Terms and conditions

Who we are

In these terms, "we", "us" and "our" mean Spirit Level Accounting, based at Office F13b, Sabichi House, 5 Wadsworth Road, Perivale UB6 7JD. "You" means the person or business using our website or our services.

Part A, 1: our calculators and guides are estimates

Our calculators and guides give you a rough idea. They use the rates for the tax year shown on each tool, taken from GOV.UK, and the most common rules for sole traders and small companies.

They are not tax advice. They cannot know everything about your situation, such as other income, student loans or amounts owed from earlier years. Please do not make a big decision, like buying a van or setting up a company, on a calculator alone. Talk to us first.

We check our tools and guides carefully and update them when the rates change. Even so, we cannot promise that everything on the website is complete, correct and up to date at all times.

Part A, 2: asking for a quote or booking a call

Asking for a quote, booking a free call or chatting with us does not make you a client and does not commit you to anything. A quote is based on what you tell us and may change if the work turns out to be different. You become a client only when you accept our engagement letter (Part B).

Our booking calendar is run by Calendly and our live chat by Crisp. Their own terms apply as well as ours when you use them.

Part A, 3: using our content

The words, calculators, drawings and design on this website belong to us or to the people who licensed them to us. You are welcome to use the calculators and read the guides for your own business. Please do not copy them onto another website or sell them without asking us first.

Part A, 4: links and your information

We link to other websites, such as GOV.UK, because they are useful. We are not responsible for what is on them.

How we look after your information is explained in our privacy policy, and how we use cookies in our cookie policy.

Part B, 5: your engagement letter comes first

Before we start any work, we send you an engagement letter. It sets out what we will do for you, what we will not do, and how our fees work. Fees are agreed with you in writing in the engagement letter before any work starts.

These terms apply alongside your engagement letter. If the two ever say different things, the engagement letter wins.

Part B, 6: what we do

We carry out the work in your engagement letter with reasonable care and skill. The work is done by ACCA qualified accountants with over 20 years in practice, from our own team and, for some work, carefully chosen subcontracted accountants bound by confidentiality and data protection terms.

Where you ask us to, we act as your agent with HMRC, so we can speak to HMRC for you, file your returns and deal with letters about your tax.

We prepare your returns and accounts from the information you give us. Unless your engagement letter says otherwise, we do not audit your figures, and our work is not designed to find mistakes or fraud in your records.

Part B, 7: what we need from you

• complete and honest information, including every CIS statement, invoice and receipt we ask for
• your paperwork in good time before each deadline; we tell you the date we need it by
• news of any change straight away, such as a new address, a new contractor, starting a limited company or going over the VAT threshold
• a careful check of each return before you approve it, because you are legally responsible for what is sent to HMRC in your name, even when we prepare it
• claims only for costs that were genuinely for your business

If paperwork reaches us late or incomplete, we will do our best, but we cannot be responsible for missed deadlines, penalties or interest that result.

Part B, 8: CIS refunds

HMRC decides whether to pay a refund, how much it is and when it arrives. We work out what we believe you are owed, claim it properly and follow it up with HMRC, but we cannot promise a refund, an amount or a date. Any figure we give before we have seen all your paperwork is an estimate. How our fees work for this is set out in your engagement letter.

Part B, 9: identity checks

The Money Laundering Regulations 2017 require us to check who our clients are before taking them on. We ask for photo identification and proof of address, and for a limited company, details of who owns and controls it. We cannot start work until these checks are done.

Part B, 10: ending our services

How either of us can end our services is also set out in your engagement letter. When our services end, we charge for work already done, and we pass on your records and help your new accountant take over.

Part B, 11: confidentiality and your records

Everything you tell us is kept confidential. We only share it where we need to for the work, where you ask us to, or where the law requires it. Our team and the services we use must keep it confidential too.

Your original papers belong to you. We keep copies of your records and our working papers for 6 years after the end of the tax year or accounting period they relate to, and identity check records for 5 years after our work for you ends. Our privacy policy has the details.

Part B, 12: working online

We are fully digital, so you can send everything from your phone, and we work by email, live chat, calls and secure online systems. Messages sent over the internet can occasionally be delayed, lost or intercepted. We take sensible steps to keep things secure, and we ask you to do the same. Please do not send passwords or card numbers by email, chat or WhatsApp.

Part B, 13: our liability

Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to limit.

We are not liable for losses caused by information you gave us that was wrong, incomplete or late. We are also not liable for indirect losses, such as lost profit, that we could not reasonably have expected.

Part B, 15: if you are unhappy

We want to put things right if we have let you down. Tell the accountant who looks after you, or email us at .

Part B, 16: changes, the law and contact

We may update these terms, for example when the law changes. The version on this page is always the latest, and if a change affects your work we tell you before it applies.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any dispute is dealt with by the courts of England and Wales. If any part turns out not to be valid, the rest still applies.

To reach us, email , send a quote request or use live chat on our contact page.