Privacy Policy

1. Our commitment to privacy

YF Accounting ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals who interact with us. We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in that Act.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and protect your personal information, and how you can access and correct information we hold about you.

2. What personal information we collect

The types of personal information we may collect include:

• Your name, address, telephone number and email address
• Tax file number (TFN) and other tax-related identifiers
• Financial information including income, assets, liabilities and banking details
• Business details including ABN, company name and registered address
• Information about your investments, property holdings and superannuation
• Information relevant to the accounting, taxation or advisory services you have requested

We collect only the personal information that is reasonably necessary to provide our services. We do not collect sensitive information (such as health or criminal record information) unless it is directly relevant to the services you have requested and you have consented to its collection.

3. How we collect personal information

We collect personal information in the following ways:

• Directly from you, when you contact us by phone, email or through our website
• When you complete an enquiry form or provide information for us to prepare a tax return or financial statement
• From the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and other government agencies, where authorised
• From third parties such as employers, financial institutions or other advisers, where you have authorised this
• Automatically through our website (see Website Data below)

4. Why we collect personal information

We collect, hold and use your personal information for the following purposes:

• To provide accounting, taxation and business advisory services to you
• To prepare and lodge tax returns, financial statements and other documents on your behalf
• To communicate with you regarding your account or our services
• To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including obligations to the ATO
• To manage and improve our business operations and client relationships
• To send you relevant updates or information about changes in tax law that may affect you (you may opt out at any time)

We will not use your personal information for any purpose other than those described above without your consent, unless we are required or permitted to do so by law.

5. Disclosure of personal information

We may disclose your personal information to third parties where necessary to provide our services or where required by law. These include:

• The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and other government bodies, for lodgement and compliance purposes
• ASIC and other regulatory bodies, where required
• Financial institutions, where you have authorised us to act on your behalf
• Specialist advisers within our professional network (such as legal, financial planning or R&D consultants), where you have engaged us to coordinate those services
• Cloud-based accounting and practice management software providers (such as Xero), who are bound by their own privacy policies and data security obligations

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

6. Overseas disclosure

Some of the third-party software tools we use (such as cloud-based accounting or practice management platforms) may store or process data on servers located outside Australia. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure those providers handle your information in a manner consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.

By engaging our services, you acknowledge that your personal information may be transferred to and stored in countries outside Australia, including for cloud storage and business software purposes.

7. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. These measures include password-protected systems, encrypted file storage and restricted access to client information within our practice.

When personal information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected and we are not required by law to retain it, we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.

8. Website data

When you visit our website, we may collect certain information automatically, including your IP address, browser type and version, the pages you visit, and the time and date of your visit. This information is used for analytics purposes to improve our website and does not identify you personally.

Our website may use cookies or similar technologies. You can disable cookies in your browser settings; however, this may affect the functionality of the website.

9. Access and correction

You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you and to request corrections if it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. To make such a request, please contact us using the details below. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.

In some circumstances we may decline a request for access or correction, as permitted by the Privacy Act. If we decline, we will explain our reasons in writing.

10. Complaints

If you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles or otherwise mishandled your personal information, please contact us in the first instance. We will investigate your complaint and respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or the law. The current version will always be available on our website. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

12. Contact us

For privacy-related enquiries, please contact us: