1. Introduction

Pinnacle Business Consulting is a professional bookkeeping, payroll, accounting and tax firm committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the lawful processing of your personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your personal information in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2 of 2000 (PAIA).

2. Scope of this Policy

This Policy applies to all clients, prospective clients, suppliers, service providers, employees, website users, and any other data subjects whose personal information we process.

3. Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal information:

a. Personal Information

  • Full name

  • ID number or passport number

  • Tax number

  • Contact details (email, phone number, address)

  • Banking details

  • Income information

b. Employment & Business Information

  • Company registration number

  • CIPC documents

  • Employee records

  • Financial statements and related records

  • Customer and supplier information

c. Special Personal Information (when applicable)

  • Information relating to race, age, health, biometric data (only where necessary and with consent).

4. How We Collect Personal Information

We collect personal information directly from you when you:

  • Engage our services

  • Submit queries via our website or forms

  • Provide documents and information for compliance purposes and/or advice

We may also collect information from third parties with your consent or where legally permitted (e.g. SARS, CIPC, or credit bureaus).

a. Cookies

This website uses cookies which are stored on your browser. You can usually modify your browser settings to prevent this happening. However, by disabling cookies, or certain types of cookie, you may hinder your user experience on this and other websites, or prevent them from working entirely.

Some cookies on this website may do the following:

  • Enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these cookies, services like the shopping cart for example cannot be provided.
  • Improve the user experience and to enable some of the functionality provided by this website.
  • Collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages.
  • Allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your name or area you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features.
  • The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works.

b. Google Analytics

Our website uses Google Analytics, a service which transmits website traffic data to Google servers in the United States.  Google Analytics does not identify users or associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and website usage.

c. Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

d. Contact forms

Information collected via contact forms on our website are solely used for customer services purposes. Data collected is only used by Pinnacle Consulting Services and not shared.

5. Purposes of Processing

We process personal information for the following purposes:

  • Providing bookkeeping, accounting, tax, payroll, and related services

  • Fulfilling our statutory obligations (e.g., SARS submissions)

  • Communicating with clients and stakeholders

  • Internal record keeping and administration

  • Improving our service offerings

  • Legal and regulatory compliance

6. Legal Grounds for Processing

We process your personal information under the following lawful bases:

  • Performance of a contract

  • Compliance with legal obligations

  • Consent (where required)

  • Legitimate interest

7. Disclosure of Personal Information

We may disclose your personal information to:

  • SARS and other regulatory bodies

  • CIPC, UIF, Compensation Fund, etc.

  • Our service providers (e.g., cloud accounting platforms, payroll software providers)

  • Legal or professional advisors

  • Other third parties as required by law

We require all third parties to handle your personal information in accordance with the law and our privacy standards.

8. Cross-Border Transfers

Where necessary, your personal information may be transferred outside South Africa, but only to countries with adequate data protection laws or where appropriate safeguards are in place.

9. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, regulatory, accounting, or reporting requirements. Generally, we retain client records for at least five (5) years after the end of the engagement, in line with the Tax Administration Act.

10. Security Measures

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. These measures include:

  • Encrypted cloud storage

  • Password protection and access controls

  • Staff confidentiality agreements

  • Regular system audits

11. Your Rights Under POPIA

You have the right to:

  • Access your personal information

  • Request correction or deletion

  • Object to or restrict processing

  • Withdraw consent (where applicable)

  • Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator

To exercise these rights, please contact us at the details provided below.

12. PAIA Manual & Access to Information

Our PAIA Manual, available at our or office, outlines how to request access to records held by Pinnacle Business Consulting, in accordance with PAIA.

13. Cookies and Website Usage

We may use cookies to enhance your browsing experience on our website. You may adjust your browser settings to refuse cookies, but this may affect website functionality.

14. Policy Updates

This policy may be updated from time to time to reflect legal changes or improvements to our data practices. The latest version will always be available on our website.

15. Contact Details

Information Officer: Liza Moorcroft
Email: liza@pinnaclesonsult.co.za
Phone: 082 679 9939
Address: 20 Order Road, Hazelpark, 1401

If you believe we have used your personal information contrary to this policy or POPIA, please first attempt to resolve any concerns with us. If not resolved, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator:

Website: https://www.inforegulator.org.za
Email: complaints.IR@justice.gov.za