Privacy policy

Who we are

Spirit Level Accounting is a firm of accountants based at Office F13b, Sabichi House, 5 Wadsworth Road, Perivale UB6 7JD.

We are the data controller for the personal information in this policy. That means we decide how and why it is used, and we are responsible for looking after it.

If you have any questions about this policy, email us at .

What we collect

We only collect what we need to answer your enquiry or do your accounts.

• When you ask for a quote. Our quote form asks for your name, mobile number, email address, the area you are based in and how you would like us to get in touch. It also asks a few questions about your business, such as what you do, how it is set up, whether CIS affects you, what you need help with, roughly how much comes in each year, whether you are VAT registered and how you keep your paperwork. We also record the page you sent it from.
• When you book a free call. Our booking calendar is run by Calendly. It collects your name, email address, the time you picked and any answers you give, and passes them to us.
• When you use live chat. Our live chat is run by Crisp. We see the messages you send and any name or email address you give. Crisp also records basic technical details, such as the page you were on.
• When you message or email us. If you email us, or choose to message us on WhatsApp from the Contact menu, we keep what you send and our replies.
• When you become a client. To do your accounts and tax returns we need more, usually your date of birth, home address, National Insurance number, Unique Taxpayer Reference, bank statements, CIS statements, invoices, receipts and details of your income and costs. For a limited company, it also includes details of the company, its directors and its shareholders.
• For identity checks. The law requires us to check who you are before we take you on. We explain this below.
• When you use our website. See our cookie policy. Nothing optional runs until you press Accept.

How we use your information

• to answer your enquiry and send you a quote
• to arrange and hold your free call
• to provide the accounting and tax services you sign up for
• to deal with HMRC and Companies House for you, where you have asked us to act as your agent
• to check your identity and meet our legal duties under anti money laundering rules
• to send you deadline reminders or news about our services, but only if you have agreed
• to understand how people use our website, but only if you have accepted analytics
• to keep proper records and to deal with any complaint or dispute

We never sell your information.

The legal reasons we rely on

UK data protection law (UK GDPR) says we need a lawful reason for each way we use your information. These are the ones we rely on.

• Contract. When you are a client, or asking to become one, we use your information to give you a quote and do the work you have asked for.
• Legal obligation. Some things the law requires, such as identity checks under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, and keeping the records that tax law and the Companies Act 2006 require.
• Legitimate interests. Some uses are a reasonable part of running our business and do not override your rights, such as following up your enquiry, keeping our systems secure and handling complaints.
• Consent. We only send marketing, and only use analytics and embedded maps, if you have said yes. You can change your mind at any time.

Identity checks and anti money laundering

As accountants, we are covered by the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. Before we act for you, we must check who you are and, for a company, who owns and controls it. We may ask for photo identification, such as a passport or driving licence, and proof of your address.

If we suspect money laundering, the law says we must report it to the National Crime Agency, and it may stop us from telling you that we have done so.

Who does the work

Your work is done by our own team. Some work may also be carried out by carefully chosen subcontracted accountants. They are bound by confidentiality and data protection terms, act only on our instructions and see only what they need for the work.

Who we share your information with

We only share your information where we need to, and only with people and services that must look after it properly.

HMRC and Companies House. When you ask us to file your returns, accounts or other forms, we send them the information needed.

Services that help us run the business:

• Hostinger, which hosts this website and receives the quote form
• EspoCRM, the system we use to keep enquiry records, which we host ourselves on Hostinger
• Hostinger email, our email provider, which we use to send and receive emails, including the email we get for each quote request
• Cloudflare, which protects and speeds up the website, counts visits without cookies (Cloudflare Web Analytics) and runs Turnstile, the check that stops spam on the quote form
• Google Analytics 4, which tells us how people use the website, only after you press Accept
• Google Maps, for the live map, only when you press Show live map or after you accept embedded maps
• Crisp, our live chat, which loads only when you press the chat button
• Calendly, our booking calendar, which loads only when you open it
• WhatsApp, only if you choose to message us there
• the accounting software we work with: Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent, QuickFile, Odoo, Zoho, VT Software

These services act on our instructions and may not use your information for their own purposes.

Other people, at your request. If you ask us to, we may share information with your bank, mortgage broker, solicitor or a new accountant.

When the law requires it. We may share information with the police, the National Crime Agency, HMRC or other authorities where the law says we must.

Sending information outside the UK

Some of these services are based outside the UK, for example in the European Union or the United States. When your information goes outside the UK, it is protected either because the UK government has said that country protects personal information to a suitable standard, or because the service has signed approved contract terms, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement.

How long we keep your information

• Enquiries that do not go further. If you ask for a quote or book a call but do not become a client, we keep your details for 12 months and then delete them.
• Client records. We keep your accounts, tax returns, working papers and letters for 6 years after the end of the tax year or accounting period they relate to, so we can answer questions from HMRC and meet our legal duties.
• Identity check records. We keep these for 5 years after our work for you ends, as the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 require.
• Live chat messages. We keep chat history for 12 months, unless the chat becomes part of your client records.
• Marketing. If you ask us to stop, we stop straight away and keep a short note so we do not contact you again by mistake.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can:

• ask for a copy of the information we hold about you
• ask us to correct anything that is wrong or incomplete
• ask us to delete your information
• ask us to limit how we use it while a problem is sorted out
• ask for your information in a format you can take elsewhere
• object to us using it where we rely on legitimate interests
• withdraw your consent at any time, for example to stop marketing or switch off analytics

Some rights have limits. For example, we cannot delete records the law says we must keep until the time for keeping them has passed.

To use any of these rights, email us at . We may ask you to prove who you are first, so we do not give your information to the wrong person. We reply within one month, and there is normally no charge.

Making a complaint

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first at , and we will do our best to put it right.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator for data protection, at ico.org.uk (opens in a new tab).

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy, for example if we start using a new service or the law changes. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.

How to contact us

Email us at , send a quote request, book a free call or use live chat on our contact page.