Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

At Guinn, Vinopal and Zahradka, LLP Accountants ( “GVZ”), maintaining the privacy of your personal and financial information is of utmost importance to us. We value your trust and confidence and want to assure you that your personal information is kept completely confidential by us. We adhere to the highest level of professional ethical responsibility and obligation to protect the confidentiality of all client information. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect the information you share with us.

What Personal Information Do We Collect?

To meet your needs for tax return preparation, tax and financial planning, and tax compliance and advisory services, we collect various types of personal information about you. We may collect the following types of information when you engage our services:

Personal Information: Name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, and Social Security Number collected in-person, via telephone, mail or e-mail, through our website, on tax preparation worksheets, and other documents or forms we use in preparing your tax return or providing other services to you.
Financial Information: Tax documents, legal agreements and documents, financial records, investment, loan or banking activity and information, balances or account numbers, and other data necessary to provide our services received from others about your transactions or relationships with them.
Other Information: Communication records and preferences, and information received from a consumer reporting agency, such as your credit history and outstanding loan balances.

How We Use Your Information

We use your information solely to:

Provide accounting, tax, advisory and consulting services.
Prepare financial statements and tax returns.
Communicate with you regarding your services.
Comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

Website Use and Cookies

When you visit our website, we may collect certain information to improve your experience and the functionality of our site. This includes:

Cookies: Small files stored on your device that allow us to track your preferences, enhance navigation, and analyze website traffic. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings.
Website Preferences: Information about your interactions with our website, such as your password to our website, pages visited, time spent on the site, and features used.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) Address: We may collect your IP address to understand visitor demographics, improve security, and detect potential fraud or unauthorized activity.
We do not use cookies or similar technologies to track users across third-party websites, nor do we share this data with third parties for advertising purposes.

How We Protect Your Information

We implement and adhere to industry-standard security measures to protect confidentiality, security and integrity or your data through internal confidentiality policies and procedures and, confidentiality agreements, including:

Secure data storage and encryption of electronic data.
Restricted access to sensitive information, including physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards.
Regular reviews to ensure compliance with privacy laws and regulations.

Information Sharing

We do not sell or share mobile or personal data with third parties, affiliates, or partners for marketing or promotional purposes. We only share data with third parties when it is strictly necessary to deliver our service and only under binding agreements that ensure confidentiality. Under no circumstances will mobile data be shared or sold for advertising or promotional use.:

With your explicit consent.
To comply with legal requirements or respond to lawful requests, such as if we must share information to protect against fraud, in response to a court subpoena, or as part of actual or threatened legal proceedings or alternate dispute resolution.
With trusted third-party service providers who assist in delivering our services or perform support services on our behalf (e.g., IT support, tax or data processing, transmission of electronic returns or data, secure file storage), under strict confidentiality agreements. We do not sell or otherwise disclose our client list or any of your information to outside companies for their marketing or solicitation use.
With other parties who assure our compliance with professional accounting standards, such as peer review, or who conduct due diligence procedures, such as a sale or merger of our practice.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

Access and review the information we maintain about you.
Request corrections to inaccuracies in your records.
Withdraw consent for data use where applicable.

Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as required by law or to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy. Once no longer needed, we securely delete or destroy your data.

Protection of Inactive Client Information

If you are no longer an active client or your relationship with GVZ has ended, we will continue to protect your personal and financial information as described in this Privacy Policy.

We retain client information as required by law, regulatory requirements, or business needs.
This information will remain securely stored and protected from unauthorized access or disclosure.
When no longer needed, we will securely delete or destroy the information in accordance with our data retention policies.

Personal Information on Children and COPPA Compliance

GVZ is committed to protecting the privacy of children. We comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and do not knowingly collect or maintain personal information from children under the age of 13 without parental consent.

Purpose: We only collect personal information about children when it is required to provide services for tax or financial purposes (e.g., dependent tax information).
Parental Consent: If information about children is required, it must be provided by a parent or legal guardian.
Website Use: Our website and services are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children through our online platforms.
If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under the age of 13 without parental consent, we will promptly delete such information. If you believe we have collected information about a child without appropriate consent, please contact us immediately using the contact information below.

Tax Deadline SMS Reminder Program

1. Program Description: The Tax Deadline SMS Reminder Program is an opt-in text messaging service used to send administrative reminders regarding a client’s individualized tax document submission deadlines. Messages are sent only to clients who have provided prior express consent to receive text messages. Participants may receive reminder messages no more than one (1) time per calendar week and only when a tax document deadline is approaching. Messages are strictly informational and transactional in nature and do not include marketing or promotional content. Message and data rates may apply. Consent to receive text messages is not a condition of purchasing services. Recipients may opt out at any time by replying STOP or by contacting our office directly. Upon opting out, no further text messages will be sent.
2. You can cancel the SMS service at any time. Just text “STOP” to the short code. After you send the SMS message “STOP” to us, we will send you an SMS message to confirm that you have been unsubscribed. After this, you will no longer receive SMS messages from us. If you want to join again, just sign up as you did the first time and we will start sending SMS messages to you again.
3. If you are experiencing issues with the messaging program you can reply with the keyword HELP for more assistance, or you can get help directly at gvz@gvzllp.com or 715-386-1212.
4. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages
5. As always, message and data rates may apply for any messages sent to you from us and to us from you. You will receive one message or less per calendar week. If you have any questions about your text plan or data plan, it is best to contact your wireless provider.
6. If you have any questions regarding privacy, please read our privacy policy (above).

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The most current version will always be available on our website or upon request.

Our Pledge to You

Our professional ethical obligations and responsibilities demand the highest regard and duties for the confidentiality of your personal information and the security of your privacy.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, please contact us at:

Guinn, Vinopal and Zahradka, LLP Accountants
110 E 3rd St
New Richmond, WI 54017
715-246-6976
gvz@gvzllp.com

Last Updated: 01/30/2025