Editorial and legal
Expert review policy
Defining the stringent criteria for content requiring a named professional reviewer, and the protocol for unreviewed drafts.
Reviewed by a qualified professional
James Whitfield — FCCA, Chartered Certified Accountant — 18 years advising UK SMEs on employment costs, payroll and business finance. Reviewed 5 August 2026.
1. Mandatory Review Categories
Specific categories of content demand rigorous professional oversight. Employment and HR guidance, complex payroll and tax calculations, and any page promoting a regulated financial product must carry the name and verifiable credentials of a qualified reviewer before being designated as 'reviewed'. This mandate extends to the central tax-variable record powering our calculators.
Employment, payroll and financial-promotion content on this site is reviewed by a named qualified professional before it goes live. Figures are checked against GOV.UK, HMRC, Acas and The Pensions Regulator at the start of each tax year and promptly after material in-year changes.
We treat this review process as a strict publication gate, not a mere formality. A page is never marked as reviewed simply because the prose is confident or a figure appears plausible.
2. Transparent Status Labelling
Reviewed. Content reviewed by a named qualified professional.
Integrity is paramount. We do not invent reviewers, fabricate credentials, or misrepresent unreviewed content. Where a page or a specific figure mandates review and none has yet occurred, it prominently displays the 'Awaiting expert review' label. This ensures readers can immediately distinguish between verified guidance and working drafts.
3. Interpreting 'Awaiting Expert Review'
Content bearing this label should be treated strictly as a structured working draft. While the sourcing and logical framework are transparently presented, a qualified professional has not yet ratified the specific conclusions. Under no circumstances should this content be considered equivalent to formal advice from a solicitor, accountant, or HR professional.
Upon the appointment of a reviewer, their name, professional role, and relevant qualifications will be published on this policy page and permanently affixed to the content they have validated. The provisional label will then be removed. No content will transition to 'reviewed' status without this public, verifiable attribution.
4. Reviewer Selection Criteria
When appointing a reviewer, we require verifiable, highly relevant qualifications. For instance, tax content mandates a chartered accountant, while employment content requires a CIPD-qualified HR professional or employment solicitor. We do not utilise generalists for specialist review tasks, and we will publicly document the rationale behind each reviewer's appointment.
Questions about this page? Use the contact and complaints page.
This page was last reviewed on 3 August 2026. We review policy pages at the start of each UK tax year and whenever legislation or our practices change.