Privacy Statement

Why Plant and Associates needs your personal information and what types we collect

Understanding and meeting our clients’ accounting and financial needs is a central part of our business. To do this efficiently, we need to collect certain personal information.

Depending on the particular circumstances, we may collect and hold a range of different information about you. This can include your name, date of birth, contact details (including address, email address, phone number or mobile telephone numbers), Tax File Number, Australian Business Number, financial information such as income, assets and liabilities, account balances , tax and financial statements, occupation and citizenship status.

Personal information concerning particular topics is regarded as sensitive information. Sensitive information includes information about your:

• Racial or ethnic origin;
• Political opinions;
• Membership of a political association;
• Religious beliefs or affiliations;
• Philosophical beliefs;
• Membership of a professional or trade association;
• Membership of a trade union;
• Sexual preferences or practices;
• Criminal record; and
• Health.

We generally have very limited need to obtain such information, however if such information is needed then it will only be obtained and/or used with your consent. If, in the course of arranging your accounting and financial services, such information does come into out possession from a third party, we will seek your consent to collect, store and use this should we consider such use necessary in the provision of services to you.

The types of services and financial advice we provide include:

• Maintenance of accounting books and records;
• Preparation of annual and interim accounts;
• Administration of Self Managed Super Funds;
• Preparation and lodgement of Business Activity Statements (BAS), Instalment Activity Statements (IAS), Pay as you go Summary (PAYG), Fringe Benefit Returns (FBT) Income Tax Returns (Individuals, Sole Traders, Trusts, {Partnerships, Companies and Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF’s));
• Lodgement of ASIC forms;
• Acting as registered office;
• Business set up, structuring and restructuring advice (asset protection);
• ABN, TFN, GST, PAYG and FBT registrations;
• Budgets and cash flow forecasts;
• Business plans;
• Benchmarking and business improvement strategies;
• Record keeping assistance and establishment of accounting systems;
• Tax minimisation and planning, including tax advice on property, shares, investments and capital gains; and
• Retirement and succession planning including limited financial advice pertaining to superannuation and Self Managed Super Funds.

We may collect your information in a number of ways, including:

• Directly from you (such as where you provide information to us when you visit one of our offices, complete an application form, checklist or contact us with a query or request, electronically or by mail.);
• From third parties such as business partners, your financial planner, your previous accountant, your book keeper, the Australian Taxation Office and your representatives; and
• From publicly available sources of information.

If you choose not to provide certain information about you, we may not be able to provide you with the products or services you require, or the level of service on which we pride ourselves.

How we protect your personal information

We may store your information in hard copy or electronic format, in storage facilities that we own or rent and operate ourselves inside Australia. We take reasonable steps to maintain the security of your information and to protect it from unauthorised disclosures.

While we take these steps to maintain the security of your information, you should be aware of the many information security risks that exist today and take appropriate care to help safeguard your information.

Who can access your personal information

We may use your information for a range of different purposes, including:

• To verify your identity, and for fraud checking;
• To provide services to you, to provide you with information about those services, to assist you with enquiries, or to provide you with better customer service;
• To administer and manage the services we provide to you, to charge and bill you for them, and to collect any amounts you may owe us; and
• To gain an understanding of your accounting and financial needs, to perform research and analysis, and to improve or develop our services.

We may disclose your information:

• To your authorised representatives or advisers, or when you ask us to do so;
• To credit providers for credit provision and financing;
• To government and regulatory authorities as required or authorised by law (law enforcement agents, and national and international government and regulatory authorities including but not limited to the Australian Taxation Office, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.); and
• Courts, tribunals and other dispute resolution bodies in the course of a dispute.

From time to time we may use your personal information to:

• provide you with current information about accounting and finance matters that may be relevant to you and that you may find of interest; and
• notify you of changes to our organisation, or new services being offered by us.

This information is usually provided by way of newsletter sent by email and you are able to use the unsubscribe function to remove yourself from receiving this information. If the information is vital that you be advised of it, we may send you a one off notification.

How you can contact us to find out more about your personal information

If you wish to access any of your personal information that we hold or would like to correct any errors in that information, please contact us using the contact details set out in the how to contact us section of this statement, so that we can consider and respond to your request.

What to do if you have concerns about your privacy

You may also use these contact details to notify us of any privacy complaint you have against us, including if you think that we have failed to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) or any binding APP code that has been registered under the Privacy Act. We are committed to acknowledging your complaint in a prompt manner and will give you an estimated timeframe for when we will respond to your complaint.

While we hope that we will be able to resolve any complaints that you may have without needing to involve third parties, you may also be able to lodge a complaint with a relevant regulator such as the Financial Ombudsman Service on 1300 780 808, www.fos.org.au or by post at: GPO Box 3 Melbourne VIC 3001.

How to contact us

If you have any questions in relation to this Statement or our management of your information, please let us know by contacting us on 1300 783 394 or writing to us at admin@plantandassociates.com.au.