Our commitment to your privacy
We respect your privacy.
Protecting your information is important to us. We strive to do business in a manner that justifies you choosing our practice.
This policy applies to personal and business information collected while providing tax preparation and other services to clients. It does not cover affiliates or third-party users, who may have different privacy practices.
This Privacy Policy also puts into view our general practices and principles that apply to information we collect through the following products and services that incorporate this Privacy Policy:
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Our website
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Our mobile app
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Our emails
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Our products and services
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Our marketing
What is PI?
Personal Information (PI) is information or material that identifies a specific individual.
Who this Privacy Policy covers?
This policy applies to personal and business information we collect when we provide tax preparation and other products and services to customers and former customers of the practice. This policy does not apply to our affiliates or third-party users. These companies may be subject to different regulations and may have different operating practices. If you are doing business with these companies, you should consult their respective privacy policies.
Why do we collect PI?
We collect your PI for the primary purpose of providing our services to you, other services we may be able to support you with, and marketing. We may also use your PI for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure.
The main purposes for which we collect PI
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where it is necessary to provide you with our quality and ethical services.
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to maintain contact with our clients.
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to keep clients and contacts informed of the events and/or services we offer, and of current developments that may be relevant to you.
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when on our website we may use your geo-location to assess the level of interest in our services in a particular area.
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when you use a mobile device, we may ask your permission to dial a phone number, access your camera or photo library, access the internet, access your calendar, push notifications to you, read and write to internal and external storage, wake/lock your mobile device, and authorise in-app purchases.
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for recruitment and employment (including expressions of interest in working for us).
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for administration and management purposes.
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use publicly available information to verify your PI to improve the security of our services, protect your identity, and protect your information.
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we will not usually seek to collect sensitive information (e.g. data relating to race or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, criminal record, physical or mental health, or sexual orientation) from you. If it is necessary for us to collect sensitive information, we will obtain your explicit consent to collect and use such information.
Other purposes we collect PI
Online Calculators and Other Tools
When you use our calculators and other tools, we may collect non-identifiable data, such as the number of people who use a certain tool. We may also set cookies based upon your use so that you do not have to re-enter your information in a later visit and to help us customise offers and tools to your interests. For our calculators and other tools that require registration or ask for your contact information, we may contact you directly with relevant service offerings.
Promotions and Surveys
We may elect to administer promotions and online surveys where we will ask you for contact information, such as your e-mail address and demographic information. This information is used to verify your identity, determine your eligibility for special promotions or services that we may offer, and complete our transactions with you.
Website Access
For each visitor to reach the site, we expressively collect the following non-personally identifiable information, including but not limited to browser type, version and language, operating system, pages viewed while browsing the Site, page access times, and referring website address. This collected information is used solely internally to gauge visitor traffic, and trends, and deliver personalised content to you while you are at this Site.
We may use your information to market our services, including by email. You will have the opportunity to elect to “Opting Out’ refer to that section for further information.
PI that we collect
We collect information, including PI, about you, your spouse, your dependents, your business, and other individuals (such as employees as part of providing business services) when you use our services.
We will only use your PI to perform professional services, respond to your requests, or provide you with further information about our products and service offerings.
This information includes, but is not limited to:
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Contact Information (e.g., name, job title, occupation, phone number, address, and email address)
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Tax File Numbers and other government identification numbers
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Date of Birth
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Financial Information (e.g., income, revenue, assets, credits, deductions, expenses, investments and bank account information)
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Your Representative/s
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Corporate documentation (e.g. company constitutions, registers, and officeholders)
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Trust documentation (e.g. trust deeds, resolutions, and minutes)
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Payment Data (e.g., debit and credit card account numbers, balances and payment history)
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Geo-Location Information
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Website, Mobile Application, and Email Usage Data
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Login Information
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Demographic Information.
Where relevant, we may ask you for further additional information.
Many aspects of the website can be viewed without providing PI.
How do we collect PI
This PI is obtained in many ways including interviews, correspondence, by telephone, by email, via cloud services, via our website, from your website, from media and publications, from other publicly available sources, from cookies and from third parties.
