General Advice Disclaimer

The advice provided on this website is general advice only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this advice you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs. If any products are detailed on this website, you should obtain a Product Disclosure Statement relating to the products and consider its contents before making any decisions.

Rundles Chartered Accountants & Financial Planners disclaim all and any guarantees, undertakings and warranties, expressed or implied, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever (including human or computer error, negligent or otherwise, or incidental or consequential loss or damage) arising out of or in connection with any use or reliance on the information or advice on this site. The user must accept sole responsibility associated with the use of the material on this site, irrespective of the purpose for which such use or results are applied. The information on this website is no substitute for financial advice.

Privacy Policy

Contents

1. Privacy Policy

2. How do we collect personal information from you?

3. What type of personal information do we collect?

4. How do we use your personal information?

5. How do we disclose your personal information?

6. Access to your personal information

7. Accuracy and correction

8. Our security procedures

9. Data breach notification

10. Identifiers

11. Links to other sites

12. Collecting data

13. Changes to our Privacy Policy

14. Complaints resolution

15. Disclaimer

1. Privacy Policy

1.1 Rundles (Company) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your privacy. The Company understands the importance you attach to information that identifies you (your ‘personal information’) and we want to help you protect it.

1.2 We are bound by and committed to supporting, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This Privacy Policy explains how we handle information that we learn about you when you submit any personal information to us or our associated entities in person, by mail or email or by visiting our website.

2. How do we collect personal information from you?

2.1 We will only collect personal information which you have voluntarily provided to us or consented to us collecting the information. We may collect personal information about you in a variety of ways, for example:

• When you visit or use our website;
• When you retain our services;
• When you register for secure access to our website and login to your account on our website (if applicable);
• When you contact us or our associated entities, for example by mail, email or telephone;
• When you apply for employment with us; and
• From third party entities, such as law enforcement agencies and other government or regulatory bodies.

2.2 From time to time, you may be able to visit our website or deal with us anonymously or by pseudonym. However, we require certain personal information to be able to provide you with the services and information you request. If you do not provide us with certain personal information, we may not be able to provide you with access to those services or respond to your request.

3. What type of personal information do we collect?

3.1 The type of personal information we may collect from you includes (but is not limited to):

• names, address, email, phone numbers and job titles;
• information in documents such as passport or driver’s licence;
• tax file numbers (TFNs) and other identification numbers such as Medicare number;
• date of birth and gender;
• financial information;
• details of superannuation and insurance arrangements;
• sensitive information (with your consent), such as health information or membership details of professional or trade associations or political parties;
• bank account details, shareholdings and details of investments;
• educational qualifications, employment history and salary;
• visa or work permit status; and
• personal information about your spouse and dependants.

4. How do we use your personal information?

4.1 The Company will use the information you supply for the purpose of providing you with the service(s) agreed under our engagement, such as accounting or business advisory services.

4.2 We may also use the information we collect for our internal business and management processes (for example, accounting or auditing purposes), monitoring and improving our website, keeping you informed about our services and company news, and for any other purposes that would be reasonably expected by you and to allow us to comply with our obligations under the law.

4.3 The Company may also use your personal information for the purpose of marketing our services. If you do not want to receive marketing material from us, you can unsubscribe by contacting us as detailed below:

• For electronic communications, you can click on the unsubscribe function in the communication;
• For hard copy communications, you can email the Company via mail@rundles.com.au informing us that you wish to unsubscribe.

5. How do we disclose your personal information?

5.1 Your personal information will only be disclosed to those employees or consultants of the Company related to the agreed provision of services. Depending on the nature of the engagement, we may need to disclose your personal information to third parties which may include service and content providers (for example accounting or auditing service providers or our website hosting service providers), dealers and agents, or our contractors and advisors.

5.2 The Company shall not knowingly provide personal information to any third party for any other purpose without your prior consent unless ordered to do so by a law enforcement body, court of law or other governmental or regulatory body or agency.

5.3 The Company may store, process or back-up your personal information on servers that are located overseas (including through third party service providers). The privacy laws in other countries might not be the same as in Australia. However, where the Company provides your personal information to third parties overseas, the Company will take such steps as are reasonable to ensure that your information is handled and stored in accordance with Australian privacy laws and this Policy.

6. Access to your personal information

6.1 You can request us to provide you with access to personal information we hold about you by sending us an email: reception@rundles.com.au (no spam please) or writing to us at PO Box 223, COLLINS STREET WEST VIC 8007.

6.2 We may allow an inspection of your personal information in person, or provide copies or a summary of relevant documents, depending on what is the most appropriate in the circumstances. Any charge we make for providing access will be reasonable and will not apply to lodging a request for access. Your request to access your personal information will be dealt with in a reasonable time.

