Privacy policy

Everest Financial Consultants, trading as EFC Accountants (“EFC”, “we”, “us” or “our”), provides bookkeeping, accounting, tax, payroll and business advice in New Zealand.

This policy explains how we handle personal information under the Privacy Act 2020 and its information privacy principles.

We may collect:

• your name, email address, phone number and business name;
• information you include in an enquiry or call request;
• client, identity, tax, financial, payroll and business records needed for our work;
• portal account, team and document details when the client portal becomes available;
• technical details such as your IP address, browser, device and site activity; and
• other information you choose to give us.

Please do not send sensitive financial or identity records through the public contact form. Contact us first so we can agree on a safe way to send them.

We collect information from you when you use this website, send a form, email or call us, become a client, use our services or, once available, use the client portal. We may also receive information from your authorised staff, advisers, government agencies or other people where you have agreed, or where the law allows it.

We use personal information to:

• reply to enquiries and arrange calls;
• provide, manage and improve our services;
• check identity, authority and client instructions;
• prepare records, returns, reports and filings;
• manage accounts, invoices, files and client access;
• protect our website, systems, clients and staff from misuse or fraud;
• meet our legal and professional duties; and
• send service updates or other messages you have asked to receive.

We do not sell personal information.

We may share information with:

• our staff, contractors and professional advisers who need it for their work;
• providers that support our website, email, security, analytics, identity, hosting and file services, including Amazon Web Services, Cloudflare, Google and Clerk;
• Inland Revenue, banks, regulators or other agencies where you ask us to, or where the law requires or permits it; and
• another party as part of a business sale or change, subject to suitable safeguards.

Some providers may handle information outside New Zealand. Where New Zealand privacy law applies, we take reasonable steps to use providers and terms that protect the information.

We use reasonable technical and work controls to protect personal information from loss, misuse, or access, change or release without authority. No online service can promise total security. Tell us at once if you think information sent to us or held by us is at risk.

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the reason we collected it, our work with you, and our legal, tax, record-keeping and professional duties. We then delete it or remove details that identify you where it is practical and lawful to do so.

We use Cloudflare Turnstile to protect forms from misuse. We may use Google Analytics to learn how people use the site. These tools may use cookies or similar data and may receive technical details about your browser, device and visit. You can limit cookies in your browser, but parts of the site may not work as expected.

You can ask whether we hold personal information about you, request a copy, or ask us to correct it. We may need to check your identity first. The Privacy Act may allow or require us to withhold some information. If that applies, we will explain it where we can.

For a privacy request or concern, email [email protected]. Please write “Privacy request” in the subject line. You may also raise a concern with the New Zealand Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.

We may update this policy when our services, providers or legal duties change. We will post the new version here and change the date shown below.