Privacy Notice

About us

Insights Accounting Ltd is a limited company registered in England and Wales. We are a chartered accountancy and fractional CFO practice providing business accounting, tax compliance and planning, and financial advisory services.

We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under registration number ZC106994. We are supervised for anti-money laundering purposes by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Personal data we collect

The personal data we collect depends on the services we provide to you. It may include:

• Identity data: full name, date of birth, National Insurance number, passport or driving licence details
• Contact data: postal address, email address, telephone number
• Financial data: income details, employment and payroll records, bank account information, investment and property details, tax reference numbers, company financial records
• Transaction data: details of financial transactions, invoices, receipts and payments
• Technical data: IP address and browser data where you access our client portal or other online services
• Communication data: records of correspondence, emails and file notes relating to your affairs
• Special category data: in limited circumstances, data about your health, disability status or family circumstances where relevant to your tax position

We collect most personal data directly from you. We may also obtain information from third parties such as HMRC, Companies House, banks, mortgage lenders, letting agents or previous advisers, where this is necessary to provide our services.

How and why we use your personal data

We use your personal data only for lawful purposes and will not use it in ways that are incompatible with the reason it was collected.

Special category personal data

Where our work requires us to process special category personal data (for example, health information relevant to a tax relief claim), we will do so only on the basis of your explicit consent, or where processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, or to comply with our legal obligations.

We will not process special category data beyond what is strictly necessary for the purposes described in this notice.

How we share your personal data

We may share your personal data with the following where necessary:

• HMRC and other government bodies, where required to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
• Companies House, where we file documents on your behalf
• Our outsourced delivery partners (currently Remote Professionals), who carry out bookkeeping, accounts preparation or other tasks under a data processing agreement and confidentiality obligations equivalent to our own
• Cloud-based software providers (including Xero, our AI-assisted analysis tools, and our client portal provider), acting as data processors under appropriate agreements
• ICAEW, for quality control reviews or compliance inspections
• Professional advisers (such as solicitors or barristers) where specialist advice is required, and only with your knowledge
• Successor accountants, where you instruct us to transfer your affairs, in accordance with the ICAEW Code of Ethics

International transfers of personal data

Some of our software providers and outsourced partners may process data on servers located outside the United Kingdom. Where this is the case, we ensure that any such transfer complies with UK GDPR requirements, either by relying on an adequacy decision or by putting in place appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA).

Details of any international transfers and the safeguards in place are available on request. Please contact Andrew Greenwell at hello@insightsaccounting.com if you would like further information.

How long we keep your personal data

We retain personal data only for as long as is necessary, taking into account our legal, regulatory and professional obligations.

• Client files — individuals, sole traders, partnerships with trading or rental income 5 years 10 months from tax year end
• Client files — individuals without trading or rental income 22 months from tax year end
• Corporate client files — companies, LLPs and other corporate entities 6 years from accounting period end
• AML and customer due diligence records 5 years from end of business relationship
• Payroll records 3 years from end of tax year (minimum)
• Correspondence and general client records 7 years from last relevant communication

On expiry of the relevant retention period, personal data will be securely deleted or destroyed. If you wish us to retain any specific document beyond our standard period, please notify us in writing.

How we protect your personal data

We apply appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. These measures include:

• Password-protected and encrypted systems for storing client files
• Secure cloud storage with UK or EEA-based hosting where possible
• Access controls limiting data access to those who need it to provide your services
• Contractual confidentiality and data security obligations on all subcontractors and third-party processors
• Regular review of our data security practices

In the event of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you without undue delay and report to the ICO within 72 hours as required.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Our website and cookies

Our website (www.insightsaccounting.com) may use cookies and similar tracking technologies. Details of how we use cookies are set out in our Cookie Policy, available on our website.

Where our client portal is accessed through a browser, the portal provider's own privacy terms will also apply.

Use of AI and automated tools

We use AI-assisted tools in the course of providing our services, including our proprietary Insights AI platform and third-party cloud-based accounting and analysis software. These tools are used to assist with financial analysis, report preparation and tax computations.

They do not make automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you without human review and sign-off by a qualified accountant.

Where AI tools involve the processing of your personal data, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place and that the relevant software providers are subject to data processing agreements. Further details are available on request.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in applicable law. The current version will always be available at www.insightsaccounting.com/privacy.html and will be provided to new clients at the outset of each engagement.

Where we make material changes, we will notify existing clients by email.

How to make a complaint

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact Andrew Greenwell in the first instance at hello@insightsaccounting.com. We will acknowledge your concern within five business days and aim to resolve it promptly.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office:

We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you contact the ICO, and ask that you raise any data protection issues with us directly in the first instance.