Who we are
Side by Side Accounting Ltd (company number 12204809) is responsible for personal information processed for its accountancy, tax, professional and business administration purposes. Your contact is Toby Roberts FMAAT, AAT Licensed Accountant, licence 20037843.
Write to 38 Foxglove Avenue, Bexhill, TN40 2GA; email toby.roberts@sidebysideaccounting.com; or call 07549 691914.
Where we process information solely on a business client’s instructions, the relevant processing agreement sets out those responsibilities. This notice concerns our own processing as a controller.
Information we handle and its sources
Depending on your agreed services, information can include contact and identification details, date of birth, National Insurance number, UTR, employment and pension records, business ownership, accounts, transactions, tax returns, payroll information, correspondence, engagement records and portal activity. Records may also contain information about directors, employees, customers, suppliers or family members. Please supply only information relevant to our work.
Sources include you and your authorised representatives, HMRC, Companies House, a previous accountant and the software or records you authorise us to access. Where other sources are relevant, we will explain them as appropriate.
Why we use information
We use relevant information to respond to enquiries, agree and deliver services, prepare accounts and returns, communicate with you, administer fees, maintain professional records and meet legal obligations.
- Contract: taking steps at an individual’s request before an engagement and performing that individual’s agreement.
- Legal obligations: required identity checks, anti-money-laundering duties and applicable recordkeeping or disclosures.
- Legitimate interests: providing services to business clients, maintaining reliable professional records, preventing fraud, protecting systems and managing disputes or claims, balanced against individuals’ rights.
- Consent: a separate optional purpose where consent is the appropriate basis. You can withdraw it by contacting Toby.
If particularly sensitive information is needed, such as health information relevant to tax treatment, we will explain the purpose and additional legal condition before using it. Please do not upload unrelated sensitive records.
Information needed for identity checks or agreed work may be necessary for us to accept or complete an engagement. We will explain what is missing and the consequences if it is not provided.
Sharing and service providers
We share relevant information as necessary with HMRC, Companies House, authorised advisers, professional bodies, insurers, legal advisers and authorities where disclosure is required. Service providers may process information for us to deliver the agreed work: TaxDome for the client portal and engagement administration, accounting and tax software, payroll systems, identity verification, payments, email, hosting and backups. Contact Toby for the providers relevant to your services.
International processing
Software providers may process information outside the UK. TaxDome’s published policies describe processing in the United States, the European Union and other countries where its providers operate, depending on the service configuration. Portal information is therefore not represented as exclusively UK-hosted.
TaxDome publishes a Data Processing Amendment and sub-processor information. UK restricted transfers require an applicable lawful mechanism and safeguards; EU contractual clauses alone do not establish the UK position. Contact Toby for the locations and safeguards applicable to the services you use, or to request a copy of relevant transfer information.
How long we keep information
Our retention policy distinguishes records by purpose:
- Accounts, tax returns and working papers: normally six years from the later of the relevant period end and completion of the related work.
- Engagement agreements, material advice and disengagement records: normally six years after the engagement ends.
- AML identity and transaction records: five years from the end of the business relationship or completion of the relevant occasional transaction, as applicable, then deletion unless a lawful exception or other duty applies.
- Enquiries that do not become engagements: normally twelve months after the last substantive contact.
- Duplicate and temporary copies: removed when an authoritative copy exists and they are no longer needed.
A legal duty, enquiry, dispute or anticipated claim can justify longer retention of specific records. We review the reason rather than retaining everything indefinitely. Portal logs and backups follow the relevant provider’s retention and recovery arrangements; expiry of an accessible record does not necessarily remove all backup copies immediately. These periods concern our copies and do not replace your own statutory recordkeeping duties.
Security and the portal
Please use the agreed secure portal for identity and financial records, keep your credentials private and contact Toby promptly if you suspect unauthorised access. TaxDome describes encryption and access controls in its Trust Center. No electronic communication method eliminates every security risk.
Portal reminders and workflow steps help administer your engagement. Professional decisions about your accounts and tax work remain subject to Toby’s review; a portal status does not replace your approval of a return.
Your rights
Depending on the circumstances, you can request access, correction, erasure, restriction or portability. Legal recordkeeping duties can limit deletion. Contact Toby to exercise your rights or raise a concern.
You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. You can object to direct marketing at any time. Where we rely on consent, withdrawing it does not affect earlier lawful processing.
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Scope and updates
This notice covers accountancy enquiries and client services. Website cookie choices and any separate employment or marketing processing require their own relevant information. We will update this notice as our services and processing change and explain material changes where appropriate.