WittCPA Inc. ("WittCPA," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the personal information entrusted to us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard personal information in connection with our accounting, tax, and advisory services and this website.
We handle personal information in accordance with British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and, where applicable to our cross-border and commercial activities, the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). As a CPA firm, we are also bound by the confidentiality and professional-conduct obligations of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC). If you are located in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area, or Switzerland, section 13 sets out the further information and rights that apply to you under the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR.
01Who we are
WittCPA Inc. is a chartered professional accounting firm based in West Kelowna, British Columbia, serving clients throughout British Columbia, Alberta, and internationally. We are responsible for the personal information in our custody and control. Questions about this policy or our handling of your personal information may be directed to our Privacy Officer using the contact details at the end of this policy.
02Personal information we collect
Depending on your relationship with us, we may collect:
- Identification & contact information: name, address, email, telephone number, and similar details.
- Financial & tax information: information required to provide our services, such as income, accounting records, tax documents, social insurance or business numbers, property and investment details, and residency or cross-border tax information.
- Engagement information: correspondence, instructions, and records relating to the services we provide to you.
- Website & technical information: limited information collected automatically when you use this website, such as your browser type, pages visited, and similar usage data (see "Cookies & third-party services" below).
We collect only the personal information reasonably necessary to provide our services and operate our business.
03How we collect it
We collect personal information directly from you, for example, when you contact us, submit a form on this website, book a call, or provide documents during an engagement. We may also collect information from third parties you authorize (such as your bookkeeper, financial institutions, or the Canada Revenue Agency) where permitted or required by law.
04Why we collect and use it
We collect, use, and disclose personal information for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances, including to:
- provide accounting, tax, and advisory services to you;
- communicate with you and respond to your inquiries;
- prepare and file returns and other documents with tax and regulatory authorities;
- manage our client relationships, billing, and records;
- meet our legal, regulatory, and professional obligations; and
- operate, maintain, and improve this website.
05Consent
We obtain your consent to collect, use, and disclose your personal information, except where authorized or required by law. Depending on the sensitivity of the information, consent may be express or implied. You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice, by contacting our Privacy Officer. Withdrawing consent may limit our ability to provide certain services to you.
06Disclosure of personal information
We do not sell your personal information. We may disclose it:
- to our personnel and authorized service providers (such as secure cloud software, document-management, and scheduling providers) who require it to support our services, subject to appropriate confidentiality and security obligations;
- to tax and regulatory authorities, including the Canada Revenue Agency, where required to provide our services or comply with law;
- to third parties you have authorized us to deal with on your behalf; and
- where required or permitted by law, regulation, or our professional obligations.
07Service providers & information outside Canada
We use trusted third-party providers to help us operate, including a secure client portal (Karbon) and an online scheduling tool (Calendly). Some service providers may store or process information outside of British Columbia or Canada. Where personal information is handled outside the province, it may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is held. We take reasonable steps to ensure that our service providers protect personal information with safeguards comparable to those described in this policy.
08Safeguards & security
We protect personal information using physical, organizational, and technological safeguards appropriate to its sensitivity, including secure systems, access controls, and confidentiality obligations on our personnel. While we take reasonable measures to protect your information, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
09Retention
We retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and to meet our legal, regulatory, and professional record-keeping obligations. When personal information is no longer required, we securely destroy, erase, or anonymize it.
10Your right to access & correct
Subject to certain exceptions under PIPA, you have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, to ask how it has been used and disclosed, and to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information. To make a request, contact our Privacy Officer. We will respond within the timelines required by law. There may be a minimal cost for certain access requests, and we will advise you in advance.
11Cookies & similar technologies
Cookies are small files that a website stores on your device. This site uses only the cookies described in the table below. We set advertising cookies only where we have your permission to do so. You can review or change your choice at any time through the cookie settings link, which appears in the footer of every page.
If you are in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area, or Switzerland, we ask for your consent before any advertising cookie is set, and nothing in that category is set unless you accept. If you are elsewhere, advertising cookies are enabled by default and you may switch them off using the same link.
| Set by | Purpose | Category | When it is set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Protects the site against automated traffic and keeps it available. Includes cookies such as __cf_bm and cf_clearance. | Strictly necessary | On every page |
| Cloudflare Turnstile | Confirms that a real person, and not an automated system, completed one of our forms. | Strictly necessary | On pages that contain a form |
| Calendly | Runs the booking window and holds your booking session while you choose a time. | Strictly necessary for the service you requested | Only after you select "Book a Discovery Call" |
| Measures which advertisement or search result brought you to this site, so we can judge whether our advertising is working. Includes cookies such as _gcl_au. | Analytics and advertising | Only where advertising cookies are permitted, as described above |
This website serves its fonts from our own servers, so no font provider receives your IP address when a page loads. Where you choose to use the Karbon client portal, that service is governed by its own privacy notice.
You can also set your browser to refuse cookies. Some parts of the site may not work as intended if you do.
12Non-resident & international clients
If you are a non-resident of Canada or are located outside Canada, please be aware that providing our services necessarily involves the collection and use of your personal information in Canada, and disclosure to Canadian tax authorities where required. By engaging us, you consent to the handling of your personal information as described in this policy.
13If you are in the United Kingdom, the EEA, or Switzerland
This section applies in addition to the rest of this policy if you are located in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area, or Switzerland. Where it differs from another section, this section applies to you.
Who is responsible for your information
WittCPA Inc. of West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada is the controller of the personal information described in this policy. You can reach our Privacy Officer using the contact details in section 16.
Our lawful bases for using your information
- To answer an enquiry you send us: our legitimate interest in responding to people who contact us, and, where you are asking us to quote for work, the steps taken at your request before entering a contract.
- To provide our services: performance of our engagement contract with you.
- To set advertising cookies: your consent, which you may withdraw at any time through the cookie settings link in the footer.
- To meet legal, regulatory, and professional obligations: compliance with a legal obligation, and our legitimate interest in meeting the standards of our profession.
Your rights
You have the right to ask us for a copy of your personal information, to correct it, to erase it, to restrict how we use it, to object to our use of it where we rely on legitimate interests, and to receive it in a portable form. Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect anything we did before you withdrew it. To exercise any of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer. We will respond within one month.
How long we keep it
If you contact us but do not become a client, we keep your enquiry and our reply for up to 24 months, then delete them. If you become a client, we keep your records for as long as Canadian tax law and our professional obligations require, which is normally at least seven years after the engagement ends.
Sending your information to Canada
We are based in Canada, so your personal information is handled there. Both the United Kingdom and the European Commission recognise Canada as providing an adequate level of protection for personal information handled by commercial organisations under PIPEDA. No additional transfer agreement is therefore required for us to receive your information.
Complaints
If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer first so that we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to a supervisory authority. In the United Kingdom this is the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk. In the European Economic Area it is the data protection authority for your country.
14Professional confidentiality
In addition to our obligations under privacy law, as a CPA firm we are bound by the confidentiality requirements of the CPABC Code of Professional Conduct. We do not disclose confidential client information except as authorized by you or as required or permitted by law and our professional obligations.
15Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date above indicates when it was most recently revised. Material changes will be posted on this page.
16Contact us & complaints
If you have questions, wish to exercise your rights, or have a concern about how we handle your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer:
If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) at oipc.bc.ca.
This Privacy Policy is provided for general information and does not constitute legal advice.