Privacy Policy & Client Privacy Notice

Effective Date: September 25, 2026
Last Updated: September 25, 2026

Anita Woodlee-Roach & Associates, P.C.
Certified Public Accountants
565 North Main Street, Rusk, TX 75785

Our Commitment to You

At Anita Woodlee-Roach & Associates, P.C. (“AWR,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), protecting the confidentiality of your financial information is fundamental to how we practice. As certified public accountants, we are bound not only by law but by the professional ethical standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, which require us to keep client information confidential.

Federal law, specifically the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, classifies accounting and tax preparation firms as financial institutions and requires us to explain how we collect, use, share, and protect your nonpublic personal information. This notice serves that purpose. It applies to current clients, former clients, prospective clients, and visitors to awrcpas.com.

Please read it carefully. If you have questions, we welcome the conversation. Contact information appears below.

Sincerely,
Anita Woodlee-Roach

Rusk Office
565 North Main Street, Rusk, TX 75785
(903) 683-1002

Troup Office
312 W. Duval, Troup, TX 75789
(903) 842-1040

1. Information We Collect

We collect nonpublic personal information about you from the following sources:

Directly from you. Information you provide on tax organizers, engagement letters, applications, intake forms, our website contact form, our client portal, by email, by telephone, in person, or through documents you deliver to us. This commonly includes:

• Name, address, telephone number, and email address
• Social Security number or Employer Identification Number
• Date of birth and marital status
• Names and Social Security numbers of dependents and household members
• Income, expenses, and deduction records
• Bank account and routing information
• Investment, retirement, and brokerage account information
• Real estate, farm, mineral, and royalty interest records
• Business financial records, payroll records, and general ledger data
• Prior year tax returns and IRS or state correspondence
• Driver’s license or other government-issued identification

From your transactions with us. Records of the services we have performed, fees billed and paid, payment method, and our correspondence and notes related to your engagement.

From third parties, with your authorization or as required to perform our services. Information from your financial institutions, payroll providers, prior accountants, attorneys, lenders, insurers, brokers, the Internal Revenue Service, and state or local taxing authorities.

Automatically, when you visit our website. Our website collects limited technical information such as IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, referring website, pages viewed, and the dates and times of your visits. This is collected through cookies and similar technologies. See Section 7 for details.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect only for legitimate business purposes connected to the services you have engaged us to perform, including:

• Preparing, reviewing, and filing your income tax returns and related forms
• Providing accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, and financial statement services
• Providing tax planning, consulting, and QuickBooks implementation and training
• Representing you before taxing authorities when engaged to do so
• Communicating with you about your engagement, your returns, and deadlines
• Billing and collecting fees
• Maintaining records required by law and by professional standards
• Complying with legal, regulatory, and professional obligations
• Improving our website and the quality of our services

We do not sell your personal information. We never have, and we do not intend to. We do not rent, trade, or otherwise disclose your nonpublic personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

3. When We Disclose Information

We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about our clients or former clients to anyone, except as described below:

With your consent. We will release information to third parties, such as your bank, mortgage lender, attorney, financial advisor, or a family member, when you direct us to do so. For tax return information, federal law requires that your consent be in writing and meet specific requirements. See Section 4.

To service providers who assist us. We use third-party providers for tax preparation and e-filing software, secure document exchange and client portal services, cloud data storage and backup, payment processing, email, and information technology support. These providers receive only the information necessary to perform their function, and we require them by contract to protect it and to use it only for the purposes we specify.

Providers we currently use include our client portal and practice management platform, our tax preparation and e-file software vendor, our cloud backup provider, and PayPal for online payments. When you make a payment through PayPal, that transaction is governed by PayPal’s own privacy policy, not ours.

As permitted or required by law. We may disclose information in response to a valid subpoena, court order, summons, or other lawful process; to comply with a peer review or professional practice review conducted under AICPA or Texas State Board standards; to respond to an inquiry from the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy or the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility; to protect against fraud or unauthorized transactions; or in connection with the sale, merger, or transfer of our practice, in which case we would notify affected clients.

Employees and staff. Our personnel may access your information only as needed to perform their duties. Every member of our team is bound by our confidentiality policies and by the ethical standards governing our profession.

4. Tax Return Information: Special Protections

Section 7216 of the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulation 301.7216 impose criminal and civil penalties on tax return preparers who knowingly or recklessly disclose or use tax return information without proper authorization.

Consistent with that law:

• We will not disclose your tax return information to any third party without your prior written consent, except where the disclosure is specifically permitted by regulation (for example, to the IRS, to a state taxing authority, or under a valid court order).
• We will not use your tax return information for any purpose other than preparing your return without your prior written consent.
• Any consent we request from you will be a separate written document, will state clearly what information is being disclosed and to whom, and will be signed and dated by you.
• Your consent is voluntary. If you decline, we will still prepare your return.