We collect information directly from you
We collect information you voluntarily provide to us as part of using, or requesting, our services. This information includes information you provide as part of preparing your tax return, electronically filing your tax return, authenticating your identity, or applying for or purchasing a product or service.
For file security and 256-bit encryption, when you agree to our engagement terms, we will provide you with your own cloud folder. As long as our cloud folder is used correctly, all documentation is diligently secure and encrypted.
If you choose not to provide certain information we request, we may be unable to serve you as our products, services, tools or calculators may rely upon this information.
We collect information when you use our services
We collect certain information and usage data whenever you interact with us, whether online, through a mobile application, or when you view an email. This data may include websites you visit, what you clicked on, and when you performed those actions. These activities may be performed by us or a service provider acting on our behalf.
You may choose to provide us with PI in some circumstances where you wish to subscribe to our newsletters, request services, ask us to respond to queries or correspondence, or apply for work. If you provide us with someone else’s PI, you should only do so if you have their authority or consent. You should also take reasonable steps to inform them of the matters set out in this Privacy Policy.
Our website/mobile app may make chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups available. Please remember that any information disclosed in these areas becomes public information, and you should exercise caution when disclosing PI in these applications.
We utilise certain web and third-party’s analytics and big data to collect this information. These include cookies.
Cookies
Cookies place small files on your computer or mobile device as you visit various components of our website. Cookies are small alphanumeric identifiers that a web server transfers to your computer via your Internet browser. When your Internet browser visits a web page, a cookie is set with a unique number. This number is recorded in a small text file that is transmitted to your computer and stored in the cookie directory of your hard drive. Then, when you visit each webpage on which the cookie technology is enabled, the website can recognise your browser as a unique user.
We use Cookies to monitor the traffic to the various pages on our website so that we can improve its relevance to our clients. Most of this information is aggregated and used for statistical purposes. The information we collect in this manner, e.g. Internet provider, date and time, search phrases, usage patterns, track preferences, and analyse how you use our website, or referring websites. Much of this information will not be personal as it will not reveal your personal identity.
You may also adjust your browser settings to accept or deny all cookies, or to request your permission each time a site attempts to set a cookie. Although cookies are not required for some parts of our services, our services may not work properly if you disable cookies entirely.
Log Files
Like most websites, we use log files. Information collected in log files may include Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, unique device IDs, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks. We utilise this information to diagnose problems, analyse trends, administer the site or mobile application, track user's movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.
Online Behavioural Advertising
We allow third-party companies to serve ads and collect certain non-identifying information when you visit our websites. These companies may use this information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to our websites, and other websites, to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third-party web beacon to collect this information. We may engage different providers to provide similar services from time to time. Please note, even after opting out of personalised advertisements, you will continue to receive generic advertisements.
Mobile Devices
We may record data from your mobile device such as Apple IDFA, general characteristics of your device, and other device IDs.
Web Browser “Do Not Track” Signals
We treat the data of everyone who comes to our website under this Privacy Policy, whatever their “do not track” setting. While we do not respond to web browser “do not track” signals, we give you choices about receiving promotional offers from us or third parties. You can exercise your choices as described in this Privacy Policy.
You do not have to provide us with any PI if you are a visitor to our website and you may choose to remain anonymous or to provide us with an alias if you do not wish to reveal your identity. However, you should be aware that by remaining anonymous, or providing an alias, we may be unable to properly provide services and advice to you; or the nature and extent of that advice may be limited. We may also be unable to properly respond to any request, particularly if we have a conflict of interest or concerns concerning the distribution of information to an unknown party.
We collect information from other companies and government entities
In accordance with their privacy notices, our affiliates, our business partners, and non-affiliated third parties (including the ATO and credit reporting agencies) may share certain information about you with us.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or state taxing authorities may require we collect certain personal and system information in connection with preparing or electronically filing your tax return. This may include your name, tax file number, IP address, and unique device identifiers.
We also collect information when you request services or information from us or companies with whom we have a business partnership, or affiliation, or complete surveys or polls.
To improve the security of our services, to protect your identity, and to protect your information, we may verify your PI by matching the information you provide against other publicly available information that we obtain from identification verification companies.
