Privacy Policy

  1. Introduction

Q4 Accounting (also referred to as “we”, “us”, “our” in this privacy policy) provides accounting, bookkeeping, and other related services to all accountants across the United Kingdom. Any information that you share with us remains with us only. We do not share any of your information (personal or professional details) with any third party. This privacy policy will help you understand how we interact with you and how your information is secured with us. We would also like you to know that we have aligned our privacy policies with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 as amended (GDPR) and we support this initiative taken by the EU Parliament. The processing of personal data by Q4 Accounting, such as name, contact number, email address of a person visiting our website shall always be in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As the controller, Q4 Accounting has implemented multiple securities to ensure the complete protection of data submitted and processed through this website.

If after going through our privacy policy you have any queries, then you can contact our Data Protection Officer (see section 4) or contact us, the controller as follows:

Name – Gokul R I

Email Id – gokul@q4accounting.com

Contact Number – +44 208 157 6006

Address – 71-75, Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom

  1. Defining Audiences

We are defining audiences on the basis of their level of interaction with us-

  1. Website Visitors (also referred to as “Visitors”) – If you have visited our website but have not interacted with us over the Live Chat option or filled any form sharing your details, then you will be referred to as a visitor.
  2. Respondents – If you have interacted and shared your details with us to get in touch with you, then you will be defined as a “Respondent”.
  3. Client – If you are already availing our services, then you are our “Client”.

  1. The purposes for which we intend to process personal data

We intend to process personal data for the following purposes:

  1. To enable us to supply professional services to you as our client.
  2. To fulfil our obligations under relevant laws in force from time to time (e.g. the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (“MLR 2017”)).
  3. To use in the investigation and/or defense of potential complaints, disciplinary proceedings and legal proceedings.
  4. To enable us to invoice you for our services and investigate/address any attendant fee disputes that may have arisen.
  5. To contact you about other services we provide which may be of interest to you if you have consented to us doing so.

  1. The legal bases for our intended processing of personal data

Our intended processing of personal data has the following legal bases:

  1. At the time you instructed us to act, you gave consent to our processing your personal data for the purposes listed above.
  2. The processing is necessary for the performance of our contract with you.
  3. The processing is necessary for compliance with legal or regulatory obligations to which we are subject (e.g. MLR 2017).
  4. We may rely on legitimate interests based on our evaluation that the processing is fair, reasonable and balanced. These include:
  5. Delivering services to our client – To deliver the professional services our clients have engaged us to provide
  6. Direct marketing – To deliver timely market insights and specialised knowledge we believe is welcomed by our business clients, subscribers and individuals who have interacted with us.
  7. It is a requirement of our contract with you that you provide us with the personal data that we request. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide professional services to you. If this is the case, we will not be able to commence acting or will need to cease to act.

  1. Categories of personal data collected

We may obtain the following categories of personal data about individuals through direct interactions with Q4 Bookkeeping, or from information provided through client engagements, from applicants, our suppliers and through other situations including those described in this Privacy Policy.

  1. Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified, and we may collect, use store and transfer the following kinds of personal data about you:
  1. Identity Data includes first name, last name, company name.
  2. Contact Data includes postal address, work and personal email addresses, work and personal telephone numbers.
  3. Family and Beneficiary Details for purposes such as pension planning services (e.g. names and dates of birth).
  4. Financial Information includes taxes, payroll, investment interests, pensions, ownership of assets, bank details, insolvency records, loan records.
  5. Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access our website.
  6. Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.
  7. Professional Data includes any information we may collect in the course of providing our services to you, such as job and career history, educational background and professional memberships).
  1. Sensitive personal data. We typically do not collect any sensitive or special categories of personal data about you (such as details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data).  When we do need to process sensitive personal data, it is with your consent, unless obtained indirectly for legitimate purposes.  

Example of sensitive personal data include:

  1. Dietary restrictions or access requirements when registering for in-person events that reveal religious beliefs or physical health.
  2. Personal identification documents that may reveal race or ethnic origin, and possible biometric data or private individuals, beneficial owners of corporate entities, or applicants.
  3. Expense receipts submitted for individual tax or accounting advice that reveal affiliations with trade unions or political opinions.
  4. Adverse information about potential or existing clients and applicants that may reveal criminal convictions or offences information.
  5. Information provided to us by our clients in the course of a professional engagement.

We may also collect and use Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for internal purposes.

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with an answer to an enquiry).  In this case, we may have to cancel a service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

  1. How do we collect information from you?

We obtain information about you when you engage us, to deliver our services and when you use our website, for example, when you contact us about our services.

