Who you're dealing with, and what we're licensed to do.
The details you're entitled to before you hand your numbers to anyone: who we are, who licenses us, what we're insured for, and — just as important — what we're not allowed to do.
The company
Buzz Accounting Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company number 15182358. Our VAT registration number is GB481 882 554. You can check the company on the Companies House register.
Our registered office is 16 Aylmer Parade, Aylmer Road, London N2 0PE. We also work from Unit 13:62 Fenaghy Road, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland BT42 1FL. You can reach us at hello@buzzaccounting.co.uk or on +44 7457 428643.
Our AAT licence
Buzz Accounting is a licensed practice of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT), through Peter Allen MAAT — licence number 1001556, member number 296695, valid to 31 July 2027. We are also members of the ICPA.
Being AAT licensed is not a formality. It obliges us to give every client a letter of engagement setting out exactly what we will and won't do, and a letter of disengagement when the relationship ends. It requires us to hold professional indemnity insurance and to tell you the details of it. It requires a written complaints procedure. And it binds us to AAT's Code of Professional Ethics — integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, and professional behaviour.
Professional indemnity insurance
We're required to hold it, and required to tell you about it under the Provision of Services Regulations 2009. So, plainly:
- Insurer: AXA Insurance UK plc, registered in England and Wales no. 78950, registered office 20 Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 0BG. AXA Insurance UK plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
- Limit of indemnity: £300,000 any one claim.
- Excess: £1,000 each claim.
- Current period of insurance: 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.
- Retroactive date: 2 October 2023 — the policy covers work carried out on or after that date.
- Territorial scope: the policy does not cover claims pursued in the United States of America or Canada, or arising from work carried out from an office in either country. All our work is carried out from the UK.
- Arranged through: the ICPA scheme, via Rhino Protect Limited.
What we are not authorised to do
Knowing where our remit stops matters as much as knowing what it covers.
Regulated financial advice
No Buzz company is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. We do not give regulated financial advice — that means pensions, investments, protection and mortgages. Where you need it, we can introduce you to Equity & General Financial Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA, firm reference number 474163. You can check them on the Financial Services Register. An introduction is optional and there is no obligation. If anyone tells you a Buzz company is FCA authorised, they're wrong.
Reserved legal work
Certain legal activities are reserved by law to authorised firms. Buzz Legal Ltd — a separate company — is not an SRA-regulated law firm. Where a matter needs a regulated solicitor it goes to RHF Solicitors, SRA number 324115, who you can check on the Solicitors Regulation Authority register.
Audit and insolvency
An AAT practising licence does not cover statutory audit or licensed insolvency work, so we don't do either. If your company needs a statutory audit, or you're facing a formal insolvency process, we'll say so and point you to a firm that holds the right registration.
Three separate companies
Buzz Accounting Ltd, Buzz Legal Ltd and Buzz Money Ltd are separate companies. Buzz Money Coach is a trading style of Buzz Money Ltd. They work together, but they are not one business, and which one you are contracting with is always stated on your engagement letter.
Money laundering checks
Buzz Accounting Ltd is supervised for anti-money-laundering purposes by HM Revenue & Customs under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. That means we are legally required to identify our clients before we start work. In practice that means photo ID and evidence of your address, and for companies, information about ownership and control. We may ask where funds have come from. None of it is personal — it applies to every client, and we can't begin work without it.
We also have a legal duty to report knowledge or suspicion of money laundering, and in those specific circumstances we are prohibited by law from telling you that we've done so.
How long we keep your records
We keep client records for six years after the end of our engagement, then delete them. Marketing data — anyone who has given us an email address but is not a client — is kept for two years from the last contact.
Six years is deliberate. The Money Laundering Regulations 2017 set a floor of five years from the end of the business relationship, and six matches the period over which most claims and HMRC enquiries can arise.
If something goes wrong
Tell us first. Email hello@buzzaccounting.co.uk and we'll deal with it. If we can't put it right, you can escalate to AAT — but they will expect us to have had the chance to resolve it first, and they will only consider a complaint raised within a year of the issue. Our full procedure is on the complaints page.