Style Accountants Limited

Privacy Policy – Updated May 2018

 

Style Accountants Limited, established in 2008, is a privately owned Chartered Certified Accountancy Practice.  Style Accountants Limited respects our clients’ privacy.  We understand how our clients’ personal data is used and we take the privacy of our clients very seriously.

 

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully, and ensure you understand it. 

 

Who we are:

 

·         Style Accountants Limited

·         Our VAT number is 929 3337 04

·         We are a member of and regulated by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

 

We serve a cross section of industry verticals, from Actors and Actresses to Clothing Retailers, Ice Cream producers, PR companies, Architects, Property Developers and all manners of self-employed trades people.

 

Our team of highly skilled staff, hands-on management style and innovative use of technology allow us to interact with our clients whether by phone, email or post and deliver a tailored solution for each client’s specific accountancy needs.

 

As an organisation, we recognise the importance of client confidentiality and their information security needs, and to this end we are fully committed to satisfying the requirements of the new GDPR Standard as they relate to our business activities and operations and we will strive to continually improve our information security management system over time.

 

As an organisation, we shall:

 

·         Ensure that management and employees comply with the requirements of the information security management system;

 

·         Clearly and unambiguously set out the company policies in relation to the management of information, hardware, software and other related assets;

 

·         Ensure our employees and IT systems do not infringe any related laws or regulations;

 

·         Minimise the risk of damage to company and customer assets, information, reputation, hardware, software and data;

 

·         Manage risks in a systematic manner through the identification of risks, implementation of control measures and ongoing monitoring and review, including the criteria for risk acceptance, in line with the requirements of our information security management system;

 

This policy has been communicated to all of our employees and associates at all functions and levels.

 

Your Rights:

 

You have certain rights as a data subject under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs the collection, processing and disposal of personal data by organisations such as ours.

 

In relation to personal data about you, you have the right:

 

·         To be informed about how and why we collect and use the data.

·         To be given access to the data we hold.

·         To have inaccurate or incomplete data rectified.

·         To ask us to delete personal data (if within certain time frames)

·         To prevent us from processing the data further.

·         To object to us using the data for particular purposes.

 

Please contact us if you have any complaint about our processing of your personal data.  If you are not satisfied with the way we deal with this issue, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is the body in charge of supervising personal data use in the UK.

 

What data do we collect?

 

If you communicate with us by e-mail, we will collect your name and e-mail address and any other content that you send us in the body of the email.  If you write to us by post we will collect all the personal information you have chosen to send us within that correspondence.  If you deliver by hand/parcel information contained in hard format, disk or memory stick we will collect all the personal information you have chosen to provide to us.  For the purposes of our services provided to you by mutual agreement, this information can contain very sensitive data including (not in all cases) but possibly extending to and not limited to:

 

1.       A client’s name.                          

2.       A client’s address.              

3.       A client’s date of birth.        

4.       A client’s National Insurance Number.

5.       A client’s Unique Taxpayer Reference Number.

6.       Details of a client’s marital status.

7.       Details of bank account numbers and sort codes and in some cases bank login details.

8.       Nationality of a client.

9.       A copy of a client’s passport, utility bill, drivers licence or anything else proving a home address.

10.     A Credit Safe report confirming the client’s validity for anti-money laundering regulations.

11.     A client’s qualifications.

12.     Phone numbers for a client.

13.     PAYE reference numbers relating to any employed income.

14.     Details of income and expenses, in most cases this will be expanding for more than 6 years to adhere to current HMRC guidelines.  This can apply to trades and/or property income and expenses.

15.     Details of a client’s directorships.

16.     Details of any company secretarial roles held by a client (Companies Act 2006).

17.     Details of any employments undertaken by a client, including salary details and information relating to benefits in kind.

18.     Details of membership to share schemes by a client.

19.     Details of client’s pension schemes and contributions made.

20.     Details of state benefits received by a client.

21.     Details of state pensions received by a client.

22.     Details of properties owned by a client in the UK or abroad.

23.     Details of all foreign income received including earned income, interest received, dividend income received and benefits etc.