  1. What type of information do we collect from you?

The personal information we collect from you will vary depending on which services you engage us to deliver.  The personal information we collect might include your name, address, telephone number, email address, your Unique Tax Reference (UTR) number, your National Insurance number, bank account details, your IP address, which pages you may have visited on our website and when you accessed them.

  1. How data is collected?

Data is collected in the following ways –

  1. Cookie Data - Cookies are small pieces of information sent by a website to a Visitor’s hard disk. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. By continuing to visit the website, you agree to the placement of cookies on your device. A temporary cookie may also be used on protected and unprotected sections of our site in order to relay information that is input on one page of the site by the shareholder to other areas that require the same information (e.g. different financial calculators). This relieves the user of having to input the same data on multiple pages. Temporary cookies will not be placed on the computer hard drive of a user, and will be used only during the current session; they are discarded once the user terminates their session. We may use cookies for analytical purposes, the cookies will be activated only during visits to our website and it will not not track activity once a user leaves our website.
  2. Google Analytics – We use Google Analytics to collect information related to the pages the visitor has visited, time spent on that particular page and other standard log information. Google Analytics is not allowed to have access to your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) that you share with us.
  3. Lead Form – Visitors may share their information with us by filling up the lead forms. Lead forms usually contain name, contact number and email address. In general, this information is used by our counselors and accountants to reach out to you and sort your queries. All the information shared through lead forms remains with us only.
  4. Newsletter Subscription – The newsletter subscription is only received by visitors to our website who subscribes to our newsletter and shares their name and email id with us. We follow a one step verification process where once a visitor has shared their name and email id, we send a confirmation link to their email address which the owner of the email id has to confirm. Only after this step has been taken, we register the visitor as a subscriber for our newsletter.
  5. Cloud Data Storage Platforms - Data collected through cloud storage is classified as input data that is used to prepare the reports and the outputs that clients need from us. The cloud data storage servers are all located in the respective regions, where we deliver our services (EU, North America and Australian regions). The client controls this data completely and we do not store this data anywhere else or use it for any other purpose. All data and information related to the client resides within that cloud storage only.
  6. Client Servers: Client servers belong to the client and access to these servers is provided by the client to Q4 Accounting. Data cannot be copied or printed from these servers. All data and information on the client servers reside with the client only.
  7. Emails: Data is shared by the clients at times through emails as well. This data remains with us only.
  8. Various bookkeeping, accounting and payroll platforms: Clients provide access to various platforms to Q4 Accounting to carry out the work. These are completely controlled by the clients. Q4 Accounting doesn’t have access to any other platform except the ones provided by the clients.
  1. Who is collecting data?

On the website, visitor data is collected by Q4 Accounting with the help of third-party tools like Google Analytics. The third-party tools do not retain any of your information and neither are legally allowed to store or use your data. All data and information related to you reside with us only.

Data is also collected directly by Q4 Accounting when the data is shared by the clients so that we can complete the jobs our clients want us to complete. This data is stored in cloud data storage platforms where clients have full control to decide what they want to keep on this platform and what they don’t. We do not retain any of the information on any other platform or within local servers and neither are legally allowed to use this data for any other purpose. All data and information related to our clients reside on the platform.

  1. How is your information used?

In general terms, and depending on which services you engage us to deliver, as part of providing our agreed services we may use your information to:

  1. Contact you by post, email or telephone
  2. Verify your identity where this is required
  3. Understand your needs and how they may be met
  4. Maintain our records in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory obligations
  5. Process financial transactions
  6. Prevent and detect crime, fraud or corruption

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

  1. Who has access to your information?
  1. We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.
  2. We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.
  3. Any staff with access to your information have a duty of confidentiality under the ethical standards that this firm is required to follow.
  1. Third-Party Service Providers working on our behalf

We may pass your information to our third-party service providers, agents, subcontractors and other associated organisations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf, for example, to process payroll or basic bookkeeping.  However, when we use third-party service providers, we disclose only the information that is necessary to deliver the service and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own purposes.

Please be assured that we will not release your information to third parties unless you have requested that we do so, or we are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of prevention and detection of crime, fraud or corruption.

  1. How you can access and update your information

Keeping your information up-to-date and accurate is important to us.  We commit to regularly review and correct where necessary, the information that we hold about you.  If any of your information changes, please email or write to us, or call us using the ‘Contact information’ noted below.

You have the right to ask for a copy of the information Q4 Accounting holds about you and your institution.

  1. Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information

Whilst we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk.

Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. Where we have given, or where you have chosen, a password which enables you to access information, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential.  We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

Your data will usually be processed within your region. We take the security of your data seriously and so all our systems have appropriate security in place.

  1. Your choices

We may occasionally contact you by email with details of any changes in legal and regulatory requirements or other developments that may be relevant to your affairs and, where applicable, how we may assist you further.  If you do not wish to receive such information from us, please let us know by contacting us as indicated under ‘Contact information’.

  1. Your rights
  1. Access to your information: You have the right to request a copy of the personal information about you that we hold.
  2. Correcting your information: We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date and you may ask us to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards.
  3. Deletion of your information: You have the right to ask us to delete personal information about you where:
  1. You consider that we no longer require the information for the purposes for which it was obtained
  2. You have validly objected to our use of your personal information – see ‘Objecting to how we may use your information’ below
  3. Our use of your personal information is contrary to law or our other legal obligations
  4. We are using your information with your consent and you have withdrawn your consent – see ‘withdrawing consent to use your information’ below.

  1. Restricting how we may use your information:

In some cases, you may ask us to restrict how we use your personal information.  This right might apply, for example, where we are checking the accuracy of personal information about you that we hold or assessing the validity of any objection you have made to our use of your information.  The right might also apply where there is no longer a basis for using your personal information but you do not want us to delete the data.  Where this right is validly exercised, we may only use the relevant personal information with your consent, for legal claims or where there are other public interest grounds to do so.

  1. Objecting to how we may use your information: Where we use your personal information to perform tasks carried out in the public interest then, if you ask us to, we will stop using that personal information unless there are overriding legitimate grounds to continue. [You have the right at any time to require us to stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes.]

  1. Withdrawing consent to use your information: Where we use your personal information with your consent you may withdraw that consent at any time and we will stop using your personal information for the purpose(s) for which consent was given.

Please contact us in any of the ways set out in ‘Contact information’ below if you wish to exercise any of these rights.

  1. Changes to our privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and will place any updates on www.q4accounting.com/privacypolicy. This privacy notice was last updated on 01-Nov-2023.

  1. Contact information

GOKUL R I
Tel: +44 208 157 6006
Email: gokul@q4accounting.com
Address: 71-75, Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom.

  1. Complaints

We seek to resolve directly all complaints about how we handle your personal information but you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

  1. 3. Data Controller and Processor

Q4 Accounting acts as both data Processor and Controller as defined in the directive and GDPR.

Clients and Respondents will also act as a Controller for the data Q4 Accounting have on them and Q4 Accounting will be the Processor. Clients and Respondents have the right to see the information we have on them and edit, modify or delete any information they want from our database.

  1. Data Protection Officer

Q4 Accounting has a Data Protection Officer (also referred to as “DPO”) who is responsible for matters relating to privacy and data protection of all Visitors, Respondents and Clients. This Data Protection Officer can be reached at the following address –

GOKUL R I

Q4 Accounting Ltd

71-75, Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London,

WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 208 157 6006

Email: gokul@q4accounting.com

  1. Declaration of Sub-Processing

Q4 Accounting requires the services of the following organisation that act as a Data Processor for us in the provision of our services to you:

  1. Google Analytics: It helps us to track the movement of a visitor within our website and how much time is spent by that visitor along with other standard log information. They do not capture, store or use any personal identifiable data that you as a Respondent or Client share with us. You can visit Google’s Privacy Policy for more information.
  2. External Links: Our website may include relevant hyperlinks to external websites not controlled by Q4 Accounting. Whilst all reasonable care has been exercised in selecting and providing any such links, you are advised to exercise caution before clicking any external links. We cannot guarantee the ongoing suitability of external links, nor do we continually verify the safety or security of the contents which may be provided to you. You are advised, therefore, that your use of external links is at your own risk and we cannot be responsible for any damages or consequences caused by your use of them.

 

  1. About Sensitive Personal Data

GDPR specifies a set of personal data categories which are considered to be “sensitive”, and which require special consideration by Data Controllers. This website, and any services available from this website, do not knowingly collect or process any sensitive personal data.

  1. About Children’s Personal Data

This website, and any services available from this website, are not directed to children under the age of 13. If you learn that a child under the age of 13 has provided us with their personal information without having parental consent, please contact the Q4 Accounting Data Protection Officer (refer to section 4) immediately so that we can take appropriate action.

