Privacy Policy

1. Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through:

• The Website at balancebeamtax.com and any associated subdomains.
• Our client portal at portal.balancebeamtax.com.
• Contact forms, intake questionnaires, scheduling tools, and similar features.
• Email, SMS, and phone communications with us.
• The course of providing bookkeeping, tax preparation, advisory, and related services to clients.

This Policy does not replace any separate engagement letter, service agreement, or written privacy notice that may apply to a specific client relationship. Where a separate written agreement applies, that agreement controls in case of conflict.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect information you give us when you contact us, request a consultation, sign up for services, or use our portal:

• Contact information: name, email address, phone number, mailing address, business name.
• Business information: entity type, industry, revenue range, accounting status, services needed.
• Tax information: Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number, dependents, filing status, income sources, deductions, prior year returns, IRS notices, and other information necessary to prepare your tax returns.
• Financial information: bank account details, credit card information, payment history, transaction records, financial statements, and other records needed for bookkeeping services.
• Identity verification information: government-issued identification, where required.
• Communications: messages, questionnaire responses, uploaded documents, and any other information you submit through our portal or in correspondence with us.

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically

When you use the Website or portal, we automatically collect:

• Device and browser information: browser type, operating system, IP address, device identifiers.
• Usage information: pages visited, time spent, links clicked, referring source.
• Cookies and similar technologies: see Section 6 below.

2.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from:

• Payment processors (such as Stripe) when you make a payment.
• Marketing platforms (such as Go High Level) when you respond to a campaign or referral.
• Authentication providers when you log in to the portal.
• Public records and verification services when we are required to verify identity or comply with legal obligations.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide services: prepare tax returns, perform bookkeeping, deliver advisory services, communicate about your engagement.
• Manage our relationship with you: schedule consultations, send appointment reminders, respond to inquiries, send invoices and receipts.
• Operate and improve our Website and portal: maintain functionality, troubleshoot issues, analyze usage trends.
• Communicate with you: send service updates, transactional notifications, important deadlines, and (where you have not opted out) marketing communications.
• Maintain security and prevent fraud: authenticate users, detect suspicious activity, protect our systems.
• Comply with legal obligations: meet our obligations under federal and state tax laws, financial regulations, court orders, subpoenas, and other legal requirements.

4. Use of Tax Return Information — IRC Section 7216 Notice

This section applies to all tax preparation clients.

Federal law (Internal Revenue Code Section 7216 and Treasury Regulations §301.7216-1 through §301.7216-3) places strict limits on how tax return preparers may use or disclose tax return information.

Balance Beam will not use or disclose your tax return information for any purpose other than the preparation of your tax return(s) without your separate, specific, written consent.

If we ever wish to use your tax return information for any other purpose — for example, to offer you an additional service, to share your information with an affiliated business, or to use your information for marketing — we will request your written consent in a separate document that complies with IRC Section 7216 and the implementing Treasury Regulations.

You are not required to provide such consent in order to receive tax preparation services from us.

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information for cash or other consideration.

We share your information only as described below:

5.1 Service Providers and Vendors

We use third-party service providers to operate our business. These providers process information on our behalf and are contractually obligated to protect it. Categories of providers include:

• Hosting and infrastructure: Vercel (web hosting), MongoDB Atlas (database).
• Payment processing: Stripe.
• Email delivery: Resend.
• AI and search infrastructure: Anthropic (PBC), OpenAI, Pinecone (used to power our portal's AI assistant; tax return information is not shared with these providers).
• Communications and marketing: Go High Level (CRM, SMS, and email marketing).
• Workflow automation: Zapier.
• Document storage and signature: Dropbox, Adobe Sign.
• Bookkeeping software: QuickBooks Online, Puzzle.io, and similar accounting platforms used for client engagements.

We disclose information to these providers only as necessary to operate the services they provide.

5.2 Professional Advisors

We may share information with our attorneys, accountants, insurers, and other professional advisors when reasonably necessary.

5.3 Legal and Compliance Disclosures

We may disclose information when required by law, including in response to:

• A subpoena, court order, or other valid legal process.
• A request from a government agency or regulator.
• An IRS audit or examination of your return (where permitted under IRC Section 7216).
• An investigation of suspected fraud or unlawful activity.
• A request to enforce our agreements or protect the rights, property, or safety of Balance Beam, our clients, or others.

5.4 Business Transfers

If Balance Beam is involved in a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or similar transaction, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any such transfer and any material changes to this Policy.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

The Website and portal use cookies and similar technologies for:

• Essential functions: authentication, session management, security.
• Analytics: understanding how visitors use our site and improving its performance.
• Functionality: remembering your preferences.

