Privacy Policy

We collect information you provide directly to us when you: • Fill out the contact form on our website • Subscribe to The Compass Newsletter • Use our free financial calculators or assessment tools • Engage us for professional accounting, tax, or advisory services • Authorize our platform to connect to your financial software (e.g., QuickBooks Online) • Communicate with us by email, phone, or through our client portal The types of information we may collect include your name, email address, phone number, business name, tax identification numbers, and financial data necessary to provide our professional services. When you use our website calculators, the inputs you enter are processed entirely in your browser and are not transmitted to or stored on our servers.

When you authorize our platform (406 Accounting Engine) to connect to your QuickBooks Online account, we access your financial data solely to provide the professional services you have engaged us for. This section describes how we handle that data.

We use the information we collect to: • Provide the professional accounting, tax, and advisory services you have engaged us for • Respond to your inquiries and communicate about your account • Send The Compass Newsletter and other communications you have opted into • Improve our website, tools, and services • Comply with legal and professional obligations We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal or financial information to third parties. We do not use your information for automated decision-making or profiling. We do not use your financial data for advertising purposes.

If you subscribe to The Compass Newsletter, we will use your email address to send you periodic financial insights, tax planning updates, and business advisory content relevant to small and mid-sized businesses. You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the "Unsubscribe" link in any email or by contacting us directly. We do not send unsolicited commercial email.

We take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect your information: • Encryption in transit: All data transmitted between your systems, our platform, and third-party APIs (including Intuit) uses TLS/HTTPS encryption • Encryption at rest: Sensitive data stored on our infrastructure is encrypted using AES-256 encryption • Access controls: Access to client data is restricted to authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis • Infrastructure: Our platform is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) with SOC 2 compliant data centers located in the United States • Authentication: Our platform uses secure authentication including multi-factor authentication for administrative access No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. If you have reason to believe your interaction with us is no longer secure, please contact us immediately.

We retain your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected. For professional services clients: • Tax records: Retained for a minimum of seven (7) years from the date of filing, consistent with IRS record-keeping requirements • Financial records: Retained for the duration of our engagement and for a minimum of five (5) years thereafter • Communication records: Retained for the duration of our engagement and a reasonable period thereafter If you request deletion of your information, we will comply unless we are required to retain it by law, professional standards, or legitimate business purposes.

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to understand how visitors use our site. This includes basic analytics such as page views, session duration, and referral sources. This data is aggregated and does not identify individual visitors. Specifically, we use Google Analytics 4 to measure traffic and understand which pages are most useful to visitors. Google Analytics sets its own cookies and processes usage data under Google's privacy policy. You can control cookie settings through your browser preferences. Disabling cookies may affect some functionality of the website, but will not prevent you from accessing our content or using our tools. We do not use advertising cookies or share analytics data with advertising networks.

Our platform integrates with the following categories of third-party services to deliver professional services: • Financial software: QuickBooks Online (Intuit) for accounting data access • Cloud infrastructure: Amazon Web Services for secure data processing and storage • AI services: Amazon Bedrock for document processing and analysis (your data is not used to train AI models) • E-signature: Zoho Sign for secure document signing • Communication: Email and scheduling tools for client communication • Website analytics: Google Analytics 4 to measure site usage and improve our content Each third-party service has its own privacy policy. We select partners that maintain appropriate security and privacy standards. We do not embed third-party advertising networks, social media tracking pixels, or data brokers on our website or platform, and we do not sell or share your information with them.

We do not sell, lease, rent, or trade your personal or financial information. We may share your information only in the following limited circumstances: • With your consent: When you explicitly authorize us to share information with a specific party (e.g., your lender, attorney, or business partner) • Service providers: With third-party services that help us deliver our platform (e.g., AWS for hosting), under strict contractual obligations to protect your data • Legal requirements: When required by law, regulation, legal process, or enforceable government request • Professional obligations: As required by applicable professional standards and regulatory bodies

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, including: • The right to access the personal information we hold about you • The right to request correction of inaccurate information • The right to request deletion of your information (subject to legal and professional retention requirements) • The right to revoke authorization for third-party data connections (e.g., QuickBooks Online) • The right to opt out of marketing communications at any time • The right to receive a copy of your data in a portable format To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at the address below. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

Our website and services are directed to business owners and professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, or applicable law. We will post the updated policy on this page with a revised "Last Updated" date. Material changes will be communicated to active clients via email. Your continued use of our website or services after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us: 406 Consulting Group Columbia Falls, Montana Email: contact@406-group.com Website: https://406consultinggroup.com We are committed to resolving any privacy concerns you may have and will respond to your inquiry within 5 business days.