determine that such service providers have appropriate procedures in place to prevent the unauthorized release of your confidential information to others. In the event that we are unable to secure an appropriate confidentiality agreement, you will be asked to provide your consent prior to the sharing of your confidential information with the third -party service provider. Furthermore, we will remain responsible for the work provided by any such third -party service providers engaged by us. All information obtained in the course of performing our agreed professional Services, including but not limited to, statements, records, schedules, working papers, memorandums, reports, and all other documents and work product prepared by Sikich, will be considered confidential matters not to be disclosed to any other person or persons without your prior written permission, unless otherwise required pursuant to professional standards, statutory or regulatory authority, or court order. The foregoing obligation of confidentiality shall not apply to any information that was in the public domain at the time of the communication thereof to Sikich. As a result of our prior or future services to you, we might be requested or required to provide information or documents to you or a third party in a legal, administrative, regulatory inquiry or arbitration or similar proceeding in which we are not a party. If this occurs, our efforts in complying with such requests will be deemed billable to you as a separate engagement. We shall be entitled to compensation for our time and reasonable reimbursement for our expenses (including legal fees) in complying with the request. INDEMNIFICATION; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY You agree that Sikich's maximum liability to you for any matters arising out of or related to this Agreement or the provision of services by Sikich will be limited to (i) with respect to matters for which we are able to recover under our professional liability insurance policy, $1,000,000, and (ii) with respect to matters for which we are not able to recover under our professional liability insurance policy, five times the amount of fees we receive from you under the applicable SOW for the Services provided under such SOW giving rise to the liability; except to the extent determined to result from our gross negligence or willful misconduct. You agree that this limitation applies to any and all liability or causes of action against us, however alleged or arising, unless otherwise prohibited by law or professional standards. Additionally, our liability as accountants shall be limited to the period covered by our services and shall not extend to later periods for which we are not engaged as accountants or prior periods before we were engaged as accountants. In no event will Sikich be liable to you for any special, consequential, exemplary, incidental indirect, lost profit, punitive or similar damages of any kind. No (i) direct or indirect holder of any equity interests or securities of Sikich, (ii) affiliate of Sikich, or (iii) director, officer, employee, representative, or agent of Sikich, or of an affiliate of Sikich or of any such direct or indirect holder of any equity interests or securities of Sikich (collectively, the "Sikich Affiliates') shall have any liability or obligation of any nature whatsoever in connection with or under this Agreement or, the transactions contemplated hereby, and Client waives and releases all claims against such Sikich Affiliates related to any such liability or obligation. Sikich agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Town, its officers, agents and employees from any and all demands, claims or liability of personal injury (including death) and property damage of any nature, caused by or arising out of the performance of Sikich under this Agreement. With regard to Sikich's work product, Sikich agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Town, its officers, agents and employees from any and all demands, claims or liability of any nature to the extent caused by the negligent performance or willful misconduct of Sikich under this Agreement. INSURANCE Sikich shall maintain the following insurance and file with Town a certificate of insurance before commencing any services under this Agreement as follows: i. WORKERS COMPENSATION INSURANCE: Minimum statutory limits. ii. COMMERCIAL GENERAL LIABILITY AND PROPERTY DAMAGE INSURANCE: General Liability and Property Damage Combined. $1,000,000.00 per occurrence including comprehensive form, personal injury, broad form personal damage, contractual and premises/operation, all on an occurrence basis. If an aggregate limit exists, it shall apply separately or be no less than two (2) times the occurrence limit. AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE: $1,000,000.00 per occurrence. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR It is understood and agreed that Sikich will for all purposes be an independent contractor, will not hold itself out as representing or acting in any manner for Client, and neither Sikich nor Client will have any authority to bind the other party to any contract or in any other manner. Sikich and Client do not intend to create a joint employer relationship, and Sikich and Client each represents that it is the sole employer of its employees. Sikich shall not and does not have the right to control Client's employees' essential terms and conditions of employment, including hiring its employees, determining their wages and benefits, or assigning, scheduling, training, disciplining, or terminating Client's employees. OFAC REPRESENTATION Client represents and warrants the following with respect to