6.3 Note that we need not provide access to personal information if a request is frivolous, or where to provide access would pose a threat to health or public safety, unreasonable interference with another person’s privacy, or be a breach of the law. If we refuse access, we will provide you with reasons for doing so.

7. Accuracy and correction

7.1 To enable us to keep our records properly, please notify us if you believe that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date and we will take reasonable steps, in the circumstances, to ensure that it is corrected. You can notify us by sending us an email: reception@rundles.com.au (no spam please) or writing to us at PO Box 223, COLLINS STREET WEST VIC 8007.

8. Our security procedures

8.1 The Company takes your privacy very seriously. We will take reasonable steps in the circumstances to protect any personal information you provide to us from misuse, interference or loss and unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

8.2 We will also deidentify and destroy the personal information we hold about you once our legal obligations cease. Our security procedures are reviewed from time to time and we update them when relevant.

8.3 Please be aware that the transmission of data over the internet is never guaranteed to be completely secure. It is possible that third parties not under the control of the Company may be able to access or intercept transmissions or private communications without the Company’s permission or knowledge. The Company takes all reasonable steps, in the circumstances, to protect your personal information. However, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us. Such transmissions are done at your own risk.

9. Data breach notification

9.1 Under the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act 2017 (Cth), the Company is required to give notice to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and affected individuals of an “eligible data breach”. This means that if we hold personal information about you, and there is unauthorised access to or disclosure of your personal information, and if you, as the “affected individual” would be likely to suffer serious harm from this access or disclosure, we must notify both you and the OAIC.

9.2 “Serious harm” could include identity theft, threats to physical safety, economic and financial harm, harm to reputation, embarrassment, discrimination or harassment. The test is whether a “reasonable person” would expect you to suffer serious harm.

9.3 If you are likely to suffer serious harm from a data breach, we will notify you of:

• the nature of the eligible data breach (i.e. how the information was accessed or disclosed);
• the type of information that was accessed or disclosed;
• the steps that we have taken to control or reduce the harm, and those that we plan to take;
• any assistance we can offer you, such as arranging for credit monitoring;
• anything that we can suggest you can do to assist yourself or mitigate the harm;
• whether the breach has also been notified to the OAIC;
• how you can contact us for information or to complain; and
• how to make a complaint with the OAIC.

9.4 We will notify you using the same method that we usually use to communicate with you. If it is not practicable for us to notify you personally, we will publish the notification on our website.

9.5 There are some circumstances in which we do not have to notify you of a data breach. These include:

• where we have taken remedial action before any serious harm has been caused by the breach;
• if you have been notified of the breach by another entity;
• if notification would be inconsistent with Commonwealth secrecy laws; or
• where the OAIC declares that notification does not have to be given.

9.6 Depending on the nature of the breach and the harm, we will also consider informing other third parties such as the police or other regulators or professional bodies.

10. Identifiers

10.1 We will not adopt as our own, any government identifiers you may provide to us such as TFNs etc.

11. Links to other sites

11.1 The Company’s website may provide links to other sites for you to access. You should be aware that these other sites are not subject to this Privacy Policy or our privacy standards and procedures. You will need to contact them directly to ascertain their privacy standards.

12. Collecting data

12.1 The Company’s website may deposit “cookies” in a visitor’s computer. Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to an individual’s hard drive for record keeping purposes. Cookies are only sent back to the website that deposited them when a visitor returns to that site.

12.2 Cookies make it easier for you by saving your preferences while you are at our site. We never save personal identifiable information in cookies. Most web browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You can, however, reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.

13. Changes to our Privacy Policy

13.1 This information relates to our current Privacy Policy. From time to time, we may vary this policy for any reason. We will publish any changes on this website.

13.2 By continuing to use our website and continuing to provide us with your information, you confirm your acceptance of these changes. This Privacy Policy was last amended in October 2021.

14. Complaints resolution

14.1 The Company is committed to providing a fair and responsible system for the handling of complaints from parties whose personal information we hold. If you have any concerns regarding the way we have handled your privacy, please send us an email at reception@rundles.com.au or write to us at PO Box 223, COLLINS STREET WEST VIC 8007. We will address any concerns you have through our complaints handling process and we will inform you of the outcome of your complaint within a reasonable timeframe.

14.2 If after receiving our response, you still consider that your privacy complaint has not been resolved, you may refer your concerns to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au

15. Disclaimer

15.1 By using the Company’s website, you signify your understanding and agreement to comply with all terms and conditions and confirm your acceptance of the terms of this Privacy Policy and consent to the use of your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy.

15.2 If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use the website or otherwise provide us with your personal information.

Revised Terms of Business – for Rundles Website

Terms of Business – Engaged Clients of Rundles

1. Who may instruct us

As an engaged client, you, and any other person you nominate in writing from time to time (provided we have acknowledged such nomination), are authorised to give us instructions and information on behalf of all persons we are acting for and to receive our advice and documents on their behalf.

If we are acting for a business, and we receive conflicting advice, information or instructions from different persons, we may refer the matter to the board of directors, partners or proprietors (as applicable) and act only as requested by them.

2. You and your spouse/partner

We will advise you and your spouse/partner on the basis that you are a family unit with shared interests. We may deal with either of you and may discuss with either of you the affairs of the other. If you wish to change these arrangements, please let us know.

3. Know your customer

We may be required to verify your identity for the purposes of the anti-money laundering laws. We may request from you such information as we require for these purposes and make searches of appropriate databases.

4. Your responsibilities

You must provide us with all information necessary for dealing with your affairs including information which we reasonably request, in sufficient time to enable our services to be completed before any applicable deadline. We will rely on such information being true, correct and complete and will not audit the information except to the extent we are specifically engaged to provide audit-related services.

You authorise us to approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs.

You must keep us informed on a timely basis of changes in your circumstances that may affect our services.

5. Qualifications on our services

To the extent our services involve the performance of services established by law, nothing in the engagement letter or these terms reduce our obligations under such law.

You must not act on advice given by us on an earlier occasion without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid.

Our services are limited exclusively to those you have engaged us to perform. Unless otherwise specified in the engagement letter, our services cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities and errors, including fraud and other illegal acts, in your affairs.

Where our engagement is recurring, we may amend our engagement letter and these terms where we consider it is necessary or appropriate to do so. If you do not accept such amendments, you must notify us promptly in which case you may terminate our engagement in accordance with section 18 below and those amendments will not apply prior to such termination.

6. Reliance on advice

We will endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. Advice given verbally is not intended to be relied upon unless confirmed in writing. If we provide verbal advice (for example during a meeting or telephone conversation) that you wish to rely on, you must ask us to confirm the advice in writing.

7. Investment and financial advisory advice

We will not provide you with investment or financial advice regulated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) unless we have expressly agreed to do so in writing, specifying an applicable Australian Financial Services Licence number.

8. Professional obligations

We will comply with the professional and ethical standards of the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board, available at apesb.org.au. This includes APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards), which among other things contains provisions that apply if we become aware of any actual or potential ‘non-compliance with governing laws or regulations’ (NOCLAR). Where any such non-compliance poses substantial harm (such as serious adverse consequences to investors, creditors, employees, auditor, group auditor or the public), we may be required to disclose the matter to an appropriate authority.

9. Conflicts of interest

We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest in our relationship with you (including between the various persons your engagement letter covers) or in our relationship with you and another client. Where conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we will be unable to provide further services to some or all of the persons to whom this engagement applies. If this arises, we will inform you promptly.

We may act for other clients whose interests are not the same as or are adverse to yours, subject to the obligations of conflicts of interest and confidentiality referred to above.

10. Fees and payment

Our fees will be charged on the basis set out in the engagement letter and have been set based on the level of skill, responsibility, importance and value of the advice, as well as the level of risk.

If we have provided you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, this is an estimate only and our actual fees may vary.

We may provide a fixed fee for the provision of specific services. If it becomes apparent to us, due to unforeseen circumstances, that a fixed fee is inadequate, we may notify you of a revised figure and seek your agreement to it.

In some cases, you may be entitled to assistance with your professional fees, particularly in relation to any investigation into your tax affairs by the ATO. Assistance may be provided through insurance policies you hold or via membership of a professional or trade body. Other than where such insurance was arranged through us, you will need to advise us of any such insurance cover that you have. You will remain liable for our fees regardless of whether all or part are to be paid by someone else.

We will bill periodically and our invoices are due for payment within 14 days of issue. Any disbursements and expenses we incur in the course of performing our services will be added to our invoices where appropriate.

Unless otherwise agreed to the contrary, our fees do not include the costs of any counsel, or other professionals or third parties engaged with your approval.

We may charge interest on late paid invoices at the rate of 2% above the RBA cash rate. We may also suspend our services or to cease to act for you on giving written notice if payment of any fees is unduly delayed.

We intend to exercise these rights only where it is fair and reasonable to do so.

11. Lien

If permitted by law or professional guidelines, we may exercise a lien over all materials or records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.

12. Client monies

We maintain a trust account for dealing with client monies on their behalf. We can only accept money into our trust account on your behalf if you have provided us with a written trust account authority letter which details the authority given to us in relation to that trust money.