  1. Data Rights for Respondents and Clients

As prescribed within data protection regulations, you have several rights connected to the provision of your personal data to Q4 Accounting using this website. These include your rights to request that Q4 Accounting:

  1. confirms to you what personal data it may hold about you, if any, and for what purposes
  2. changes the consent which you have provided in relation to your personal data
  3. corrects any inaccurate or incomplete personal data which may be held about you
  4. provides you with a complete copy of your personal data for you to move elsewhere
  5. if permissible, stop processing your personal data, whilst an objection from you is being resolved
  6. restricts the processing of any of your personal data
  7. if permissible, permanently erase all your personal data promptly, and confirms to you that it has done so (there may be reasons why we may be unable to do this)

  1. You can reach out to Q4 Accounting Data Protection Officer (refer to section 4) for any request relating to your personal data.

  1. If Q4 Accounting does not address your request, or fails to provide you with a valid reason why it is unable to do so, you have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office to make a complaint.  

  1. Retention and Deletion of Data

Data of Respondents and Clients are kept by us to ensure that we are able to provide you services and further information related to it. Data of Clients are kept at all times in our secured databases and will not be modified or deleted until requested by the clients themselves. When a Client stops taking the services from us, automatically all personal data related to that client will be archived from our databases. Data of respondents are retained until the time to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected for, or as required by applicable laws or regulations.

At all times, Q4 Accounting will ensure that the amount of personal data retained by the Q4 Accounting is limited, accurate and relevant and is necessary in relation to the purpose for which it is processed in order to meet the data minimisation principle.

  1. How to access and modify your data?

If you would like to know all the data that we possess about you or would like to edit or delete data, then you can contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO) (refer to section 4). Our DPO will give you the full right to access and modify your data.

  1. Our Legal Basis for Using Your Data

Everything we do with records about individuals – obtaining the information, storing it, using it, sharing it, even deleting it – will have an acceptable legal basis. We keep a record of when consent was given by an individual to record their data and how to use it. We also keep a record of how that data was shared (e.g. on the website, on a form, verbally) and what they actually consented to.

 

We also retain the right to reveal the Client’s or Respondent's information without their prior permission if it is required by law to initiate any legal proceedings against that person or if we believe that person is responsible for infringing rights and property belonging to Q4 Accounting or to others who could be harmed by the user’s activities or of persons who could (deliberately or otherwise) transgress upon these rights and property. We are permitted to disclose personal information when we have good reason to believe that this is legally required.

 

  1. How do we follow the six principles of GDPR?
  1. Principle 1 – Fair, Lawful and Transparency

Being an Accounting firm, we will ensure that all your personal data are handled by us only and only for the services that you have authorized. While collecting data from you, we will ensure that there is transparency and you understand that you are giving us authorization to connect with you. Your data will not be used for any other services or any unlawful activity.

  1. Principle 2 – Purpose

Visitors who share their data with us become Respondents and Respondents who avail our services become our Clients. The purpose of receiving the data is to connect with you and solve your queries regarding bookkeeping, accounting and taxation. The purpose of having Clients' data is to ensure that we update them on the latest changes related to taxation and to ensure that they are updated about our latest services.

  1. Principle 3 – Adequacy

If you are our Client, then we will require documents related to your business or work to ensure that we do our work diligently and accurately. We do not require any sensitive information and would like you to refrain from sharing such information with us unless explicitly required by law or necessary for filing your taxes or any other services provided by Q4 Accounting.

  1. If you are Respondent, then we will have only basic personal information about you unless you have shared any other details with us.
  2. Principle 4 – Accuracy

We will ensure that the data you have provided is not altered at any stage and will take every possible necessary steps to verify the authenticity of the data that is provided. Accurate information is very essential to our services as on its basis we are able to file for your taxes and other services that we provide.

  1. Principle 5 – Retention

If you are our Client, then we will require having your data with us till the time you opt out of our service. However, if during the period of availing our service, you would like to modify or delete some data, then you can let us know and we will do that right away.

If you are Respondent, then at any time you can choose to delete all the data we have on you. Otherwise, we will have your data for six months until and unless explicitly given any other time frame to retain your data with Q4 Accounting.

  1. Principle 6 – Rights

You will have the right to access a copy of your information we have, the right to object to the processing of your data, the right to prevent direct marketing, editing your personal data and the right to claim compensation for damages by a breach of the Act.

 

  1. Acceptance of these conditions

We assume that all Visitors, Respondents and Clients have read this page carefully. If someone does have any query regarding this policy, then please contact our Data Protection Officer (refer to section 4). If you do not agree to this policy, then please refrain from using our website and services.

 

  1. Changes to Privacy Policy

We may change this policy from time to time. However, all the changes will be compliant with GDPR to ensure the safety and protection of your personal data. If you continue using our website or services after we have changed our policy then it means that you have accepted our revised policies.