Privacy notice

In short: we use your information to answer your enquiries, provide our accounting and tax services and meet our legal duties. We never sell it. You can ask to see it, correct it or object to how we use it at any time.

Who we are

Praddy Financial Consultancy Ltd, trading as PFC Accountants & Business Advisors (“PFC”, “we”, “us”) is the controller of the personal information described in this notice. We are registered in England and Wales, company number 08031299, and our registered office is 3 Chiltern Court, Asheridge Road, Chesham, HP5 2PX.

We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number available on request. For anything about your personal information, email finance@pfconsult.co.uk or write to us at our registered office.

The information we collect

When you contact us or use our website, we collect what you give us: your name, email address, phone number, the type of business you run, your message, and your answers if you use our instant quote or calculators. We also note the page you were on and how you found us, such as a search engine or an advert, so we know which pages are useful.

When you become a client, we also collect:

• proof of identity and address, which the Money Laundering Regulations require us to check
• financial, tax and business information, such as income, expenses, bank statements, your National Insurance number and Unique Taxpayer Reference
• information about other people connected to your business or tax affairs, such as directors, shareholders, employees on your payroll and family members, where we need it for the work
• bank details for collecting our fees

From other sources, we may receive information from HMRC and Companies House, your previous accountant when you move to us, identity verification services, and anyone who refers you to us.

We don’t ask for sensitive information such as health details. Occasionally you may give us some because it affects your tax, for example for a tax relief. We only use it for that purpose, and only with your permission or where the law allows.

How we use it and our lawful basis

Data protection law requires a lawful basis for each use of your information. These are ours:

• Answering enquiries, quotes and call‑back requests: our legitimate interest in responding to people who contact us, or taking steps at your request before a contract.
• Providing our services, such as accounts, tax returns, payroll and advice: to perform our contract with you.
• Identity and anti‑money laundering checks: legal obligation under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. We may use an electronic identity check. It may leave a record on your credit file that other lenders can’t see, and it doesn’t affect your credit score.
• Keeping records and reporting to authorities where the law requires: legal obligation.
• Our newsletter and updates: your consent, or for existing clients our legitimate interest in telling you about similar services. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
• Site statistics: our legitimate interest in understanding how our website is used, using anonymous counts. See our cookie policy.
• Analytics, live chat and marketing cookies: your consent, which you can change at any time.
• Running and protecting our business, including quality reviews, insurance, preventing fraud and dealing with legal claims: our legitimate interests, or legal obligation where our professional body or insurers require it.

We don’t make decisions about you using only automated processing.

Who we share it with

We never sell your information. We share it only where we need to:

• Government bodies, such as HMRC and Companies House, when we file returns and accounts for you.
• Service providers who work on our behalf, under contracts that require them to keep it secure: accounting software (such as Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent), practice management and customer records, email and document storage, identity verification, appointment booking and our website host.
• Our professional body and regulators, including our professional body and our anti‑money laundering supervisor, when they review our work, and our insurers and professional advisers when needed.
• Anyone you ask us to share it with, such as your bank, a lender or a new accountant.
• Law enforcement where the law requires it. This includes reports to the National Crime Agency if we suspect money laundering. The law may not allow us to tell you about such a report.
• A buyer of our business, if PFC is ever sold or merged, under the same protections.

Transfers outside the UK

Some of our service providers store information outside the UK. When they do, we make sure it is protected to UK standards: the country is approved by the UK government, or the provider has signed the UK’s approved data transfer clauses.

How long we keep it

• Enquiries that don’t lead to work: 24 months, then deleted.
• Identity and anti‑money laundering records: five years after our working relationship ends, as the Money Laundering Regulations require.
• Client files, accounts and tax records: normally seven years after our engagement ends. We keep some longer where HMRC can still open an enquiry or a legal claim could arise.
• Newsletter subscriptions: until you unsubscribe.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• 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, or to stop or limit using it
• object to us using it for our legitimate interests, and to stop direct marketing at any time
• ask for information you gave us in a format you can take elsewhere
• withdraw your consent where we rely on it

Some rights have limits. For example, we can’t delete records the law requires us to keep. To use any of these rights, email finance@pfconsult.co.uk. We’ll reply within one month and won’t usually charge.

Keeping your information safe

We keep your information on secure systems with restricted access and encrypted connections. Our team is bound by professional confidentiality, and only the people who need your information can see it.

Complaints

If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, please tell us first at finance@pfconsult.co.uk so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this notice

We review this notice regularly. The date at the top shows when it last changed.