SMR Financials Ltd ("we", "us") is the data controller for personal data collected through this website and in the course of providing accountancy services. We are registered in England and Wales, company number 12636720, with our registered office at 483 Green Lanes, London N13 4BS.
What we collect
When you contact us. Your name, business name, email address, telephone number, and whatever you choose to tell us about your business in an enquiry, quote request or call request.
When you become a client. The information needed to act for you. Depending on the service, that can include your address and date of birth, National Insurance number, Unique Taxpayer Reference, bank details, accounting records, and identification documents required for anti-money-laundering checks.
Where we run payroll. We also process personal data about your employees — names, addresses, National Insurance numbers, dates of birth, pay and pension details. For that data you are the controller and we act as your processor.
When you use this website. Our calculators run entirely in your browser. The figures you enter are never transmitted to us, never stored and never visible to anyone but you. Our hosting provider records standard server logs, including IP addresses, for security and reliability.
Why we use it, and our lawful basis
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Responding to your enquiry | Legitimate interests |
| Providing accountancy services under an engagement letter | Performance of a contract |
| Filing returns with HMRC and Companies House | Legal obligation |
| Anti-money-laundering identity checks | Legal obligation |
| Retaining records for the periods set out below | Legal obligation |
| Processing employee data to run your payroll | Contract, as your processor |
Who we share it with
We share personal data only where it is necessary to deliver the service or to meet a legal obligation:
- HMRC and Companies House — to make the filings you have engaged us to make.
- Accounting software providers — Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent or Sage, depending on which platform your records are kept in. Where you already use one, we work in yours; where you do not, we generally recommend Xero.
- Bookkeeping and document capture tools — such as Dext or Hubdoc, where used on your account.
- Payroll and pension providers — where we run your payroll or administer auto-enrolment.
- Identity verification providers — for anti-money-laundering checks.
- Web3Forms — delivers enquiries submitted through the forms on this website to our inbox.
- Cloudflare — hosts this website and records standard server logs.
- Our professional body or supervisory authority — where required as part of a practice review, inspection or investigation.
- Your previous or subsequent accountant — where you have asked us to hand records over.
Each provider acts as our processor under a written agreement and may only use the data to provide the service to us. We do not sell personal data, and we do not share it for marketing purposes.
How long we keep it
Retention is driven by HMRC's record-keeping rules, the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, and the periods during which HMRC can open an enquiry.
| Records | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Limited company accounting records | 6 years from the end of the accounting period they relate to |
| Sole trader and partnership records | 5 years after the 31 January filing deadline for that tax year |
| VAT records | 6 years |
| Payroll records | 6 years from the end of the tax year they relate to |
| Anti-money-laundering records | 5 years from the end of the business relationship |
| Enquiries that do not become engagements | 12 months |
Some records are kept longer where circumstances require it — for example where a return was filed late, where HMRC has opened a compliance check, or where records relate to an asset expected to last more than six years. Once a retention period ends, records are securely deleted or destroyed.
Where it is held
Data is held in the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area wherever possible. Some providers, including Web3Forms, process data outside those areas. Where that happens we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or an adequacy decision.
Your rights
Under the UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Ask what personal data we hold about you, and receive a copy
- Have inaccurate data corrected
- Ask for data to be erased, where no legal obligation requires us to keep it
- Object to, or ask us to restrict, certain processing
- Receive data you provided in a portable format
- Withdraw consent at any time, where consent is the basis we rely on
Bear in mind that where we are required by law to keep a record — tax filings and anti-money-laundering records in particular — we cannot delete it on request until the retention period has run.
To exercise any of these rights, email shimmer@smrfinancials.co.uk. We will respond within one month.
How we protect it
Records are held in access-controlled cloud systems with encryption in transit and at rest. Access is limited to those who need it to do the work. We use multi-factor authentication on the systems that hold client data.
Cookies
This website sets no analytics, advertising or tracking cookies. It loads a web font from Google Fonts, which means your browser makes a request to Google's servers when a page loads. If we add analytics or a booking widget in future, this section will be updated and a cookie banner added where one is required.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Changes
We may update this notice from time to time. The version published here is always the current one.
Last reviewed: 2026. Questions about this notice: shimmer@smrfinancials.co.uk · +44 74 9256 5499.