Legal
Terms & Conditions.
These apply when you register as a client. Plain English, no legalese.
These apply when you register as a client. Plain English, no legalese.
Below are the full terms and conditions that apply when you appoint Next Accountancy as your accountants. Every effort has been made to keep this readable.
1.0.1. You are appointing Next Accountancy (a company registered in England and Wales, company no. 15716279) as your accountants, to represent you in all matters related to your selected services and your dealings with HMRC and Companies House. This agreement is made between both parties and can only be amended in writing, signed by both parties.
2.0.1. We treat the confidentiality of client information with the utmost care. All accounts, statements and reports we prepare are for your exclusive use within your business or to meet specific statutory responsibilities. They will not be shared with any third party without your prior consent, save where required by law.
2.0.2. You may appoint someone else to speak to us on your behalf (for example, a spouse or business partner). We require your written consent before discussing your affairs with anyone other than you.
2.0.3. For the purposes of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, the data controller is Mubashar Shah Chishti, Principal of Next Accountancy. ICO registration number: ZC033043. See our Privacy Policy for full detail.
3.0.1. This agreement is effective from the date we receive your completed registration form. Either party may vary or terminate the appointment at any time by giving one month's written notice (by email or post). If you cancel before your first month's payment is taken, an administration fee of £30 may apply to cover the work already incurred. Monthly fees already paid are not refundable.
3.0.2. These terms may change from time to time. We will notify clients of material changes in advance, but it remains your responsibility to review the terms periodically.
3.0.3. Where a payment is recalled or charged back after we have already provided services, the recalled amount becomes immediately payable, together with a £30 administration charge to cover the cost of recovery.
4.0.1. Once registered, we issue monthly invoices and collect payment by direct debit or recurring card payment (via Stripe). Your first invoice will include any backdated amount to the start of your current accounting period. For example: if your year-end is 31 December and your first payment runs on 1 June at £50/month, the first invoice will total £300 (six months at £50), with £50 collected each month thereafter.
4.0.2. If you terminate part-way through a financial year, no further monthly invoices will be raised from the date of your written cancellation. If you would still like us to complete that year's work after cancelling, we will agree either to continue monthly invoicing through to year-end or to raise a single final invoice for the work outstanding.
4.0.3. If, when you register, we identify outstanding work for periods that have already ended, we will contact you for instructions and provide a separate quote for that work before any of it is undertaken.
4.0.4. Fees may be reviewed periodically to keep pace with inflation and rising costs. We will give you at least 14 days' notice of any fee change.
4.0.5. Your quote is based on the information you provide about your business. If your circumstances change (turnover bracket, number of employees on payroll, additional services taken), we may adjust your fee to reflect the change. Any adjustment will be quoted and agreed before it takes effect.
5.0.1. For balances overdue by more than 90 days, we reserve the right to charge interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate per annum until payment is received in full or a satisfactory arrangement is reached.
5.0.2. For sole traders and partnerships, the responsibility for outstanding balances rests with the business owner(s). For limited companies, ultimate responsibility rests with the director who signed the registration form.
6.0.1. Once we receive your registration, we will ask HMRC to issue an authorisation code so we can act as your agent. Please forward any HMRC code to us promptly to avoid delays.
6.0.2. Before we can begin work, we are required by anti-money-laundering (AML) legislation to verify your identity. This may include an electronic identity check, which is a "soft" check and does not affect your credit score.
6.0.3. As a Companies House Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), we may also verify the identity of directors, shareholders and persons with significant control under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.
6.0.4. We may share your personal data with our professional body, the Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA), and with the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS), in connection with practice assurance and AML supervision.
7.0.1. We may record telephone calls for training, monitoring and quality-assurance purposes. By engaging us, you agree to your calls being recorded. Recordings are retained securely and only accessed where necessary.
8.0.1. We work with carefully chosen partners (e.g. cloud accounting providers, specialist tax advisers) and may receive a referral fee where a client takes up their service. Where this happens, we will tell you and you agree we may retain any such fee.
9.0.1. Any introductory offer (for example, free company formation or a discounted first month) applies only if you remain a client for the period stated with the offer (typically 12 months). If you cancel within that period, the standard price for the offered service becomes payable.
10.0.1. You agree to make available, in good time, all the accounting records and related financial information we need to compile your accounts and returns. All accounts and returns will be sent to you for approval before submission to HMRC or Companies House.
10.0.2. You are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information you provide and for the safeguarding of business assets and the prevention and detection of fraud.