5. How We Protect Your Information

We maintain a written information security program as required by the Federal Trade Commission’s Safeguards Rule and consistent with IRS Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data. Our physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards include:

• Restricting access to client information to those employees who need it to provide services to you
• Individual user accounts, strong password requirements, and multi-factor authentication on systems that hold client data
• Encryption of client data in transit and at rest
• A secure client portal for exchanging documents, rather than unencrypted email attachments
• Firewalls, endpoint protection, and current security patching
• Locked file storage and controlled access to our office areas where records are kept
• Secure shredding of paper records and secure wiping or destruction of retired electronic media
• Annual employee training on data security and confidentiality
• A written incident response plan
• Periodic review and testing of these safeguards

A note on email. Standard email is not a secure medium. We strongly encourage you to use our client portal to send us documents containing Social Security numbers, account numbers, or other sensitive information. If you choose to send sensitive information by unencrypted email, you do so at your own risk.

6. Data Breach Notification

If we determine that your unencrypted sensitive personal information has been acquired by an unauthorized person, we will notify you as required by Texas Business & Commerce Code Chapter 521 and applicable federal rules. Texas law requires notification without unreasonable delay and not later than sixty days after we determine a breach occurred. We would also notify the IRS, the Texas Attorney General where required, and law enforcement as appropriate.

7. Our Website, Cookies, and Analytics

Cookies. Our website uses cookies, which are small text files stored on your device. Some are strictly necessary for the site to function. Others help us understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it. You can control cookies through the consent banner on our site and through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect some site functions.

Analytics. We use website analytics tools to collect aggregate information about site traffic, such as pages visited, time on site, general geographic region, and referral source. This information is used to improve our website and is not linked to your tax or financial records.

Contact forms. Information you submit through our website contact form is transmitted to our firm email and used only to respond to your inquiry. Submitting a form does not create a client relationship, and you should not send sensitive information such as Social Security numbers through the form.

Client portal. Our client portal is hosted by a third-party provider under contract with us. Access requires your own credentials. We encourage you to use a strong, unique password and to enable multi-factor authentication where offered.

Third-party links. Our site links to outside websites, including social media platforms, professional organizations, our payment processor, and our client portal. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. We encourage you to review their policies.

Do Not Track. Our website does not currently respond to browser Do Not Track signals.

8. How Long We Keep Your Information

We retain client records in accordance with our written record retention policy and applicable professional standards and law. In general, we retain tax returns and supporting workpapers for a minimum of seven years from the filing date, and longer where a specific legal, regulatory, or professional requirement applies.

Retaining records is not a substitute for keeping your own copies. We encourage every client to maintain permanent personal copies of filed returns and supporting documents. When records reach the end of their retention period, we dispose of them securely.

9. Former Clients

If you close your account or your engagement with us ends, we will continue to treat your nonpublic personal information according to this notice for as long as we retain it.

10. Your Choices and Rights

You may:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of information you believe is inaccurate
• Request a copy of your filed returns and, subject to professional standards regarding workpapers, related documents
• Withdraw a consent you previously gave us to disclose or use your information, on a going-forward basis
• Ask to be removed from any firm newsletter or marketing communication
• Ask questions about this notice or about how we handle your information

Some requests are subject to legal and professional limits. For example, we cannot delete records we are required to retain, and certain workpapers remain firm property under professional standards. To make a request, contact us using the information in Section 13.

Texas residents. The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act generally exempts financial institutions and data subject to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which covers the client information described in this notice. We nonetheless honor the requests described above as a matter of practice.

11. Children’s Privacy

Our website is directed to adults and is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children through the site. We do receive information about minor dependents from parents and guardians in the course of preparing tax returns; that information is protected under this notice like all other client information.

12. Changes to This Notice

We may update this notice to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. The current version will always be posted at awrcpas.com/privacy-policy and available in both of our offices. If we make a material change to how we share your information, we will notify you before the change takes effect. The effective date at the top of this notice indicates when it was last revised.

13. Contact Us

Questions, requests, or concerns about this notice or about your information:

Anita Woodlee-Roach & Associates, P.C.

Rusk Office
565 North Main Street, Rusk, TX 75785
Phone: (903) 683-1002
Fax: (903) 683-1872

Troup Office
312 W. Duval, Troup, TX 75789
Phone: (903) 842-1040

Email: anita@awrcpas.com
Web: awrcpas.com

This notice is provided to you as required by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 6801–6809, and the Federal Trade Commission’s Privacy of Consumer Financial Information Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 313.

© 2026 Anita Woodlee-Roach & Associates, P.C. All rights reserved.