Approved Service Providers
NALS recognises that not all lettings and management firms want to deal with client accounting in-house and may wish to sub-contract this part of their business to a specialist firm. That's absolutely fine, and doesn't stand in the way of you gaining NALS accreditation.
The NALS “approved service provider” logo is held by firms who offer “back office” support services to lettings and management agents, and whose processes have been vetted to ensure strict compliance with NALS accounting standards.
The first firm to gain this recognition is The Letting Partnership www.thelettingpartnership.co.uk (0845 362 8470) which is a NALS Approved Service Provider.
Becoming NALS licensed, and using a NALS Approved Service Provider
If your firm becomes NALS licensed and you choose to use a NALS Approved Service Provider, then instead of your firm meeting NALS’ strict Accounting Standards, we require them to meet our standards and be monitored annually.
This is because you have sub-contracted work and holding of your client account and funds to a third party, and so it is the third party to whom the accounting standards are relevant . This saves you the cost of having an Accountant’s Report produced annually, which all other NALS firms have to provide, as we obtain this report from the Service Provider.
So, how does the NALS Client Money Protection Scheme work, if clients’ money is held by a NALS Approved Service Provider, not my firm?
The Approved Service Provider will be part of a Client Money Protection Scheme (in the case of The Letting Partnership – the NALS Client Money Protection Scheme).
It's really important to note, that the protection for clients' monies is only for those firms that are part of NALS, and who themselves have signed up to our Client Money Protection Scheme.
That means using a “back office” provider with NALS Client Money Protection Scheme does not offer any protection unless your firm has been accepted as a NALS licensed firm, and (with the exception of the accounting standards mentioned above), your firm will be required to meet all the NALS acceptance criteria.
It should also be noted that simply using a third party service provider who has NALS accreditation, does not allow your firm to claim that your firm is NALS licensed. In order to promote any affiliation with NALS, you must become a NALS licensed firm.
You can contact us now for further details on becoming NALS licensed if your firm uses the services of a back office service provider.
If you are a service provider and would like to attain NALS Approved Service Provider status:
Contact Jane Hewitt on 01242 581712 or e-mail: jane.hewitt@nalscheme.co.uk