Privacy Policy

Data Protection

Simpkins Edwards LLP’s data protection statement explains how the firm handles and uses data it collects from, and is given by, clients past, present and future. The full statement can be found on our website at www.simpkinsedwards.co.uk

In broad terms Simpkins Edwards uses your data to provide accountancy, tax services and payroll services as relevant and as set out in your engagement letter, and additional services arising from undertaking specific engagements. These include ensuring we keep you informed of our activities and developments, to provide services to you and to identify ways in which we can give you on-going support and advice.

How your data is used by Simpkins Edwards LLP

Your data is used by us for a number of interdependent purposes, including communications. These include:
– In connection with tax and accountancy services
– Publications
– Surveys
Communications may be sent to you by post, telephone or electronic means, depending on the contact details we hold and the preferences expressed by you. If you have concerns about any of these purposes, or how we communicate with you, contact gdpr@simpkinsedwards.co.uk or 01392 211 233.

What data is held by Simpkins Edwards LLP?

Most individual records contain:
– Unique personal identifiers
– Your contact details
– Copies of documents you have provided to enable accounts, tax returns and other related services to be carried out
– Financial information
– Information pertaining to your employees (personal identifiers etc)

Where provided by you, or provided by members of your family or your business, or obtained from reputable public sources (e.g. H M Revenue and Customs), we also record additional information including (but not exclusively)
– Event attendance
– Key relationships
– Personal interests
– Communication preferences

We have arrangements with third parties who may have access to, or hold your data for the purposes associated with the services we provide, these include:

• Wolters Kluwer – CCH (accounts and tax return production, internal database and document transfer)

• Sage Group plc – Sage (cloud bookkeeping software)

• Sage Group plc – Sage Payroll (for payroll services)

• Intuit Limited (UK) – QuickBooks Online (cloud bookkeeping software)

• Xero Limited – Xero (cloud bookkeeping software)

• BDO LLP – P11d Enterprise (P11d preparation software)

• Microsoft (email management, servers and office software)

• Practice 2 Practice Ltd – DocSAFE (document transfer)

• Receipt Bank Limited – Dext (bank statement and invoice recognition)

• Markel Corporation – Markel and mailing subcontractor (tax investigation service)

• Connexion SW (website for the creation of engagement letters)

• Mailchimp (email marketing)

• The National Will Register (database for identifying the location of stored Wills)

Unless we have received instructions from you we will not share any of the personal data we hold with any third party. We do not sell or license the use of any of your data for marketing purposes although we may give access to this data to contractors we have engaged to carry out marketing activities or data processing activities on our behalf.

We collect generic data from visitors to our website and use it as specified in a separate data protection policy. Please refer to our website www.simpkinsedwards.co.uk.

Payroll Services

In order for us to be able to deliver a payroll processing service we request that you give us personal data for your employees. This data includes:

Full name
Address
Date of birth
National Insurance number
Rate of pay
Holiday allowance
Benefits
P45 and details of tax codes
Details of any Direct Earnings orders
Email address

We will store your employee’s data on our network and retain it for 6 years from the tax year end date when any processing occurred, after which it will be destroyed.

We will not use your employees’ data for any purpose except for processing your payroll as agreed in our engagement letter.

Our third party software provider is Sage Payroll. Their privacy policy can be obtained from their website at.

Retention of data

Our policy is to hold all client data, both paper records and those held in an electronic format, for as long as the person is a client of Simpkins Edwards LLP. Our policy is to return original documents to you once they have been scanned and saved on our system.

Some documents, largely those that we have held prior to 1 January 2013, are held as paper records and stored in our offices or at Pickfords or West Country Storage Ltd.

Our working papers and correspondence files, along with any connected documents, are retained by us for up to 7 years after you have ceased to be a client. After 7 years digital records are encrypted and stored away from any current data. We have considered restricting the data we hold for all clients to 6 years in line with guidance from HMRC about minimum periods for records storage, and then destroying it by the 7th anniversary. However, in the interest of client service we consider that having access to historical data and transactions enables us to provide a better service to you, and deliver more certainty regarding tax and business planning.

If you wish us to destroy your records by the 7 year anniversary please contact gdpr@simpkinsedwards.co.uk or write to us at the postal address noted below.

Basis for processing data

The legal basis for processing your personal data is our contractual arrangements with you, and otherwise our legitimate interest.

Legitimate interest

Our legitimate interest is a commercial one and consists of sending to you information which we deem to be relevant to you and/or your business.

We have a contract with you – being compliance services or advisory services as set out in your individual engagement letters – and the majority of our data processing is carried out under the legal basis of contract.

However, there is some information which we deem to be relevant to you which might not be necessary for the proper and complete performance of our contract with you.

Examples of this are seminar invitations to events which will provide updates on the law (or tax/accounting treatments) of your industry or business type. Equally we may send out newsletters or information packs on relevant issues.

We would argue that this is required under the contract basis – as we cannot properly provide services if you are not aware of the rules and regulations governing you or impacting on your transactions.

However, we may also send information about complimentary services (such as probate) which will not necessarily be required now to allow us to perform our contract, but which should be relevant to you and may be required in the future.

It is this information which we consider to be processed under a commercial legitimate interest.

If we could not provide this information to you then you may not be aware of developments to tax, accounting and wider law which directly impact on you or your business. You also might not be aware of the full range of our services.

We need to process your personal data (name, contact details, business information such as sector, potentially your date of birth) in order to identify the services relevant to you.

We would not be able to provide you with this commercial information directly if we did not process your personal data for this purpose.

In processing the data to categorise you, we are providing you with a less invasive service, as you receive only information which should be relevant and of interest to you, rather than receiving information regarding all our events and services.

Given your existing contracts with us and the function which accountants and business advisors fulfil, we believe it that it would be reasonable for you to expect us to process your information for the above purposes and in the above way.

The personal data is stored on our secure database (see policies regarding access to systems and our general privacy policy regarding data collection and retention) and it is considered that there is not any unjustified harm arising from the processing.

The controller for your data is Simpkins Edwards LLP, and we can be contacted at
gdpr@simpkinsedwards.co.uk or at the postal address noted below.

Your rights

You have the right to request access to personal data which we may process about you. If you wish to exercise this right you should: put your request in writing and either post it to the address below or upload it to your Portal account. Please include proof of your identity and address (e.g. a copy of your driving licence or passport, and a recent utility or credit card bill). You will need to specify the personal data you want access to, including any account or reference numbers where applicable.

You have the right to require us to correct any inaccuracies in your data. If you wish to exercise this right you should again put your request in writing and either post it to the address below or upload it to your Portal account. You will need to provide us with enough information to identify you and specify the information that is incorrect and what it should be replaced with.

You have the right to object to us processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes or for purposes we have considered to be covered by legitimate interest. Your objection should be on the grounds of circumstances relating to your personal situation. If you wish to object you should contact us at gdpr@simpkinsedwards.co.uk or at the postal address below.

You also have the right to ask us to stop processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. If you wish to exercise this right you should: put your request in writing (an email sent to gdpr@simpkinsedwards.co.uk with a header that says ‘Unsubscribe’ is acceptable) and provide us with enough information to identify you. If your objection is not to direct marketing in general, but to direct marketing by a particular channel (e.g. email or telephone) please specify the channel you are objecting to.

Our contact details:
GDPR Administration
Simpkins Edwards LLP
The Summit
Woodwater Park
Pynes Hill
Exeter
EX2 5WS

We may change this privacy policy from time to time. You should check this policy occasionally to ensure you are aware of the most recent version which will apply each time you access our website.