PrivacyPolicy.

The organisation responsible for deciding how personal information is used for the purposes described in this policy is:

Celtic Bookkeeping and Accountancy Services Ltd
Company number: 11873184
Suite 6, Tower House, New Portreath Road, Redruth, England, TR16 4QL
Email: enquiries@celticbookkeeping.services
Telephone: +44 7921 854139

For privacy questions, requests relating to your information or concerns about how it is handled, contact us using the details above.

The information we collect depends on how you interact with us and the services requested. It may include the following categories.

Enquiries and correspondence

• Your name and business or organisation name.
• Your email address, telephone number and contact preferences.
• The details you provide about your bookkeeping requirements, reporting periods and requested support.
• Information contained in messages, attachments and subsequent correspondence.

Service and financial records

• Invoices, receipts, statements, transaction details and other records supplied for an agreed assignment.
• Business contact details, bookkeeping files, supporting schedules and relevant accounting information.
• Records of agreed work, fees, communications, deliverables and service administration.
• Information needed to identify missing records, clarify transactions or prepare agreed financial summaries.

Website and technical information

When you visit the website, limited technical information may be processed by our website hosting and security services. Depending on the configuration in use, this may include IP address, browser type, device information, access times and basic diagnostic logs.

Our website forms may also record information submitted by you and technical information needed to process or protect a submission. We do not ask you to submit financial documents through a general enquiry form unless the relevant arrangement has been explained.

Information from other sources

Where reasonably necessary for an agreed bookkeeping task, we may receive business or transaction information from a client’s authorised representative, an agreed service provider or documents supplied by the client. If we obtain personal information from another source, we will provide the required privacy information within the applicable legal timeframe, subject to any lawful exception.

We may use personal information for the following purposes:

• To respond to enquiries and discuss the bookkeeping or accountancy support requested.
• To assess the information and records needed for a proposed assignment.
• To agree the service scope, fees, delivery arrangements and communications.
• To organise and maintain bookkeeping records and prepare agreed schedules, summaries or supporting documents.
• To request clarification where supplied information is incomplete or inconsistent.
• To administer client relationships, invoices, payments where applicable and service correspondence.
• To maintain appropriate business and accounting records and comply with legal obligations.
• To operate, maintain and protect the website, enquiry forms, business systems and communications.
• To establish, exercise or defend legal claims where necessary.

We do not use personal information for a new, unrelated purpose without identifying an appropriate lawful basis and providing any additional information required by law.

The lawful ground depends on the information involved and the purpose for which it is used. Where applicable, we rely on one or more of the following grounds under data protection law.

Taking steps at your request or performing a contract

We use relevant contact details, instructions and service records to respond to your request, discuss a proposed assignment and perform services agreed with you or your organisation.

Legal obligations

We may retain or use information where required to meet applicable accounting, tax, company recordkeeping or other legal obligations.

Legitimate interests

Where appropriate, we may process information for legitimate business interests, such as managing correspondence, maintaining service records, protecting our systems and handling enquiries. We consider the impact on individuals and do not rely on this ground where their interests or fundamental rights override those interests.

Consent

Where consent is the appropriate lawful ground, we will ask for it before the relevant processing takes place. You may withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing that took place lawfully before consent was withdrawn.

If we need information to enter into or perform a contract, or to meet a legal obligation, we will explain the relevant requirement where appropriate. If the information is not supplied, we may be unable to assess an enquiry or carry out the requested work.

Our services may involve handling business financial information and documents containing personal information, for example transaction descriptions, supplier or customer contact details, invoice references and records provided for an agreed assignment.

We use such information only to the extent reasonably necessary for the agreed task, related service administration and applicable legal obligations. We may ask for clarification where a record is incomplete or where additional information is necessary to complete the agreed work.

Clients remain responsible for ensuring that information they provide to us has been collected and shared appropriately. Where a client provides personal information relating to its employees, customers, suppliers or other individuals, the client should ensure that it has a lawful basis for doing so and has provided any required privacy information.

Depending on the particular engagement, our role in relation to records supplied by a client may be that of a processor acting on the client’s documented instructions, or a controller for our own business administration and legal recordkeeping. Where required, the applicable responsibilities will be addressed in the service agreement or other relevant arrangements.

We do not automatically include statutory accounts, audit work, tax advice, tax return preparation or formal submissions within every bookkeeping assignment. The specific services and use of information depend on the scope agreed with the client.