Most browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies. If you do, some features of our Website and portal may not function correctly.

We do not currently respond to “Do Not Track” browser signals.

7. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your information. These include:

• Encryption in transit: all communications between you and our Website, portal, and email systems use industry-standard TLS encryption.
• Encryption at rest: stored data is encrypted using the encryption-at-rest features provided by our hosting and database providers.
• Access controls: access to client information is limited to authorized personnel who need it to perform their work.
• Authentication: the portal uses one-time-password (OTP) authentication; we do not store passwords in plain text.
• Vendor controls: we select third-party vendors that maintain industry-standard security practices and that contractually commit to protect data they process on our behalf.
• Monitoring: our systems log access and activity for security and audit purposes.

No system is completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized parties will never gain access to it.

If we become aware of a breach of security that results in the unauthorized access, disclosure, or acquisition of your personal information, we will notify you and any required regulatory authorities in accordance with applicable law, including California Civil Code §1798.82.

8. Financial Privacy Notice (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act)

This section applies to clients who use our bookkeeping, tax preparation, or financial advisory services and is provided pursuant to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. §6801 et seq.) and its implementing regulations.

What we collect. We collect non-public personal information about you from the sources described in Section 2 of this Policy.

What we share. We share your non-public personal information only as described in Section 5 of this Policy. We do not share your non-public personal information with non-affiliated third parties for those parties' own marketing purposes.

How we protect. We protect your non-public personal information using the security measures described in Section 7 of this Policy.

Your right to opt out. Because we do not share your non-public personal information with non-affiliated third parties for their marketing purposes, no opt-out is required.

9. California Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), gives you specific rights regarding your personal information. This section describes those rights and how to exercise them.

9.1 Categories of Personal Information We Collect

In the past 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information (as those categories are defined under California Civil Code §1798.140):

• Identifiers (name, email, phone, address, IP address, government identification numbers).
• Customer records (financial information, tax information, business records).
• Commercial information (services purchased, payment history).
• Internet or network activity (Website usage, portal activity).
• Geolocation data (general location based on IP address).
• Professional or employment-related information (when relevant to bookkeeping or tax services).
• Sensitive personal information including Social Security Numbers, financial account numbers, and information about your finances.
• Inferences drawn from the above to provide our services.

9.2 Sources of Personal Information

We collect personal information from the sources described in Section 2 of this Policy.

9.3 Business Purposes for Collection

We collect personal information for the business purposes described in Section 3 of this Policy.

9.4 Sharing of Personal Information

We share personal information with the categories of recipients described in Section 5 of this Policy. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.

9.5 Your California Privacy Rights

As a California resident, you have the right to:

• Know. Request that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the sources of that information, the business purposes for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
• Delete. Request that we delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions (such as information we are required to retain for tax, legal, or regulatory purposes).
• Correct. Request that we correct inaccurate personal information.
• Opt out of sale or sharing. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, so no opt-out is required.
• Limit use of sensitive personal information. Request that we limit the use of your sensitive personal information to purposes permitted under the CPRA.
• Non-discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

9.6 How to Exercise Your Rights

To submit a request, contact us at support@balancebeamtax.com or (626) 248-8746. We will need to verify your identity before responding. Verification typically requires confirmation of information already in our records.

We will respond to verifiable requests within 45 days. If we need additional time, we will notify you and may extend the response period by up to 45 additional days.

You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. The agent must provide written authorization signed by you, and we may require you to verify your identity directly with us.

9.7 Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, including to provide services, comply with legal and regulatory obligations (such as IRS recordkeeping requirements), resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Tax records are typically retained for at least seven years from the date of the related return.

10. Children's Privacy

The Website and our services are not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected such information, we will delete it.

11. International Users

The Website is operated from the United States and is intended for users located in the United States. If you access the Website from outside the United States, you do so at your own initiative, and you are responsible for compliance with local laws.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version is identified by the Effective Date at the top of this page. Material changes will be communicated by posting a notice on the Website or by direct notice to active clients. Your continued use of our Website, portal, or services after the Effective Date of an updated Policy constitutes acceptance of the changes.

13. Contact Us

For questions about this Privacy Policy, to exercise your rights, or to report a privacy concern, contact us:

Balance Beam
301 N. Lake Avenue, #600
Pasadena, CA 91101
Email: support@balancebeamtax.com
Phone: (626) 248-8746