24.     Details of any trust income.

25.     Details of any trade income.

26.     Details of any estate income.

27.     Details of any inheritance income.

28.     Details of bank accounts held and any income received.

29.     Details of Building Society accounts held and any income received

30.     Details of bonds held and any income received.

31.     Details of NSB Accounts held and any income received.

32.     Details of Mortgages held, outstanding balances and interest paid.

33.     Details of shareholdings held in any company be it foreign, in the UK to include private companies and plc’s.

34.     Dividend income information and share certificates held.

35.     Details of financial gains.  Ie. life insurance policies and chargeable events.

36.     Details of pension schemes held.

37.     Details of any loans.

38.     Details of any charitable donations made.

39.     Details of business investments.

40.     Details of child benefit claims and amounts received.  Children’s names, date of birth and ages.

41.     Details of tax liabilities.

42.     Access and details to client tax records via phone and internet.  HMRC via 64-8 authority and FBI2.

43.     Client’s accounting records.  These can be in hard format ie. accounting book, receipts, invoice books, cheque books, paying in books, bank statements, credit card statements, agent statements, commission statements, rental/management agent statements, trial balance, nominal ledgers, aged debtors, creditors reports, purchase ledgers, sales ledgers and receipts.

44.     Property purchase and sales completion statements for properties held/owned by clients. The originals, copies or scans.

45.     CIS statements detailing income and tax paid for clients.

46.     Memory sticks providing confidential information provided to us by clients.

47.     Data files emailed to us by clients providing us with confidential accounting information.

48.     Client’s email addresses.

49.     Details of benefits received via an employment by a client as declared on a P11D.  The originals, copies or scans.

50.     Statutory register entry details for directors/shareholders/secretaries and people of significant control.

51.     Login and Password Information to access certain databases (provided by client).

52.     Company Authentication Codes.

53.     We may hold original documentation in locked storage such as completion statements, dividend certificates and EIS documentation etc.

 

As a working Chartered Certified Accountancy practice we are required to hold and protect this data for a minimum of six clear financial years.  This may affect your rights to ask us to delete personal data as we are required by HMRC and Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (June 2017) to keep information for this 6 year minimum.

 

How is your data used ?

 

We will process and store your data to contact you by phone, email or post. We do not and will not use your data for marketing purposes.

 

All other data we hold is used to provide our services to you as agreed in our letters of instruction, discussions and emails to include (and not limited to) all the services offered by accountancy practices such as:

 

The processing of:

Self-assessment tax returns

Corporation Tax returns

Trust Tax returns

Partnership Tax Returns

LLP Tax Returns

Sole Trade Accounts

Limited Company Accounts

LLP Accounts

Partnership Accounts

VAT Returns

Payroll Services

CIS Returns

Financial References

Forms P11D(b) and P11Ds

Book Keeping

Statutory Books and Records, including minute books

 

Other services include (but not limited to):

 

Accountancy and Taxation advice

Future tax planning advice

Cash flow forecasts

 

You have the right to withdraw your consent to our use of your personal data at any time.  You may request that we delete it but this may not be possible depending on the time scales mentioned above under the heading What Data do we collect ?

 

We will not share, unless you authorise us to, your personal data with anyone at any time.

 

How and Where do we store your data ?

 

Your data will only be stored in the UK.

 

The steps we take to secure your data include:

·         Encrypted server to server emails.

·         Password protected computer software.

·         Locked and pass number protected offices.

·         Locked storage areas.

 

Accessing your data

 

You are entitled to make a Subject Access Request under the GDPR.  This means you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, free of charge.  We will provide any or all information in response to your request, within a calendar month of receiving a written request from you.

 

Contact Details

 

If you have any questions about this Policy, or you wish to make a Subject Access Request, then please contact us as follows, making your request or query clear:

 

Mr Adam J.  Style, FCCA  

Style Accountants Limited

Bank House

Southwick Square

Southwick

West Sussex   BN42 4FN

 

01273 597343

admin@styleaccountants.co.uk

 

 

 

Amending the Policy

 

We may change this policy from time to time, in response to the changes in the law or for operation reasons.  Any changes will immediately be posted on our website.  You should, therefore, regularly review this Policy.

 

 

 

 

Last Updated May 2018.

 

 

Style Accountants Limited is registered in the UK, Company Number 06542061