Privacy Policy

1. About this policy

Cloud Based Accountants Limited ("we", "us", "our") is a New Zealand accounting practice. We protect your personal information and handle it in line with the Privacy Act 2020 and its Information Privacy Principles.

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, how we keep it safe, who we share it with, and how you can see or correct it. It applies to:

It sits alongside our Terms of engagement and service. Where the Terms give us authority to collect or share information for your engagement, that authority still applies.

2. Information we collect

We collect only what we need to provide our services and meet our legal obligations.

From you, as a client:

  • identity and contact details: name, date of birth, address, email, phone, IRD number, and identity documents where the law requires us to verify identity;

  • financial records: bank statements, invoices, receipts, payroll, assets, loans, investments and accounting system data;

  • tax and entity information: returns, assessments, GST, PAYE, provisional tax, ACC, company, trust and partnership records;

  • anything else you choose to give us for your engagement, including information about other people connected to you. Please make sure they know you are sharing it.

From others, with your authority (clause 10 of our Terms): Inland Revenue, ACC, banks, tax pooling providers, solicitors, other government agencies, and your previous accountant.

From the website and contact with us: the details you send through email, phone, forms or bookings, and basic technical information described in section 9.

You don't have to give us information. If you don't, we may not be able to provide a service or file a return on time.

3. How we use your information

We use your information to:

  • prepare your financial statements, tax returns and other reports, and give advisory services you ask for;

  • act as your tax agent with Inland Revenue and deal with ACC and tax pooling providers for you;

  • verify identity and keep records where the law requires it, including tax record-keeping rules and, where they apply, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009;

  • send invoices, manage our relationship with you, and meet professional standards and quality reviews;

  • send you updates, newsletters and invitations. You can unsubscribe from these at any time; service messages still come.

We don't sell your personal information, and we don't use it for any purpose unrelated to the reason we collected it unless you agree or the law allows it.

4. Cloud services, AI and overseas storage

We use reputable cloud software to run the practice, such as accounting, tax, document storage and email systems. Some of these providers store or process information outside New Zealand.

We also use artificial intelligence (AI) services to help with our work. When we do:

  • we share only the information needed for the task, de-identified where practicable;

  • we use only providers whose terms prohibit using your information to train their AI models;

  • a person at Cloud Based Accountants reviews all AI-assisted work, and we remain responsible for it.

When information goes overseas, we only use providers subject to privacy safeguards comparable to the Privacy Act 2020 (Information Privacy Principle 12). You can opt out of AI-assisted processing at any time by telling us in writing.

5. Our YouTube channel and Google data

We publish educational videos on our YouTube channel, Cloud Based Accountants. To do this we use an internal tool, CBA Video Publisher, which uses YouTube API Services. Only our own staff use it, and only with our own Google account and channel.

What the tool accesses. With the permission we gave it (to manage our YouTube videos and captions), it:

  • reads our channel's name and handle, to check it is connected to the right channel;

  • uploads our videos with their title, description, tags, thumbnail and captions;

  • reads and changes the status of videos it uploaded, such as private or public.

It does not access other channels, our viewers' personal information, or any client information.

Storage and sharing. The tool's sign-in is stored on our own office computer, in a protected folder that is not shared. We keep a record of the video IDs we upload. We don't share, sell or transfer this data, and we don't use it for advertising or to train AI models. Cloud Based Accountants' use and transfer of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Removing access. Access can be removed at any time in the Google security settings. We then delete the stored sign-in.

Watching our videos. When you watch or comment on our videos, YouTube and Google collect and use information under their own policies. By using YouTube you agree to the YouTube Terms of Service, and Google handles your information under the Google Privacy Policy. We only see the summary statistics YouTube shows channel owners. Questions about this section can go to our privacy officer (section 10).

6. Who we share information with

We share your information only where it's needed for your engagement, you've agreed, or the law requires it:

  • Government agencies: Inland Revenue, ACC, the Companies Office and others, when filing or acting for you.

  • Tax pooling providers, such as Tax Management NZ, when you use tax pooling.

  • Your bank, lender, solicitor or other advisers, when you ask us to or for financial statements prepared for them.

  • Software and service providers that help us run the practice, such as Xero (accounting), Monday.com (workflow and job tracking), Microsoft SharePoint and Google Drive (document storage), and the AI services described in section 4. They may only use your information to provide their service to us.

  • Our professional body, the Accountants and Tax Agents Institute of New Zealand (ATAINZ), for quality reviews.

  • Our own professional advisers, such as lawyers and insurers, when needed.

  • Anyone the law requires us to tell, such as a regulator or the Police under a lawful request.

We never sell or rent your personal information.

7. Storage, security and retention

We keep your information in secure cloud systems and on protected office computers. We use strong passwords, multi-factor authentication where available, access only for staff who need it, and reputable providers with their own security controls.

We keep records for as long as we need them for your engagement and as the law requires. Tax law generally requires business and tax records to be kept for at least seven years. After that we securely delete or destroy them, unless we need them for a legal reason.

If a privacy breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will tell you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as soon as practicable, as the Privacy Act 2020 requires.

8. Your rights

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it's wrong. Contact our privacy officer (section 10). We may need to confirm your identity first.

We will respond as soon as we reasonably can, and within 20 working days. If we can't give you some information, for example because it's about someone else or legally privileged, we'll tell you why. If we don't agree to a correction, you can ask us to attach a statement of the correction you wanted.

If you're not happy with how we've handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

9. Website, cookies and links

Our website doesn't use advertising or analytics trackers. It does use:

  • Premium content sign-in: if you request access, we collect your name and email and send you a one-time code. We use these only to give you access and, if you agree, to send you updates.

  • Website hosting and database: our website data, including premium sign-ups, is stored with Supabase, which may store it outside New Zealand (see section 4).

  • Spam protection: Cloudflare Turnstile checks that forms are used by people, not bots. Cloudflare may process technical information such as your IP address and browser details for this.

  • Browser storage: your browser keeps small files or local storage so that your sign-in and settings work. You can clear these in your browser settings.

  • YouTube videos: embedded videos are provided by YouTube, which may set its own cookies under the Google Privacy Policy.

Links to other websites, such as IRD or YouTube, are covered by those sites' own privacy policies.

10. Changes to this policy and contact

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version is always at cloudbasedaccountants.com/privacy-policy or cbservices.co.nz/privacy-policy, with the date it was last updated.

For privacy questions, requests or complaints, including about our YouTube upload tool, contact our privacy officer:

  • Privacy officer: Ziegfried Kritzinger

  • Email: info@cbservices.co.nz

  • Phone: +6478833514

  • Post: Cloud Based Accountants Limited, 50 Philip Street, Putaruru, 3411, New Zealand

Last updated: 17 October 2026