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Privacy policy
Last updated September 2026 · Sprouting Accounting, 124–128 City Road, London EC1V 2NX
This policy explains what personal information Sprouting Accounting collects, why we hold it, how long we keep it and what rights you have over it. It covers this website and our work as your accountant.
1. Who we are
Sprouting Accounting is the data controller for the information described in this policy. You can reach us at:
- Email: info@sproutingaccounting.co.uk
- Phone: +44 7760 361049
- Post: 124–128 City Road, London, England, EC1V 2NX
2. What we collect
The information we hold depends on your relationship with us.
If you contact us or fill in a form
- Your name, email address and phone number
- The business you run and what you are asking about
- Anything else you choose to tell us in the message
If you become a client
- Contact and billing details for you and your business
- Identification documents and proof of address, which we are legally required to obtain
- National Insurance number, Unique Taxpayer Reference, company number and VAT number
- Financial records — bank statements, invoices, receipts, payroll data and tax information
- Information about your employees, where we run your payroll, including salary, National Insurance numbers and pension details
If you visit this website
- Technical information such as IP address, browser type, device and pages visited
- Cookie data, as described in our cookie policy
3. Why we use it, and our lawful basis
| What we do | Lawful basis under UK GDPR |
|---|---|
| Reply to your enquiry and prepare a quote | Legitimate interests, and steps taken at your request before entering a contract |
| Provide bookkeeping, tax, payroll and accounting services | Performance of our contract with you |
| File returns with HMRC and Companies House | Legal obligation, and performance of our contract |
| Anti-money-laundering identity checks and record keeping | Legal obligation |
| Keep our own accounting records and issue invoices | Legal obligation, and legitimate interests |
| Send occasional updates about deadlines and services | Consent, or legitimate interests where you are an existing client |
| Analytics and improving this website | Consent, through the cookie banner |
Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. Where we rely on legitimate interests, you can object — see section 8.
Some of the information we hold, such as health information affecting a payroll entry, is special category data. We process it only where we have an additional lawful condition, normally your explicit consent or a legal obligation relating to employment.
4. Who we share it with
We do not sell your data and we do not share it for anyone else's marketing. We do share it, where necessary, with:
- HMRC and Companies House, to make the filings you have engaged us to make
- Software providers we use to deliver the service — including Xero, Sage, Dext, Telleroo and Modulr — who act as processors under contract
- Pension providers, where we operate auto-enrolment for your payroll
- Your previous or subsequent accountant, where you ask us to hand over records
- Our professional advisers, insurers and regulators, where we are required to
- Law enforcement or the National Crime Agency, where money laundering regulations require a report. We may be prohibited by law from telling you if this happens.
5. Storage and international transfers
Your information is stored on secure, access-controlled systems. Some of our software providers process data outside the UK. Where that happens, we rely on UK adequacy regulations or on the International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum, so that your information keeps an equivalent level of protection.
6. How long we keep it
| Record | Retention |
|---|---|
| Enquiries that do not become clients | 12 months |
| Client accounting and tax records | At least 6 years from the end of the relevant accounting period |
| Anti-money-laundering identity records | 5 years from the end of the business relationship |
| Payroll records | At least 6 years |
| Our own invoices and correspondence | 6 years |
After these periods we delete or securely destroy the information, unless we still need it to defend a legal claim.
7. Keeping it secure
We use encrypted storage and transmission, multi-factor authentication on the systems that hold client data, access limited to the people who need it, and secure document exchange rather than email attachments for sensitive records. No system is perfect, but we take this seriously and we will tell you and the ICO promptly if a breach is likely to affect your rights.
8. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Have inaccurate data corrected
- Ask us to delete data, where we have no continuing legal reason to keep it
- Restrict or object to how we use it, including for direct marketing
- Receive data you gave us in a portable format
- Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting what we did before you withdrew it
To exercise any of these, email info@sproutingaccounting.co.uk. We will respond within one month. There is no charge unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive.
We do not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal effects for you.
9. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, 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.
10. Changes to this policy
We review this policy at least annually and whenever our services or systems change. The date at the top of the page shows when it was last updated. Material changes affecting clients will be notified by email.