Terms of Service

Updated: 23 June 2010

These terms may be updated from time to time in the future. You agree to review our Terms of Service regularly and your continued access to or use of the Service will mean that you agree to the changes. In addition, you will be notified of any significant changes to our Terms of Service.

Service

• Access to online software.
• Preparation, calculation & submission of your company’s annual returns and abbreviated accounts to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Companies House. This includes your corporation tax return.
• Preparation, calculation and submission of your annual company’s PAYE return. The Service calculates salary based on PAYE drawings up to the annual National Insurance threshold and then on the payment of dividends. The service does not operate a monthly payroll.
• Calculation and filing of your company’s quarterly VAT return (if you are registered). For the purposes of VAT the Service caters for Standard and Flat Rate schemes on a Cash Accounting basis. i.e. you do not need to pay VAT until your customer has paid you. All VAT Returns are filed online and payment must be made electronically.

Account: If we accept an application for the creation of a Crunch account, we will confirm this by email and at that point a legally binding contract will be created between the Account Holder and us. If you apply for a Crunch account to be created, you warrant that you are authorised to enter into this Agreement. The Agreement will be subject to English law and the provisions of these Terms of Service shall govern our agreement with you.

We reserve the right, at our discretion, not to accept an application to create a Crunch account. This may be due to technical constraints, because you or your business has been banned by us from using the service, we have been unable to adequately confirm your identity or for any other reason. No charge will be made for declined applications. The acceptance of your application is based on the trading activity described when first signing up to the Service. If your trading activities change Crunch may not be the right product for you and would not be able to continue to provide services to your company.

Money Laundering: To help us guard against financial crime we are obliged to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and the Terrorism Act 2000. These require us to carry out identity verification checks before allowing use of the Service. We may request and retain from you such information and documentation as we require for these purposes and/or make searches of appropriate databases and to report, in accordance with the relevant legislation and regulations. Carrying out an identity verification check will place a soft footprint on your credit file however it will not affect your credit rating in any way.

If we cannot adequately confirm your identification in accordance with this legislation we reserve the right to refuse you use of the Service.

We have a duty under section 330 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to report to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) if we know, or have reasonable cause to suspect, that you or anyone connected with your business are or have been involved in money laundering. Failure on our part to make a report where we have knowledge, or reasonable grounds for suspicion, would constitute a criminal offence.

Advice given by Accountants: In addition to providing all accountancy advice, Crunch Accounting Ltd acts as your Agent in relation to HMRC and Companies House.

Your subscription to the Service allows for the provision of general accountancy guidance only. For specific matters relating to issues such as IR35 compliance, broad advice will be offered and additional services recommend. You should always seek specialised advice on specific matters.

If you seek specialised advice, or other accounting activities from us outside of the Service (“Specialised Services”), we may subcontract the provision of those Specialised Services to either Crunch Accounting Ltd, one of our affiliates, or to a third party.

Crunch Accounting Ltd is regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (“ICAEW”) and will observe the by-laws, regulations and ethical guidelines of the ICAEW, the Chartered Institute of Taxation and the Association of Taxation Technicians.

For any Specialised Services you will be required to accept a letter of engagement from Crunch Accounting Ltd, who will accept instructions to act for you on the basis that they will act in accordance with the above guidelines. Copies of these requirements are available for inspection in our offices.

Your responsibilities: In order for Crunch to manage your accounts correctly you agree to keep your account up to date with all trading activities, including entering all invoices and expenses etc. If you are starting your Crunch account midway through your current trading year you will be required to enter any trading activities already undertaken into your Crunch account.

If you have used an agent to do your previous annual accounts we will contact them to obtain your historical data. Your Crunch account will not be a true reflection of your company’s current financial status until we have this information.

Crunch will act as your accountant for the financial year in which you start with Crunch. Any previous year’s accounts must be completed and filed by your previous agents if you have one, or arrangements can be made separately to perform these activities with Crunch.