the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC"): (a) Client does not have any nexus with persons or entities on any of OFAC's sanctions list (e.g. SSI, SDN, FSE etc.) either through large shareholders, employees, beneficial owners, vendors, affiliated entities (i.e. affiliates or subsidiaries), third parties, customer base or otherwise; (b) Client does not have any operations in any comprehensive OFAC sanctioned country (Cuba, Iran, Syria, Sudan, North Korea, the Crimea); (c) Client does not have any operations in any limited OFAC sanctioned country program; or (d) Client does not remit payment for Sikich's fees and expenses from an OFAC sanctioned country. NO THIRD -PARTY BENEFICIARIES This Agreement does not and is not intended to confer any rights or remedies upon any person or entity other than the parties. NON-DISCRIMINATION No discrimination shall be made in the employment of persons under this Agreement because of the race, color, national origin, age, ancestry, religion or sex of such person. FORCE MAJEURE Sikich shall not be deemed in default of any provision of this Agreement or be liable for any delay, failure in performance, or interruption of the Services resulting directly or indirectlyfrom acts of God, electronic virus attack or infiltration, civil or military authority action, civil disturbance, war, strike and other labor disputes, fires, floods, other catastrophes, and other forces beyond its reasonable control. NOTICES All notices given under or pursuant to this Agreement will be sent by national courier, Certified or Registered Mail, Return Receipt Requested, and will be deemed to have been delivered when physically delivered to Client or Sikich at the following address: If to Sikich: Sikich LLC 1415 W. Diehl Road, Suite 400 Naperville, IL 60653 Attention: Anna Cadmus, CPA With a copy to: Sikich LLC 1415 W. Diehl Road, Suite 400 Naperville, IL 60653 Attention: Office of General Counsel Please indicate your understanding and acceptance of this Agreement and your intention to be legally bound hereby by executing this Agreement in the space provided below where indicated and return it to our offices, indicating your authorization for us to proceed on the above terms and conditions. We appreciate the opportunity to be of service to you. If you have any questions, please let us know. Sincerely, Via.) Nmw Anna Cadmus, CPA Principal On behalf of Sikich LLC Acknowledg �'/ �)" � Town of L Altos Hill Signature m Title Date 149 - Z-� STATEMENT OF WORK No. 2025 -CON This Statement of Work (this "SOW") dated September 30, 2025 is entered into by and between Sikich CPA LLC ("Sikich", "we", "us", or "our") and Town of Los Altos Hills ("Client", "you", or "your") pursuant to the Master CPA Professional Services Agreement dated September 30, 2025 between Sikich and the Client (the "Agreement"), all terms of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the foregoing premises, and the agreements of the parties set forth below, Sikich and Client agree as follows: The Services to be provided under this SOW will include Assistance with accounting services, adjustments to trial balance figures, and other assistance as requested by management in preparation for the June 30, 2025 financial statement audit. OUR RESPONSIBILITIES We will conduct our engagement in accordance with the Statement on Standards for Consulting Services issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The sufficiency of the Services we will perform is solely your responsibility. We are not responsible for determining the accuracy or completeness of any information provided to us by you, nor will we independently verify the information gathered or contained in our report. Our report whether verbal or in writing issued to you under this agreement, if applicable, is suitable for use only by those who have participated in determining the procedures, including the Client's management, owners, and their respective advisors. Our reports may not be used by the Client or any other person for any other purpose without our prior written consent, which may be granted or withheld in our absolute discretion. We have no responsibility to update our report for events and circumstances that occur after the date of its issuance. If for any reason we are unable to complete the Services agreed-upon, we will not issue a report. We will perform the nonattest service(s) in accordance with applicable professional standards issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. We, in our sole professional judgment, reserve the right to refuse to perform any procedure or take any action that could be construed as assuming management responsibilities. We will advise management with regard to the nonattest service(s), but management must make all decisions with regard to those matters. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES Client acknowledges that the Services provided by us will not constitute an audit, attestation or review, or compilation and accordingly, we will not express a conclusion or provide any other form of assurance on the completeness or accuracy of the information provided to us or the reports produced. The procedures we perform in our Agreement will be heavily influenced by the representations that we receive from Client personnel. By signing this agreement, you indicate you understand and accept responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the information provided to us by Client personnel. You agree to assume all management responsibilities for the nonattest service(s) we provide; oversee the service by designating an individual, preferably from senior management, with suitable skill, knowledge, or experience; evaluate the adequacy and results of the service(s); and accept responsibility