We do not share personal information indiscriminately. Where necessary for the purposes explained in this policy, information may be made available to the following categories of recipient:

• Website and IT providers: organisations that host, maintain, secure or support our website, email, forms and business systems.
• Professional advisers: legal, accounting or other professional advisers where their involvement is reasonably necessary.
• Client-authorised recipients: individuals or organisations the client has authorised us to contact or provide agreed records to.
• Payment and financial service providers: where a payment arrangement is used and their involvement is necessary to process or reconcile the transaction.
• Public authorities and legal recipients: where disclosure is required by law or is necessary for legal proceedings.

Service providers are given access only as needed for their role and subject to appropriate contractual or other safeguards where required. We do not sell personal information.

We will not disclose client financial records to an unrelated third party simply because the information is available to us. Any disclosure must have an appropriate purpose and lawful basis.

Some technology or service providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Whether this occurs depends on the providers actually used for our website, email and business systems.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take the steps required by applicable data protection law. Depending on the destination and circumstances, this may include relying on applicable adequacy regulations or using an approved transfer safeguard, together with any additional measures required.

You may contact us to ask for further information about relevant international transfers and the safeguards applicable to your information.

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including applicable legal, accounting, reporting and recordkeeping requirements. The period depends on the type of record and the circumstances.

These are standard retention periods, not a promise that every record will always be deleted on the same schedule. A longer period may be necessary where the law requires it, where a transaction or reporting period remains unresolved, or where information is needed to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

Where information is no longer needed, we will take reasonable steps to delete it or anonymise it, subject to any applicable legal retention obligation and the capabilities of our systems and service providers.

Our website may use cookies or similar technologies to support essential website functions, remember settings or understand website performance, depending on the tools enabled on the site.

Where consent is legally required for non-essential cookies or similar technologies, those technologies should not be activated before the required consent is obtained. You can manage available cookie choices through the website’s cookie controls where provided and through your browser settings.

Disabling certain cookies may affect some website functions. For more information about the cookies actually used on this site, please read our Cookie Policy.

When you submit an enquiry, the information you provide is used to respond to your message and assess the support requested. Please avoid including confidential financial documents or unnecessary personal details in a general website enquiry.

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration and disclosure. Measures may include access restrictions, appropriate account controls, system updates, secure communications and careful handling of business records.

Information is made available only where access is reasonably necessary for the relevant business or service purpose. Where external providers handle information on our behalf, we consider the safeguards appropriate to their role.

No website, electronic communication or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should take care when sending information online and contact us if you believe information you supplied to us has been sent to the wrong recipient or otherwise handled incorrectly.

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful ground for processing, you may have the right to:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Request erasure of personal information where the legal conditions are met.
• Ask us to restrict certain processing in circumstances provided by law.
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation.
• Receive certain information you provided in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, or ask for its transfer where the legal conditions apply.
• Withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.
• Raise a concern with the relevant data protection supervisory authority.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal conditions or exemptions. For example, we may need to retain particular accounting records to meet a legal obligation even where an erasure request is made.

To make a request, email enquiries@celticbookkeeping.services and explain what information or action you are asking about. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

We will respond without undue delay and normally within one month of receiving a valid request. Where a request is complex or we receive multiple requests, the applicable law may allow an extension of up to a further two months. If an extension is needed, we will explain this within the initial one-month period.

Where a request cannot be fulfilled, we will explain the reason where the law requires us to do so and tell you about any applicable right to complain.

Our services are intended for businesses, organisations and their authorised representatives rather than children. We do not knowingly request personal information directly from children for marketing or general service enquiries.

If information relating to a child is included in business records supplied for an agreed task, it should be limited to what is necessary for that task and provided only where there is an appropriate lawful basis. If you believe personal information has been provided to us in error, please contact us.

We review this policy when our services, information-handling practices or relevant legal requirements change, and periodically to check that the information remains accurate.

If we intend to use personal information for a new purpose that requires additional information to be provided, we will give the relevant privacy information before beginning that processing, where required by law.

The version published on this page describes our current intended practices. Please revisit this page when you next use our website or services if you would like to check for changes.

If you have a question about this policy, would like to exercise a data protection right or have a concern about how your information has been handled, please contact us first using the details below.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection matters. Guidance and contact information are available at ico.org.uk.