Access: You will not be able to access and use the Crunch service without a username, password and memorable word. Once a Crunch account has been created you will be issued with a randomly generated password, which can be changed at any time.

License: You are granted a non-transferable, non-exclusive license to use the Service in accordance with these Terms of Service. If you choose to give another party access to your account you do so at your own risk and you shall remain primarily liable to Crunch for complying with these Terms of Service for the use of the Service.

Security: The Account Holder is ultimately responsible for administering and safeguarding any passwords created to control access to its Crunch account: please keep any password issued to you secure. Crunch staff, do not have access to any Account Holder’s passwords and will not be able to access your account without the Account Holder’s authentication and permission.

All transfer of Accounts Holder’s data between our servers and any external environment is encrypted.

Fees and Payment Terms: A subscription fee for use of the Service is payable monthly in advance by the Account Holder. The subscription rates are posted on our website and we may vary these from time to time: please see our pricing page for the rates in force for the current month. Prices on our website are quoted in UK pounds Sterling and exclude VAT, which is also payable. You will be notified of any changes to our current price plan. It is a requirement that all account holders agree to have a direct debit set up for payment of monthly subscription fees.

An additional £15 charge will be made for filing your Annual Return with Companies House to cover the webfiling cost.

Once any company return has been filed Crunch cannot be held responsible, or accountable for any omissions in your accounts. Any changes required after submission do not fall within the Crunch subscription fee and will be charged separately.

Non-payment: We shall be under no obligation to provide the Service if the subscription fee is not paid to us on time. The Account Holder must ensure that we have complete and accurate billing and contact information throughout the subscription period, including the full name of the Account Holder, its business address, and a billing contact email address. If subscription fees become overdue we reserve the right to suspend your access to the Service until the balance is paid and we may close the Account Holder's Crunch account permanently.

Suspension or termination: If you fail to abide by these Terms of Service, or if payment of the subscription fees is not paid on time, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Service. If we withdraw access to the Service because these Terms of Service have been breached, no refund will be payable by us. We also reserve the right to close any Crunch account for any reason, by giving one months notice.

Suspension of your account could seriously jeopardise our ability to manage your company accounts and could lead to the missing of submission deadlines. Crunch cannot be held liable for any fines incurred resulting from this.

Cancellation: You can close the Account Holder's Crunch account at any time by contacting us on support@crunch.co.uk. No further subscription fees will be billed and no refund will be made of any subscription fees already billed and paid.

Following the cancellation of your account, Crunch will have no further responsibility in relation to the preparation or filing of your Limited company accounts. As a Director you will have continued responsibilities and are solely responsible for identifying another service or accountant to satisfy the need for the service that we provided.

Disclaimer IMPORTANT: This section restricts the extent to which we are liable for any losses, which may be suffered in connection with your use of the Service. It also may require the Account Holder to compensate us for any loss we suffer as a result of your failure to comply with these Terms of Service.

Availability: We will make all reasonable endeavors at all times to ensure that the Service will be suitable for your intended use. We cannot guarantee that it will be error-free, timely, reliable, entirely secure, virus-free or available at all times since we are dependent on the reliability of the Internet and your use of your own computer to access the Service. We will try to keep any disruptions to a minimum but it may be necessary to suspend the Service from time to time to carry out maintenance and support work.

Prohibited Use: Except as otherwise permitted under this Agreement, you shall not:

1. remove or alter the conditions of use, any copyright notices and other identification disclaimers as they may appear on the website, or in any print format
2. provide by electronic means to any person other than an authorised user any content
3. alter or change any part of the content.