10.0.3. You are responsible for ensuring your business complies with all applicable laws and regulations.
10.0.4. If you have used another accountant or bookkeeper before joining us, please share their contact details so we can request the records we need. If we cannot obtain the necessary information from a previous adviser, we may charge an additional fee for the time spent reconstructing your records.
11.0.1. We will compile your annual accounts and tax returns based on the records and information you provide, and send them to you for approval before submission.
11.0.2. We will let you know if your records are inadequate for the work and recommend improvements. If you choose not to act on our advice, we are not responsible for any resulting loss or penalty.
11.0.3. We will exercise reasonable skill and care in compiling your figures, but we are not responsible for errors arising from incorrect or incomplete information you supply.
11.0.4. Our liability for any error in the preparation of accounts, tax returns or other work is limited to the fee charged for the specific piece of work in question.
11.0.5. We will compile accounts in line with generally accepted accounting principles and applicable UK financial reporting standards.
11.0.6. If you ask us to undertake work outside the agreed services, we will quote separately for that work and proceed only once both parties have agreed.
11.0.7. Where we hold any of your records after year-end work is complete, we will return them to you securely. Records we retain at your instruction will be destroyed automatically after seven years.
11.0.8. We will not be liable for losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities suffered by you or your business, save to the extent caused by our own negligence and subject to clause 11.0.4.
12.0.1. All quoted fees are in pounds sterling (£). Where Next Accountancy is registered for VAT, the standard UK rate of VAT is added to invoices and shown separately. If we are not yet VAT-registered, our invoices will not include a VAT charge.
12.0.2. If your business does not belong in the UK for VAT purposes, please tell us; we may not need to charge UK VAT on our fees.
13.0.1. We carry full professional indemnity insurance (PII) at levels meeting or exceeding the minimum required by the Institute of Financial Accountants. The name and address of our insurer is available on written request to info@nextaccountancy.co.uk.
14.0.1. We can act on your behalf for the relevant accounts and tax matters from the date we receive your registration form (and HMRC has issued our agent code).
14.0.2. We will prepare accounts and returns based on the records and explanations you provide.
14.0.3. All accounts and returns are sent to you for approval before submission to Companies House or HMRC.
14.0.4. We will tell you the amount of tax due and the deadline for payment.
14.0.5. If you ask us to amend work already completed and submitted, we will quote separately for the additional work and handle the corresponding HMRC correspondence.
14.0.6. Any refund received from HMRC into our client account will be transferred to your nominated bank account on the same working day where possible, by Faster Payment.
14.0.7. We will deal with HMRC correspondence on your behalf unless you instruct otherwise.
14.0.8. Please send your records in good time. We will issue reminders ahead of each deadline so you know what we need and when.
14.0.9. HMRC investigates a proportion of returns each year. While your engagement with us remains active, we will represent you during a routine HMRC enquiry at no additional charge. Specialist tax investigations or formal disputes may attract an additional fee, which we will quote and agree in advance.
14.1.0. You authorise us to approach relevant third parties (HMRC, Companies House, banks, previous accountants, etc.) for information necessary to deal with your affairs.
14.1.1. Where your limited-company plan includes director Self Assessment returns, those returns cover standard income types (employment, dividends from your company, UK interest under £1,000, state pension). Additional income sources (e.g. property income, foreign dividends, capital gains) may attract an additional fee, quoted and agreed in advance.
14.1.2. We are general accountants and small-business tax specialists. Where work falls outside our usual scope (e.g. R&D claims, EIS/SEIS form completion, complex international tax, TOMS, investment advice), we may refer you to a specialist who can help. Specialist fees are payable directly to the specialist.
14.1.3. Our service applies to UK entities and UK-resident taxpayers. We do not advise on tax in other jurisdictions; if your circumstances suggest tax residency outside the UK, you should seek specialist advice in the relevant country.
14.1.4. Where your sole-trader, partnership or individual plan includes a Self Assessment, that return covers standard UK income types as set out in 14.1.1 above. Additional sources may attract an additional fee.
14.1.5. Where your company is eligible to claim R&D Relief and is claiming for the first time (or has not claimed in the previous three accounting periods), HMRC requires you to notify them within six months of your accounting period end. R&D claim work is not included in our standard plans; you will need to engage a specialist for the claim, but we will help you with the underlying numbers.
15.0.1. Where you appoint us to handle VAT returns, we will act on your behalf from the date of registration. For specialist VAT areas (TOMS, partial exemption, opt-to-tax) we reserve the right to refer you to a specialist or quote separately for the additional work.
