Client Confidentiality and Data Handling Statement
Effective date: June 1, 2026
When you share your financial records with Paradise Coast Financial LLC, you are trusting us with the most sensitive information your business has. This statement sets out exactly how we handle it.
Our commitment
Your financial information is confidential. We use it only to perform the work you engaged us to do. We do not sell it, trade it, share it with other clients, use it to train any system, or use it for any purpose you have not authorized. This duty continues after our engagement ends.
What we collect for an engagement
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Financial statements, including balance sheets and income statements
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General ledger detail, trial balances, and supporting schedules
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Budgets, forecasts, and prior-period comparatives
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Bank, loan, and payroll summaries where the engagement requires them
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Entity and ownership information needed for consolidation or reporting
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Operational metrics that feed your KPI dashboard
We ask only for what the engagement needs. If you are unsure whether to send something, ask us first.
How files reach us
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Secure upload form on our website — Preferred
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Direct read-only access you grant in your accounting or ERP system — Preferred
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Email attachment — Accepted, but less secure; we recommend the upload form
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Text message, social media message, or public file links — Not accepted
Uploads travel over an encrypted TLS connection. We never ask for your accounting system password. Where access is needed, we ask you to create a named user for us with the narrowest permissions the work allows, so access is visible to you and revocable at any time.
Where it is stored and who can see it
Client files are stored in access-controlled business accounts protected by strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, encrypted in transit and at rest. Access is limited to the people performing your engagement. We do not store client financial records on personal devices, personal cloud accounts, or removable drives.
Service providers
We use established business platforms to host our website and upload forms, process payments, run business email, and store and process documents. Each provider is bound to use data only to provide services to us. We do not engage subcontractors who would access your financial records without telling you first.
Artificial intelligence tools
We use AI tools in our practice for drafting, analysis support, and research. Where any AI tool is used in connection with client work, we use business-tier tools that do not train on submitted content, and we minimize what is submitted, removing identifying details where the task does not require them. Client financial records are not entered into public or consumer AI chat tools.
How long we keep it
We retain engagement records and the financial documents supporting our work for seven years after the engagement ends, consistent with professional and tax recordkeeping practice. After that period, records are deleted or securely destroyed. You may ask for earlier deletion of source files we no longer need, and we will honor that except where we are required to retain them.
If something goes wrong
If we become aware of unauthorized access to or disclosure of your confidential information, we will notify you without undue delay and in any event within 72 hours of confirming it, tell you what we know, what was affected, what we are doing, and what we recommend you do. We will cooperate with any notification obligation you have.
Your rights
At any time you may ask us what we hold for you, ask for a copy of what you provided, correct inaccurate information, revoke system access you granted, or ask us to delete source files we no longer need. Email office@paradisecoastfinancial.com and we will respond within 10 business days.
When we may have to disclose
We will disclose confidential information only with your authorization or where compelled by law, subpoena, court order, or a binding professional or regulatory obligation. Unless the law prohibits it, we will tell you before we disclose, so you can respond.
What we ask of you
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Send files through the secure upload form rather than email where you can
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Tell us promptly when someone leaves your team so access can be adjusted
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Let us know if any file contains personal information about your employees or customers, so we can handle it with the care it needs
Contact
Paradise Coast Financial LLC
Fort Myers, Florida
office@paradisecoastfinancial.com
239-371-0834