Generally, we will collect PI directly from you. Sometimes it may be necessary for us to collect your PI from a third party, or from a publicly available source. We will only collect PI, in that way, where you have consented, and you would reasonably expect us to collect PI in that way, or if it is necessary for a specific purpose in the performance of our services.
Managing PI
This PI is obtained in many ways including interviews, correspondence, by telephone, by email, via cloud services, via our website, from your website, from media and publications, from other publicly available sources, from cookies and from third parties.
Maintaining the Quality of your PI
It is important to us that your PI is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that it is accurate, complete, and up-to-date. If you find that our information is not up to date or is inaccurate, please contact us as soon as practicable using the contact information in the “Contact Us” section. We will take reasonable steps to update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you and comply with the requirements of this Privacy Policy.
Security of your PI
The security of your PI is important to us. We maintain appropriate safeguards to protect your information.
We use a range of physical and electronic security procedures to ensure the privacy of your PI is safeguarded. These include, but are not limited to; maintaining a secure database system, passwords, encryption, 2SA, and firewalls. However, the internet is not always secure and we cannot provide guarantees that the security of any information sent to us via the internet is protected. This requires you to be very diligent with your devices and about safeguarding and accessing the internet.
We may store, process, or back up your personal information on servers or networks that are located overseas or in ‘the cloud’, including where services are performed by service providers who are located overseas. Where your PI is provided to overseas entities, we will take all necessary steps to ensure that the security of the information is maintained and that it is used consistent with this policy. We will never sell your PI.
We may occasionally use third-party contractors to provide services on our behalf, including but not limited to; providing forecasting/budgeting scenarios, legal advice for succession planning, or customer freight shipping. Those companies will be permitted to obtain only the PI they need to deliver their service.
We may engage external IT service providers (including “cloud computing” services and “digital signing” services) in the performance of our services. We may disclose information relating to clients’ affairs to all such external IT service providers as we or our third-party contractors may choose to engage.
How You Can Access Your Information
You have a right to access your PI, subject to exceptions allowed by law. If you would like to do so, please let us know. You may be required to put your request in writing for security reasons. In some circumstances we may refuse to give you access to PI and, in these circumstances, we will explain why (e.g. it may be a conflict of interest to provide the information).
We reserve the right to charge a fee for searching for and providing access to, your PI on a per request basis. Requests will be handled as quickly as possible and we will attempt to respond to your request as soon as possible.
To protect your PI we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.
How Long Do We Keep Your Information
We retain your information for as long as your account with us is active, or as needed, to provide you to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected or as required by law. However, most of the PI is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for at least 7 years unless otherwise required by legislation.
We may retain or use your information as necessary to comply with our policies, and legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. When your PI is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your PI.
Our Server Locations
The majority of our data is stored and hosted locally in Australia. We also have other hosted data providers whose data is stored in the UK and US. We may use their respective local servers at times too. These assist us in providing you with the highest security available and to provide you with the highest standards in place.
If you access our services from outside Australia, you consent to the transfer of your information, including your PI, to Australia, a jurisdiction that may not provide the same level of protection to your PI as your home country.
How we may disclose PI
We have business relationships with third parties that provide products or services on or through our services. This Privacy Policy does not apply to products and services offered by third parties. For instance, your use of social media features may use scripting or may require us to share your IP address and which page you are visiting to enable the feature to function properly. Social media features and widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our site, and your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy notice of the company providing them. Examples of these features are the Facebook "Like" button, the "Share This" button, and interactive mini-programs that run on our services.
Your PI may be disclosed in several circumstances including the following:
Business Partners & Affiliates
As permitted by law, we may provide the information we collect to our business partners/affiliates. We work closely with a set of business partners/affiliates to jointly offer products that complement our services or services you have requested. You will be able to recognise when a business partner is associated with an offer when its logo appears or is shown with our logo. We may share information that is related to such transactions with that business partner/affiliate (unless you have asked us not to in writing) and may receive a benefit from our business partners/affiliates.
