The firm uses or discloses personal information only for purposes for which it has consented, or as required by law.
We may also disclose personal information without consent:
- to comply with a subpoena, a warrant or an order made by a court or other body with appropriate jurisdiction or to comply with rules of conduct required by regulatory bodies. It is important to note that accounting firms are not protected by client/solicitor privileges.
- to a government institution that has requested the information, identified its lawful authority, and indicates that disclosure is for the purpose of enforcing, carrying out an investigation, or gathering intelligence relating to any federal, provincial or foreign law; or suspects that the information relates to national security or the conduct of international affairs; or is for the purpose of administering any federal or provincial law.
- to an investigative body or government institution on our initiative when we believe the information concerns a breach of an agreement, or a contravention of a federal, provincial, or foreign law, or we suspect the information relates to national security or the conduct of international affairs.
As required by professional standards, rules of professional conduct, and regulation, the firm documents the work it performs in records, commonly called “working paper” files. Such files may include personal information obtained from a client. Working papers are safeguarded against inappropriate access, as discussed under Principle “8”.
We also use it to enable us to provide you through various channels with information that we believe are of interest to you. This includes such matters as:
- new services we provide,
- conferences and other professional development courses we hold,
- notice of changes in the law or accounting practices that may be of interest to you, and
- other professional or business developments.
If you do not wish to receive such information, you may opt-out by sending an email to privacy@sbpartners.ca or by advising your Audit and Accounting contact and we will discontinue sending you information other than in regard to your account.
The firm retains personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill its purposes.
Working paper files and other files containing, for example, copies of personal tax returns are retained for the time period required by law and regulation or for the time period as specified in the firm’s retention of client information policy.
The firm regularly and systematically destroys, erases, or makes anonymous personal information no longer required to fulfill the identified collection purposes, and no longer required by laws and regulations.
The personal information collected from a client during the course of a professional service engagement may be:
- shared with the firm’s personnel participating in such engagement;
- disclosed to partners and team members within the firm to the extent required to assess compliance with applicable professional standards and rules of professional conduct, and the firm’s policies, including providing quality control reviews of work performed;
- provided to members of the organization’s audit committee and board of directors, and others in the company that might not otherwise have access to the information, in the course of communicating aspects of the results of our audit; and
- provided to external professional practice inspectors (e.g., representatives of the Canadian Public Accountability Board, or a provincial institute of chartered accountants), who by law, professional regulation, or contract have the right of access to the firm’s files for inspection purposes.