Ownership: The legal and beneficial interest in all copyrights, patents, trade marks, service marks, design rights (whether registered or unregistered), database rights, proprietary information rights and all other proprietary rights as may exist anywhere in the world together with applications associated with any such rights ("Intellectual Property Rights") relating to the Service belong to us at all times. You obtain no ownership rights in the Service or any of the Intellectual Property Rights pursuant to or arising out of this Agreement. The Account Holder has sole responsibility for the provision of accurate and reliable data. The Account Holder retains ownership of any Intellectual Property Rights it has in your Data (such as rights in its logo, for example.) Intellectual Property Rights in your Data will not be transferred to us. We reserve the right to disclose your Data to law enforcement officials in the investigation of fraud or other alleged unlawful activities but otherwise we will only use your Data to provide the Service.

Exclusion of our liability: You use the Service entirely at your own risk. We do not restrict our liability (if any) for personal injury or death resulting from our negligence, for fraud committed by us or for any matter, which it would be illegal to limit or to attempt to restrict. We exclude all other liability and responsibility for any amount or kind of loss or damage arising in connection with the Service.

Limitation of our liability: Neither party shall be liable under this agreement to the other party for indirect, special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages including without limitation loss of goodwill, whether arising from negligence, breach of contract or otherwise. Where we are not legally entitled to exclude our liability, our total liability for any loss or damage relating to the Service (or to our website generally) shall not exceed an amount equal to the subscription fees, which the Account Holder has paid to us in the previous month.

Liability to us: If you access the Service using a password created to control access to the Account Holder's Crunch account, then the Account Holder shall be held liable for any reasonable costs and expenses incurred by us as a result of breach of these Terms of Service by you. Otherwise, you shall be held personally liable for any reasonable costs and expenses incurred by us as a result of breach of these Terms of Service by you.

Further provisions: These Terms of Service and our Privacy Statement describe the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service, and supersede any prior understandings or agreements. We shall be entitled to assign or subcontract our rights and/or obligations under these Terms of Service to another party. As Account Holder you may not transfer any of your rights or obligations under these Terms of Service without our prior written consent. Failure at any time to enforce any of these terms and conditions or to require performance by the other party of any such term or condition shall not be construed as a waiver of such provision or affect the right of either party to enforce the same. If any provision is held to be invalid or unenforceable by any tribunal of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions shall not be affected and shall be carried out as closely as possible according to the original intent.

Data Protection: We confirm that we will comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 when processing personal data about you and your family. In order to carry out the services of this engagement and for related purposes such as updating the enhancing our client records, analysis for management purposes and statutory returns, legal and regulatory compliance and crime prevention we may obtain, process, use and disclose personal data about you.

Electronic and Other Communication: We will communicate with you and with third parties via email or by other electronic means, unless another method is more appropriate. You will be responsible for virus checking emails and any attachments.

With electronic communication, there is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties. We use virus-scanning software to reduce the risk of viruses and similar damaging items being transmitted through emails or electronic storage devices.

However, electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses nor for communications, which are corrupted or altered after despatch. Nor can we accept any liability for problems or accidental errors relating to this means of communication especially in relation to commercially sensitive material. Any communication by us with you sent through the post system is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day that the document was sent.

Retention of and Access to Records: You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your tax affairs. During the course of our work, we may collect information from you and others relevant to your tax affairs. We will return any original documents to you, if requested. Documents and records relevant to your tax affairs are required by law to be retained by individuals and companies for 6 years from the end of the accounting period. Whilst certain documents may legally belong to you, we may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store, electronically or otherwise, which are more than 7 years old.

You must inform us if you require the return or retention of any specific documents for a longer period. Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999: Persons who are not party to this agreement shall have no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement.

Applicable Law: These Terms of Service are are governed by and construed in accordance with English Law and the parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England.

Definitions

• "Account Holder" means a sole trader or limited company, which has a Crunch account
• "Crunch account,” means a current subscription to the Service
• "Service" means our Crunch software, which is accessed and used via our password-protected websites
• "us" "we" and "our" refers to E-Crunch Limited, Suite 1, Dubarry House, Hove Park Villas, Hove, BN3 6HP
• "you" means the Account Holder
• "your Data" means any data entered or uploaded by you while using the Service