for it. ENGAGEMENT ADMINISTRATION, FEES, AND OTHER Anna Cadmus is the engagement Principal and is responsible for supervising the provision of Services and signing the report or authorizing another individual to sign it. At the conclusion of our engagement, we may require certain written representations in the form of a representation letter from management that, among other things, will confirm management's responsibilities. Page 1 We are committed to the timely completion of the consulting services, as described above, and delivery of final reports for the fee set forth in this SOW. The fees quoted in this SOW are based on certain assumptions. Circumstances may arise during the engagement that may significantly affect the targeted completion dates or our fee estimate. As a result, changes to the fees may be necessary. Such circumstances include but are not limited to the following: 1. All requested information is not (a) provided by you on the date requested, (b) completed in a format acceptable to Sikich, (c) mathematically correct, (d) complete and accurate, or (e) in agreement with the appropriate Client records. Sikich will provide you with a separate listing of required schedules, information requests and the dates such items are needed. 2. Changes to the timing of the engagement due to lack of timeliness by you, or at your request. Changes to the timing of the engagement usually require reassignment of personnel used by Sikich in the performance of services hereunder. However, because it is often difficult to reassign individuals to other engagements, Sikich may incur significant unanticipated costs. 3. Significant delays in responding to our requests for information, such as reconciling variances, providing requested supporting documentation (e.g. invoices, contracts, and other documents), or responding to our inquiries of Client management. 4. Requests by you for Sikich to complete schedules or obtain information previously mutually agreed to be completed by or provided by you. In addition, certain circumstances warranting an adjustment to the fees or a modification to this SOW may include, but are not limited to the following: 1. Requests by you for Sikich to perform other nonattest services. 2. Other time deemed outside the scope of services of the engagement asset forth in this SOW. Time incurred for such services is billable using the hourly rates outlined within this SOW, unless subject to terms agreed to in a separate Change Order issued to this SOW. Final reports will be issued upon your approval of the preliminary drafts. Our engagement ends on delivery of our final report. Any follow-up services that might be required will be a separate, new engagement. The terms and conditions of that new engagement will be governed by a new, specific SOW for that service. Our fees for the assistance with accounting services, adjustments to trial balance figures, and other assistance as requested by management in preparation for the June 30, 2025 financial statement audit will be charged based on actual time spent on services at standard hourly rates (which have been discounted) as follows. If additional time is necessary, we will discuss it with you and arrive at a new fee estimate. Hourly services will be invoiced as the work progresses using the following rates: $400 Partner $350 Director $325 Senior Manager $275 Manager $205 Senior $185 Staff $175 Clerical $125 Intern You may request that we perform additional services not contemplated by this Agreement. If this occurs, we will communicate with you regarding the scope of the additional services and will bill using the hourly rates outlined within this SOW. We may also issue a separate Statement of Work or Change Order covering additional services. In the absence of any other written communication from us documenting such additional services, our services will continue to be governed by the terms of this SOW. Page 2 This SOW is governed by the terms and conditions of the Agreement. The terms of the Agreement are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into and made a part of this SOW. In the event of a conflict between the terms and conditions of the Agreement and this SOW, the terms of the Agreement shall take precedence and control over those of this SOW unless otherwise expressly and specifically set forth herein. In the event of a conflict between the terms and conditions of this SOW and any related exhibits, attachments, or proposals, the terms of this SOW shall take precedence and control over those of the exhibit, attachment, or proposal hereto unless otherwise expressly and specifically set forth herein. Any capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Agreement. This SOW may be executed (including by facsimile and PDF signature) in one or more counterparts, with the same effect as if the parties had signed the same document. This SOW may be modified or amended only by a written document signed by both parties. ACCEPTANCE You acknowledge having read this SOW in its entirety, have had full opportunity to consider its terms in consultation with your attorney, have had full and satisfactory explanation of the same, and fully understand and agree to be bound by the terms of this SOW. Please indicate your understanding and acceptance of this SOW and your intention to be legally bound hereby by executing this SOW in the space provided below and return it to our offices, indicating your authorization for us to proceed on the above terms and conditions. We appreciate the opportunity to be of service to you. If you have any questions, please let us know. Sincerely, �Mu U'V\4 Anna Cadmus, CPA Principal on behalf of Sikich CPA LLC AcknoiA,I 'A — 4- Town of Signatur( Title A" Date %® 12-- Z 5 Page 3