Equestrian Financial Services (“we,” “our,” “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that information.
Information we collect
When you use our intake form or contact us directly, we may collect your name, email address, phone number, and information about your business or tax situation that you choose to provide. This information is collected solely to understand your needs and prepare a service proposal.
If you become a client, we will collect additional financial information necessary to provide bookkeeping and tax preparation services, including bank statements, receipts, tax slips, payroll records, and other financial documents. This information is governed by your signed engagement letter.
How we use your information
We use the information you provide to respond to your inquiry, prepare a service proposal, deliver bookkeeping and tax preparation services, communicate with you about your account, file returns and remittances with CRA and provincial authorities on your behalf, and comply with legal and regulatory obligations.
Third-party services
In the course of providing our services, your information may be processed through secure, professional-grade tools including QuickBooks Online (accounting), Dext (receipt management), Knit (payroll processing), and TaxCycle (tax preparation). Each of these services maintains its own privacy and security policies. We only use tools that meet professional standards for handling sensitive financial data.
We may also use analytics tools on this website to understand how visitors use our site. These tools collect anonymous, aggregated data and do not identify individual visitors.
Data retention
If you submit an inquiry but do not become a client, we retain your contact information for up to 12 months, after which it is deleted.
For active and former clients, we retain financial records for a minimum of 7 years in accordance with CRA requirements (6 years from the end of the last tax year to which they relate, plus a buffer). After this period, records are securely destroyed.
Data security
We take reasonable measures to protect your information, including encrypted cloud storage, secure access controls, two-factor authentication on all professional accounts, and limited access to client data on a need-to-know basis. No system is completely secure, but we treat your financial data with the same care we would expect for our own.
Your rights
You may request access to the personal information we hold about you, request correction of inaccurate information, request deletion of your information (subject to legal retention requirements), or withdraw consent for us to contact you at any time. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@eqbooks.ca.
CRA and provincial authorities
When authorized through CRA Represent a Client and BC Form FIN 146, we access your tax accounts to file returns and manage your obligations. This authorization can be revoked by you at any time through your CRA My Business Account or by contacting BC Ministry of Finance.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with a revised effective date.
Contact
If you have questions about this privacy policy or how your information is handled, please contact us:
Equestrian Financial Services
Email: hello@eqbooks.ca
British Columbia, Canada