Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

SML Bookkeeping and Tax (ABN 18 793 344 346) trading as SML Bookkeeping & Tax ("we", "us", "our") is a registered tax agent (Tax Agent Number 26140356) providing bookkeeping, taxation, payroll and business advisory services in Australia.

We handle personal and financial information as part of that work, and we take that responsibility seriously. This policy explains what we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what you can do about it.

We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and — where tax file numbers are involved — the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015.

2. What we collect

If you use this website

When you submit one of the forms on this site, we collect what you give us. Depending on the form, that may include:

• Your name, email address and phone number
• Your WeChat ID, if you choose to give it instead of a phone number
• Your business name, industry, structure and approximate staff numbers
• GST registration status
• What you are trying to solve, and any message or description you write

We also collect limited technical information automatically — pages visited, time on page, approximate location, device and browser type, and the site you arrived from. See section 7 for how that works and how to switch it off.

If you become a client

To do the work you engage us for, we collect and hold considerably more, including:

• Tax file numbers (yours, and your employees' where we run your payroll)
• Australian Business Numbers, ACNs and entity details
• Bank account details, bank statements and transaction data
• Payroll records, superannuation details and employee information
• Invoices, receipts, contracts and other source documents
• Identity documents where we are required to verify your identity

Where we hold information about your employees or family members, we rely on you having the authority to give it to us. We handle it the same way we handle yours.

4. Why we collect it, and what we do with it

We use personal information to:

• Provide the services you have engaged us for
• Prepare and lodge returns, activity statements and reports with the ATO and ASIC
• Process payroll and meet Single Touch Payroll and superannuation obligations
• Respond to your enquiry and, where you have asked us to, quote for work
• Verify your identity where we are required to
• Send you information about tax deadlines and changes that affect you — you can opt out of these at any time
• Meet our own legal, professional and record-keeping obligations

We do not sell personal information, and we do not trade or rent it to anyone.

5. Who we share it with

We disclose personal information only where it is necessary, and only to:

• Government agencies — principally the Australian Taxation Office and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, in the course of acting for you
• Superannuation funds and clearing houses, where we process your superannuation obligations
• Software providers we use to do the work, including accounting and payroll platforms. Your data sits within those systems under their own security and privacy arrangements
• Other advisers — a lawyer, financial adviser, broker or auditor — but only where you have asked us to, or authorised it
• Where the law requires it, including in response to a lawful request from a court or regulator

Some of these providers store data outside Australia. Where that is the case we take reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that the information will be handled consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.

6. Third-party services on this website

This website uses the following services. Each collects a limited amount of information:

7. Cookies and tracking

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to keep it working properly and to understand, in aggregate, how it is used. We do not use them to build a profile of you as an individual, and we do not run advertising retargeting off this site.

You can control this in three ways:

• Your browser settings — most browsers let you block or delete cookies. Some parts of the site may not work as well if you do
• LinkedIn members can opt out of the Insight Tag through theirLinkedIn advertising settings
• Non-members can opt out through theDigital Advertising Alliance opt-out page

8. How we keep it safe

We take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold. In practice that means:

• Access is limited to the people in our practice who need it to do the work.We operate role-based permissions internally — not everyone in the practice can see everything, and access is granted according to what a person's role actually requires
• Client files are held in an access-controlled cloud storage system, not on open or unsecured shared drives
• We use established software providers with their own security controls for accounting, payroll and client relationship management
• Paper records, where they exist, are held securely and destroyed when no longer needed

Some of the systems we use store data on servers outside Australia. Before using a provider we take reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that the information will be handled in a way consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles. See section 5.

No system is perfectly secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to cause you serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

9. How long we keep it

We keep client records for at least five years after the work is completed, because taxation law requires it. Some records are kept longer where another law, a professional obligation, or an ongoing matter requires it.

We do not delete records on a fixed timetable. Enquiries and other records are retained while there is a legitimate reason to hold them — an ongoing relationship, a matter that may resume, or a legal or professional requirement.

We review what we hold from time to time. Where information is no longer needed for any purpose we are permitted to use it for, and we are no longer required by law to keep it, we destroy it or de-identify it.

You can ask us to delete information about you at any time — see section 10. We will do so unless we are required to keep it.

10. Your rights

You can ask us to:

• Show you what personal information we hold about you
• Correct it if it is wrong, out of date or incomplete
• Stop sending you marketing or newsletter emails — every email we send has an unsubscribe link, or you can just tell us
• Delete it, where we are not required by law to keep it

There is no charge for asking. We will respond within 30 days. In rare cases we may need to refuse access — for example where the law requires it, or where giving access would unreasonably affect someone else's privacy. If we do, we will tell you why in writing.

11. If you have a complaint

Tell us first. Email info@smlbookkeeping.com.au or call(03) 9191 3731, and mark it to the attention of the Privacy Officer. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days and respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can take it to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:oaic.gov.au, or 1300 363 992.

12. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when our practices change or the law changes. The current version is always on this page, with the date it was last updated at the top.

13. Contact us

SML Bookkeeping and Tax
ABN 18 793 344 346 · Tax Agent Number 26140356
Waterman Chadstone, UL40, 1341 Dandenong Road, Chadstone VIC 3148
info@smlbookkeeping.com.au
(03) 9191 3731