13. Confidentiality

We will take all reasonable steps to keep your information confidential, except where:

· we need to disclose your information to our service providers (including auditors of client monies if applicable) or regulatory bodies in performing the services, our professional advisers or insurers or as part of an external peer review from time to time. Our files may also be subject to review as part of the quality review program of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. By accepting your engagement you acknowledge that, if requested, our files relating to your engagement will be made available under this program. We will take reasonable steps to ensure any such recipient (other than a regulatory body) keeps such information confidential on the same basis;

· we are required by law, regulation, a court of competent authority, or those professional obligations referred to in section 8 above, to disclose the information;

· we provide limited information (but only to the extent reasonably necessary) to potential purchasers (or their professional advisors) of our practice but we will take reasonable steps to ensure that any such recipient keeps the disclosed information confidential; or

· you give us permission to disclose the information.

We may retain your information during and after our engagement to comply with our legal requirements or as part of our regular IT back-up and archiving practices. We will continue to hold such information confidentially.

We may mention that you are a client for promotional purposes.

14. Privacy

You must make all necessary notifications and obtain any necessary consents for us to process personal information you provide to us. We collect and use that personal information for the purposes of providing the services described in the engagement letter to you and we will comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) when processing that personal information. Our privacy policy provides further details of our privacy practices.

15. Ownership of materials

We own the copyright and all other intellectual property rights in everything we create in connection with your engagement. Unless we agree otherwise, anything we create in connection with your agreement may be used by you only for the purpose for which you have engaged us.

16. Limitation of liability

Our liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

You agree not to bring any claim against any of our principals, partners, directors, shareholders or employees in their personal capacity.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable to you for:

· indirect, special or consequential losses or damages of any kind; or

· liability arising due to the acts or omissions of any other person or circumstances outside our reasonable control, or your breach of these terms.

17. Limitation of third party rights

Our advice and information is for your sole use, and we accept no responsibility to any third party, unless we have expressly agreed in the engagement letter that a specified third party may rely on our work.

18. Termination

Each of us may terminate this agreement by giving not less than 21 days’ notice in writing to the other party except where a conflict of interest has arisen, you fail to cooperate with us or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or any other person with misleading or factually inaccurate information, in which case we may terminate this agreement immediately. Termination will not affect any accrued rights.

19. Communication

You must advise of any changes to your contact details. We may send any communications to the last contact details you have provided. Unless you instruct us otherwise we may, where appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties via email or by other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus checking emails and any attachments. There is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties in any form of communication, whether electronic, postal or otherwise. We are not responsible for any such matters beyond our control.

20. Applicable Law

Our engagement is governed by Victorian law. The courts sitting in Victoria will have non-exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any dispute between us.

21. Interpretation

If any provision of the engagement letter or these terms is void, that provision will be severed and the remainder will continue to apply. If there is any conflict between the engagement letter and these terms, these terms prevail.

22. Disputes and complaints

If you have any concerns about our costs or services, please speak to the person responsible for this engagement, who is identified in your engagement letter. To resolve your concerns we have policies and procedures in place to deal appropriately with complaints and will use best endeavours to resolve a complaint or dispute to the mutual satisfaction of the parties involved. We may require you to detail your complaint in writing to allow us to fully investigate any concerns that you raise.

23. Third party responsibilities

We may utilise outsourced service providers and cloud computing service providers, who may be located within Australia or overseas.

To perform the services, we may provide these third parties with access to your data, to the extent this is required to perform the services. 

Your data will be stored in servers physically located in Australia and in accordance with our Cyber Security Policy, the security practices of the third party service provider and our Privacy Policy. 

24. Consumer Data Rights

You may consent for an Accredited Data Recipient under the Consumer Data Right (CDR) to disclose your CDR data to us. You may nominate us as your Trusted Adviser for this purpose. As your Trusted Adviser, we will only access the data necessary to provide the services in your engagement letter.

25. Professional Charge Rates

The following table outlines our current hourly charge rates for the professional services we provide. These rates are updated annually.

Client COVID-19 Safety Information

For the safety of all our staff, clients and visitors, we are requiring all clients and other visitors to adhere to our COVID-19 safety protocols.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

1. To obtain a safer and faster service from our team members, we recommend that you call or email to make an appointment whenever possible.
2. Under the current CovidSafe requirements, we will be conducting business as usual in the office, however the office doors will remain locked, and clients/visitors will need to ring the doorbell for assistance.
3. Clients/visitors to the office will be required to be double vaccinated, wear a face mask and practice safe distancing.
4. Clients/visitors to the office will be asked to provide verification of their COVID19 vaccination status via any of the government regulated certification services.
5. Clients/visitors to the office will be asked to “Check-in” either via the Service Victoria QR Check-In service, or manually by the register at reception.
6. If you are experiencing flu like symptoms or have recently come in contact with a person who has had indirect or direct exposure to COVID-19, please do not attend our offices in person. Ring the accountant to cancel the appointment and set up an online meeting.
7. Clients/visitors details will be shared with local public health authorities if any meeting participants advise that they have been exposed to COVID-19.