How we handle
your information

Who we are

Accounting Without Headaches ("we", "us", "our") provides bookkeeping, tax, payroll and advisory services to businesses in the United States.

Our registered business address is [FULL POSTAL ADDRESS]. You can reach us at [EMAIL ADDRESS] or [PHONE NUMBER].

Information we collect

We collect two broad categories of information.

Information you give us directly. When you fill in a form on this site, book a call, or become a client, you provide us with information including:

• ›Your name, business name, email address and phone number
• ›Your industry and approximate business size
• ›Details about your current accounting situation
• ›Anything you choose to tell us in a message or on a call

Information we receive as your accountant. If you become a client, we necessarily receive financial information in order to do the work, including:

• ›Bank and credit card transaction data
• ›Accounting software records, typically QuickBooks Online
• ›Payroll information including employee names and compensation
• ›Tax documents, prior returns and supporting records
• ›Invoices, receipts and supplier records

Information collected automatically

Like most websites, we collect limited technical information when you visit, including IP address, browser type, device type, pages viewed and referring source. This is used to understand how the site is used and to improve it.

We use [ANALYTICS PROVIDER — e.g. Google Analytics] for this. You can opt out of analytics tracking through your browser settings or by using a tracker-blocking extension.

How we use your information

We use the information we hold for the following purposes, and no others:

• ›Providing the accounting, tax and payroll services you engage us for
• ›Responding to your enquiries and scheduling calls
• ›Preparing and filing returns and reports on your behalf
• ›Sending you reports, reminders and updates about your account
• ›Meeting our own legal, tax and regulatory obligations
• ›Improving the website and understanding how it is used

We do not sell your information. We do not share it with advertisers, data brokers or list vendors, and we never will.

Who we share information with

We share information only where necessary to deliver the service or comply with the law:

• ›Software providers we use to do the work, such as accounting, payroll and document storage platforms
• ›Tax authorities, where we file on your behalf and you have authorised it
• ›Professional advisors, such as your own attorney or CPA, where you have asked us to
• ›Regulators or law enforcement, where we are legally required to

Each software provider we use is bound by its own confidentiality and security obligations. We select providers with appropriate security standards, and we do not give any of them permission to use your data for their own purposes.

Marketing emails

If we send you marketing or promotional email, every message will include a working unsubscribe link and our physical postal address, as required by the CAN-SPAM Act.

Unsubscribing from marketing does not stop service-related emails if you are a client — reports, reminders and messages about your account are part of the service you are paying for.

How long we keep information

Financial and tax records are retained for at least seven years after the relevant tax year, which reflects both professional standards and the IRS statute of limitations for most matters.

Enquiry information from people who do not become clients is retained for [RETENTION PERIOD — e.g. 24 months] and then deleted.

You can ask us to delete information sooner, and we will do so unless we are legally required to retain it.

How we protect information

We use encrypted storage and transmission, access controls limiting who on our team can see what, multi-factor authentication on all systems holding client data, and secure file transfer rather than email attachments for sensitive documents.

No system is perfectly secure and we will not claim otherwise. If a breach occurs affecting your information, we will notify you promptly and tell you what happened.

Your rights

Depending on where you are located, you may have some or all of the following rights:

• ›Access — ask for a copy of the information we hold about you
• ›Correction — ask us to correct anything inaccurate
• ›Deletion — ask us to delete information, subject to legal retention requirements
• ›Portability — receive your data in a usable format, which we do as standard when a client leaves
• ›Opt out — unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time

To exercise any of these, contact us at [EMAIL ADDRESS]. We will respond within 30 days.

California residents

[PLACEHOLDER — if you serve or market to California residents, the CCPA and CPRA impose additional obligations including specific disclosures and a "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" mechanism. Have this section drafted by an attorney familiar with California privacy law.]

Cookies

This site uses cookies for basic functionality and analytics. You can disable cookies in your browser settings, though some parts of the site may not work as intended.

We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking pixels for retargeting.

Children

This site and our services are intended for businesses. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent version. Material changes affecting how we use your information will be communicated to clients directly.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or about the information we hold, go to [EMAIL ADDRESS] or by post to [FULL POSTAL ADDRESS].