Privacy Policy
Last updated: 21 October 2026
Accountant Staff provides managed South African accounting teams to US CPA and accounting firms. This policy explains what personal information Accountant Staff collects through its website and business dealings, why, who it is shared with, and the choices and rights available to you.
The short version:
- Accountant Staff collects only what it needs to respond to enquiries, deliver its services, recruit, and run its business.
- Accountant Staff does not sell personal information, and does not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
- Non-essential cookies are only used with your consent.
- You can ask to see, correct, or delete your information at any time by emailing contact@accountantstaff.com.
1. Who is responsible for your information
Accountant Staff Limited, a company registered in Malta (company number C 116663), with its registered office at Pyketree Business Centre, Suite 3, Industry Street, Zone 5, Central Business District, Santa Venera CBD 5030, Malta is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.
In this policy, “Accountant Staff” means Accountant Staff Limited.
For any privacy question or request, contact:
- Email: contact@accountantstaff.com
- Post: Accountant Staff Limited, Pyketree Business Centre, Suite 3, Industry Street, Zone 5, Central Business District, Santa Venera CBD 5030, Malta
- Contact form: accountantstaff.com/contact
2. What information Accountant Staff collects
Information you give directly, for example when you fill in the contact form, email, book a call, or become a client:
- Name, job title, firm name, business email, phone number
- Details about your firm and what you need (client count, services, team size)
- Anything else you choose to include in a message or on a call
- Billing and contract details if your firm becomes a client
Information collected automatically when you visit the website:
- Device and browser type, IP address, approximate location (country or city level)
- Pages viewed, referring site, date and time of visit
- Cookie and similar identifiers, only as described in section 5
Information from other sources:
- Publicly available business information, such as your firm’s website and professional profiles like LinkedIn
- Referrals from people who know you
Accountant Staff does not ask for, and asks you not to send, sensitive information such as health data, government ID numbers, or financial account details through the website.
3. How the information is used, and the legal basis
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Accountant Staff needs a legal basis for each use of personal information.
| Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Responding to enquiries and arranging calls | Steps before entering a contract, or legitimate interests in answering business enquiries |
| Delivering services and managing the client relationship | Performance of a contract |
| Invoicing, accounting, tax and record keeping | Legal obligation |
| Sending relevant business updates and content to business contacts | Legitimate interests, or consent where the law requires it. You can opt out at any time |
| Website analytics and improving the site | Consent (via the cookie banner) |
| Keeping systems and information secure, preventing fraud | Legitimate interests |
| Handling complaints, legal claims and requests from authorities | Legal obligation or legitimate interests |
Accountant Staff does not use personal information for automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.
Opting out of marketing: use the unsubscribe link in any email, or email contact@accountantstaff.com. Opting out does not affect service emails about an active engagement.
4. Client firm data handled during service delivery
When Accountant Staff teams work inside a client firm’s systems (for example bookkeeping, month-end close, AP/AR or payroll), the information they handle belongs to that client firm and its own clients.
For that information, Accountant Staff acts as a service provider (a “processor” under GDPR) and follows the client firm’s instructions. How it is handled is governed by the client agreement and data processing terms, not by this policy. If you are a client of one of those firms, please contact the firm directly with privacy questions.
5. Cookies and analytics
The website uses two kinds of cookies:
- Essential cookies, needed for the site to work and to remember your cookie choices. These do not need consent.
- Analytics cookies, used to understand how visitors use the site, provided by Google Analytics 4 (Google LLC, a US company certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework). These are only set if you accept them in the cookie banner.
You can change your choice at any time by clearing cookies in your browser, which brings the cookie banner back on your next visit. Accountant Staff honours Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signals as an opt-out of any sale or sharing of personal information.
6. Who the information is shared with
Accountant Staff shares personal information only where needed, and only with:
- Service providers that support the business, such as website hosting, form handling, email, CRM, cloud storage, video calls and analytics. They may only use the information to provide their service.
- Its South African delivery team and employer-of-record provider, so staff can be engaged and services delivered.
- Professional advisers and corporate service providers, such as accountants, auditors, lawyers, banks and its Malta company administrator.
- Authorities, where required by law or to protect legal rights.
- A buyer or successor, if the business is sold or restructured, under equivalent privacy protections.
Accountant Staff does not sell personal information. No mobile numbers or text message consent data are shared with third parties for their own marketing.
7. International transfers
Accountant Staff is based in Malta, its delivery team is in South Africa, and most of its clients and several of its service providers are in the United States. Personal information will therefore move between these countries.
When information leaves the European Economic Area (EEA), Accountant Staff uses recognised safeguards:
- To South Africa: the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, plus the protections of South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
- To the United States: the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the recipient is certified under it, and Standard Contractual Clauses otherwise.
You can request a copy of the relevant safeguards by emailing contact@accountantstaff.com.
8. How long information is kept
Information is kept only as long as it is needed, then deleted or anonymised.
| Information | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Enquiries that do not lead to an engagement | 24 months from last contact |
| Client contracts, invoices and accounting records | 10 years after the engagement ends, as required by Maltese law |
| Job applications (unsuccessful) | 12 months, unless you agree to longer |
| Analytics data | 14 months |
| Marketing contacts | Until you opt out |
9. Security
Accountant Staff uses technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, including access controls, encryption in transit, secure devices for its team, and confidentiality obligations for everyone who handles client data.
No system is completely secure. If a breach affects your information and is likely to put your rights at risk, Accountant Staff will notify you and the relevant regulator as the law requires.
10. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you can ask Accountant Staff to:
- Confirm whether it holds your information and give you a copy
- Correct information that is wrong or incomplete
- Delete your information
- Restrict or object to certain uses, including direct marketing
- Transfer your information to you or another organisation in a usable format
- Withdraw consent at any time, where consent is the legal basis
EU, EEA and UK residents have all of the rights above under the GDPR or UK GDPR. Accountant Staff responds within one month.
South African residents have equivalent rights under POPIA, and can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa).
US residents of states with consumer privacy laws (such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia and Texas) may have the right to know, access, correct, delete, and opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, targeted advertising and profiling. Accountant Staff does not sell or share personal information or use it for targeted advertising. Accountant Staff responds within 45 days and will not treat you differently for using your rights. You can use an authorised agent, and if a request is declined, you can appeal by replying to the decision.
To make a request, email contact@accountantstaff.com. Accountant Staff may need to confirm your identity first. There is no charge unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive.
11. Other things to know
Job applicants. If you apply to join an Accountant Staff team, your CV, qualifications, references and interview notes are used to assess your application and, if successful, to engage you through the employer-of-record provider. This is processed under POPIA and the GDPR.
Children. The website and services are for businesses and are not aimed at anyone under 18. Accountant Staff does not knowingly collect children’s information.
Other websites. Links to other websites are provided for convenience. Accountant Staff is not responsible for their privacy practices.
Changes to this policy. This policy will be updated when the law or Accountant Staff’s practices change. The date at the top shows the latest version. Significant changes will be highlighted on the website.
12. Questions and complaints
Please contact Accountant Staff first at contact@accountantstaff.com. Every query receives a response within one month.
You also have the right to complain to a data protection regulator:
US residents: your state attorney general or privacy agency
Malta (lead regulator): Information and Data Protection Commissioner, idpc.org.mt
EU residents: the regulator in your own country
South Africa: the Information Regulator, inforegulator.org.za