Service Providers
Where permitted by applicable law, we may disclose your PI to service providers who perform business functions on our behalf, services such as but not limited to; data processing and analysis, contest supervision, direct mail or email production, technical support, data storage, courier services, and debt collection. We may also share your PI, and a record of any transactions you conduct on our websites or offline with us with a third-party advertising partner and its service providers to deliver you advertising tailored to your interests when you visit certain other websites. Data shared in this way is made anonymous.
Communications with the ATO and State Taxing Authorities
The ATO and state taxing authorities may require or request we disclose certain personal and system information to process or electronically file your tax return. This information may include but is not limited to, your name, tax file number, IP addresses, unique device identifiers, bank account numbers, and tax return preparation user activity metrics (e.g., time to complete the tax return).
We may also need to disclose information relating to one client’s affairs to other related clients to assist in performing our work, to persons responsible for the governance of an entity to comply with accounting standards, or to a professional body of which we are a member of for a quality review program, refer to below 'Quality Control'.
Persons Who Acquire Our Assets or Business
If we sell or transfer any of our business or assets, certain information about our clients may be a part of that sale or transfer. In the event such a sale or transfer results in a material change to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you. The notification procedure will be the same as the procedure we use to notify you of a change to this Privacy Policy as described below.
As Required or Permitted by Law
We may disclose your information to affiliated or non-affiliated third parties when we have a good faith belief that such disclosure is required or permitted by law. This may occur in connection with a court order, legal process, or other judicial, administrative, or investigative proceedings that produces a request for information from us. We may disclose your information to proper federal, state, or local officials in order, and to the extent necessary, to inform the official of activities that may constitute or may have constituted, a violation of any criminal law or to assist the official in investigating or prosecuting a violation of criminal law. As permitted by law, we may disclose your information to the ATO for the prevention of refund fraud and potential cyber security threats.
Quality Control
If your PI is disclosed to CPA Australia for the purpose of conducting a CPA Australia Best Practice Program assessment on the services provided, your personal information will be handled as outlined in the CPA Australia Privacy Policy.
Aggregate Data
We may disclose aggregate information compiled using information that does not identify you individually or personally. This may include, for example, the total number of visitors from a particular state or the average user age.
We will not use or disclose your PI for any purpose other than as set out in this policy or otherwise notified to you at the time of collection.
Opting-Out
Where permitted by law, we may use your information (subject to your consent, where required) to communicate with you about products and services available or relevant third-party offerings. You may choose to limit our use or our ability to share your PI in certain circumstances. Our ability to offer you certain products and services and your experience may be affected by your choice. To opt out of electronic or any other communications, please provide us with written notice by using the “Contact Us” on our website, or by clicking here.
At your request and subject to the limitations mentioned, we will make reasonable efforts to limit such marketing communications to you. You may also be able to unsubscribe from certain marketing communications by following the unsubscribe instructions included in the marketing communication. We will respond to requests within a reasonable timeframe.
You may, however, continue to receive e-mail communications related directly to the services and products you purchase, such as appointment notifications, ATO due dates, payment receipts, and lodgement status notifications.
You may not opt out of the sharing of information that does not identify you personally.
The above paragraphs only apply to PI we obtain through your use of our services covered by this Privacy Policy. You may still receive offers from us, our business partners, affiliates, or third-party services where they obtain your contact information through other sources. To opt out of communications from our business partners, affiliates, or third parties, you must contact them directly following their policies.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may find it to be necessary to review and update our Privacy Policy. You will always be able to find the current version of our Privacy Policy on our website.
If we make a material change to this Privacy Policy, including a material change in the way we use any PI collected, we will notify you by using one of the following methods at least 30 days before the effective date of such change:
(1) we will post a notice on our website describing the change; or
(2) we will send you an email notifying you of the change.
We have the right to make amendments to this Privacy Policy at any time. If you have objections to the Privacy Policy, you should not access or use the Site.
Complaints and Enquiries
If you have any questions about the security of our services or our Privacy Policy, would like to access your PI, or have a concern regarding compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles or any applicable privacy code that binds us, you can contact us via the “Contact Us” section of the website.
We welcome your comments regarding this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy and would like further information, please contact us by any of the following means during business hours.