15.0.2. Each VAT return will be sent to you for approval before submission to HMRC.
15.0.3. We will tell you the VAT amount payable (or refundable) and the deadline.
15.0.4. We will deal with HMRC correspondence on your behalf unless you instruct otherwise.
15.0.5. All taxable supplies must be included in the records you send us. Our role as your agent does not transfer your statutory responsibilities away from you. Please get your records to us promptly so we can meet HMRC deadlines.
16.0.1. To run your payroll, we need timely information from you, including:
16.0.2. RTI submissions must reach HMRC on or before the day employees are paid. Please send us your payroll information well in advance of your pay date.
16.0.3. Our role as your agent does not transfer your statutory responsibilities. Penalties for late RTI or AE submissions can be substantial; prompt information from you is essential.
17.0.1. Where we provide bookkeeping, we will use a cloud system suited to your business (Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent). You agree to share the documentation we need: sales invoices, purchase invoices, expense receipts, bank statements and credit-card statements as relevant.
17.0.2. We will retain your records until your year-end work is complete, then return them to you.
17.0.3. If you do your own bookkeeping, we expect records to be substantially reconciled. We will sample-check on receipt; where we find errors, we will flag them and quote separately if you would like us to put them right.
17.0.4. If you ask us to amend bookkeeping already completed, we will quote separately for the additional work.
17.0.5. Bookkeeping quotes are based on the volume of transactions you describe at registration. If actual volumes materially exceed your estimate, we will adjust the fee for the excess at our standard per-transaction rate, with notice.
17.0.6. Where bookkeeping is unusually complex, we may quote at an hourly rate rather than per transaction. Any change to the quote will be agreed before work continues.
17.0.7. Records sent to us (paper or digital) should be presented in an orderly fashion. Significant time spent organising disorganised records may attract an additional fee, quoted and agreed before we begin.
18.0.1. Where you use our Birmingham office address as your registered office, the service covers forwarding correspondence from HMRC and Companies House related to your accountancy obligations.
18.0.2. Personal post, marketing post and unrelated correspondence are not covered. If we receive a material volume of unrelated post, we will ask you to update the address; if it continues, we may charge an additional fee or withdraw the service.
19.0.1. If your business involves contracting, you should consider your IR35 position. We can guide you through the legislation and the indicators that apply, but it is your responsibility to assess each engagement against IR35. For end-client status determinations under the off-payroll rules, the determination is made by the engaging organisation, not by us.
20.0.1. Where we agree to incorporate a company on your behalf at no upfront charge, this is on the basis that you intend to remain a client for at least 12 months.
20.0.2. If you cancel within 12 months of the incorporation, we reserve the right to charge an administration fee of £200 (plus VAT where applicable) to cover the cost of formation and associated work.
20.0.3. This fee becomes payable immediately on cancellation and may be recovered using any payment method we hold on file.
21.0.1. Where you appoint us to file MTD for Income Tax quarterly updates, you authorise us to prepare and submit those updates from the bookkeeping records available to us at the time of submission.
21.0.2. We will not separately seek your approval for each quarterly update. Your approval is taken as given when you provide the underlying records.
21.0.3. We will, however, send your end-of-period statement and final declaration for your formal approval before submission, as these confirm your taxable position for the year.
22.0.1. Our packages include unlimited support relating to the services you have appointed us to deliver. To keep our service profitable for everyone, we reserve the right to discuss a fee adjustment where a client's use materially exceeds the spirit of the package (for example, frequent queries on topics outside accountancy or repeated requests outside the agreed scope).
22.0.2. If we ever consider this policy may apply to you, we will write to you first and discuss it. We will never apply a fee change without notice.
22.0.3. Specialist advice or work outside the scope of your selected services will be quoted separately and agreed before any work is done.
23.0.1. Please read our Privacy Policy. It explains what data we collect, what we do with it, and how we keep it secure.
23.0.2. By accepting these Terms, you confirm you have read and understood the Privacy Policy.
24.0.1. Most concerns are resolved quickly through your day-to-day contact at the firm. If a concern remains unresolved or you wish to raise a formal complaint, please follow the steps in our Complaints Procedure. Complaints must be made in writing.
25.0.1. We are committed to a respectful working environment for our team and our clients. Our team will always treat you politely and professionally, and we ask the same in return. If a client is rude, aggressive or abusive towards a team member, we reserve the right to cease communication immediately and resign as your accountants.
26.0.1. This Agreement is governed by the laws of England and Wales. The parties irrevocably agree that the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, its subject matter or its formation.
Questions about these terms? Email info@nextaccountancy.co.uk or call 0330 043 7355.