Privacy Policy

This policy applies to Pinecrest Accounting & Advisory Pty Ltd and describes how we handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.

1. About this Policy

Pinecrest Accounting & Advisory Pty Ltd (ABN 12 345 678 910) ("Pinecrest", "we", "us" or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information when you visit our website (pinecrestaccounting.com.au), enquire about or engage our accounting and advisory services, or interact with us by any other means.

By accessing our website or providing us with personal information, you agree to this Policy.

2. What Information We Collect

We may collect the following categories of personal information:

Contact and identity information — name, email address, phone number, postal address and business name collected when you submit an enquiry, book a consultation or become a client.

Financial and accounting data — income details, bank account information, tax file numbers (TFNs), superannuation details, business financial records and other information required to provide accounting, tax, audit or advisory services.

Business information — entity structure, ABN, ownership details and financial statements provided during an engagement.

Website usage data — IP address, browser type, pages visited and referral source, collected automatically via cookies and analytics tools when you visit our website.

Communication records — emails, notes from calls and meeting records related to service delivery.

We only collect information that is reasonably necessary for our functions and activities.

3. How We Collect Information

We collect personal information:

• Directly from you when you complete our contact form, book a consultation, sign an engagement letter or communicate with our team.
• From third parties where you have authorised us to do so, such as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), ASIC, payroll platforms, banks or your previous accountant.
• Automatically through cookies, Google Analytics or similar tools when you use our website.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Provide accounting, tax compliance, bookkeeping, audit, business advisory, outsourced CFO and payroll services.
• Respond to your enquiries and schedule consultations.
• Prepare and lodge tax returns, financial statements and statutory documents on your behalf.
• Comply with our professional obligations to the ATO, ASIC, APRA and other regulators.
• Send you service updates, newsletters or relevant publications where you have consented to receive them.
• Improve our website and service quality through aggregated analytics data.
• Meet our legal and regulatory obligations as a CA-registered practice.

5. Disclosure of Your Information

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We may disclose it to:

• Regulatory bodies — the ATO, ASIC, APRA and other government agencies as required by law or your service engagement.
• Service providers — cloud accounting platforms (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks), secure document portals, IT support and professional indemnity insurers engaged to support our practice.
• Referral professionals — financial advisers, lawyers or other specialists with your prior consent.
• Successors — any entity that acquires our practice, subject to the same privacy obligations.

Where we disclose information to overseas recipients (for example, cloud software providers with offshore infrastructure), we take reasonable steps to ensure those recipients handle your information in a manner consistent with the APPs.

6. Storage and Security

We store personal information in secure electronic systems with access controls, encryption and regular security reviews. Physical documents are stored in locked facilities and destroyed securely when no longer needed.

We retain client records for a minimum of seven years after the end of an engagement in accordance with ATO and professional standards requirements.

While we take all reasonable precautions, no data transmission or storage system can be guaranteed as completely secure. If you suspect a security breach affecting your information, please contact us immediately.

7. Cookies and Analytics

Our website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — to improve your browsing experience and measure site performance. We use Google Analytics to collect aggregated, anonymous data about how visitors use our site.

You may disable cookies in your browser settings; however, this may affect the functionality of certain parts of our website. We do not use cookies to collect sensitive personal information.

8. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct information that is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete.
• Withdraw consent to receiving marketing communications at any time by contacting us or using the unsubscribe link in our emails.
• Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au if you believe we have breached the APPs.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Privacy Officer using the details in section 10 below. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Links to Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to external websites operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to access or correct your personal information, or want to make a complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Pinecrest Accounting & Advisory Pty Ltd Email: info@pcaccounting.com.au Phone: +61 431 422 818

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, technology or our business practices. The current version will always be available on our website with the date it was last updated. Continued use of our services after any update constitutes your acceptance of the revised Policy.