Your files stay in an environment you approve, by default.

1. Scope and responsibility

The division of work is set out in writing before an engagement begins and does not move without an agreed change.

2. Where the work happens

By default, client financial files and deliverables stay in an environment the client approves, for example the client’s own Microsoft 365, file storage or cloud accounts.

Access is limited to the systems and information needed for the agreed work. We prefer an individual account with permissions the client can revoke, and we avoid shared credentials.

Working in a client environment does not automatically mean a file never reaches another device. Opening a file in a browser or a remote session is different from syncing or downloading it. Which applies is agreed for each engagement, and a local working copy is made only when it has been agreed in advance.

Please do not send credentials, exports or other sensitive information through the website form or by ordinary email. If something needs to move, we agree a method first.

3. When a local copy is needed

Sometimes the work is genuinely easier with a local copy, for example to build and test a workbook against last month’s files. When that is agreed:

• Only the fields and records the task needs are copied.
• The copy is kept on an encrypted device and moved using a method the client approves.
• It stays in one designated project location, not in personal sync services or unrelated tools.
• How it is backed up, and when it is deleted, is settled before anything is copied.

4. Device and account safeguards

The devices and accounts used for MatchPass work use full-disk encryption, automatic screen locking, multi-factor authentication, operating-system updates and backups.

These are baseline safeguards for a small practice. They are not an independently audited control set, and we do not claim continuous monitoring, penetration testing or managed threat detection.

5. How AI is and is not used

• Code, workbook formulas, screenshots, logs, file names and metadata can be confidential too, and are treated that way.
• Removing names does not automatically make information anonymous.
• A client-owned AI account does not by itself guarantee confidentiality, data residency or zero retention, so the specific service terms are checked before any agreed use.
• Where AI use is agreed, the engagement documentation records the service, purpose, kinds of data, account and handling terms.
• AI output is tested and reviewed like any other work. Matching rules and checks are explicit logic that can be read and tested, and AI never approves an accounting treatment.

6. Human approval

MatchPass does not post entries or accounting decisions into accounting systems. Outputs go to a person for review, and the client remains responsible for accounting judgment and final treatment.

7. Backups and recovery

• Client source files and delivered work.Backup and recovery follow the arrangements of the client environment where they are kept.
• MatchPass code and business records.These are backed up.
• Temporary copies of client data.Whether they are included in any backup, and for how long, follows the handling and retention agreed for that engagement.

8. Retention and deletion

• Temporary client working copies under MatchPass’s control are deleted within 30 days of engagement completion, unless a different period or a required preservation is documented.
• Client-owned source files and deliverables are not deleted under this commitment. They stay with the client.
• Contracts, invoices and necessary business records follow a separate retention schedule.
• Copies in backups or held by service providers follow their own agreed lifecycle, so removal from every backup is not instant.
• A deletion confirmation describes what was deleted, and any copies retained and why.

The client should also remove MatchPass’s access when the engagement ends.

9. If something goes wrong

If we become aware of an incident affecting client information, we contact the client, act to contain it, for example by revoking access, and work with the client on assessing what was affected, any notifications required by the engagement agreement or applicable law, and recovery. Specific obligations are set out in the engagement agreement. We do not publish fixed response-time promises.

10. Confidentiality and contracts

We are open to reviewing your confidentiality terms before any sensitive information is shared, and data-processing terms can be discussed where an engagement requires them. Client non-solicitation is part of how we contract on accounting-partner engagements.

11. What we do not claim

MatchPass Labs is a small practice operated as an Ontario sole proprietorship. We would rather state what we do not have than imply a posture we cannot evidence.

• No SOC 2 certification and no ISO 27001 certification.
• No claim of blanket compliance with PIPEDA, GDPR, SOX or any other framework.
• No independently audited security controls.
• No published uptime or response-time guarantees.

If your risk process requires any of these, say so early. Often the right answer is to keep the work entirely inside your own environment, and we would rather build it that way than overstate what we carry.

12. Continuity and handover

Every engagement ends with documentation of the logic, checks and operating steps, plus a handover to the people who will run it. The intent is that the workflow keeps working without MatchPass. Any further work after handover is optional and scoped separately.

13. Security questions

If you have a vendor review process, send it over. We will answer it directly, including where the honest answer is that we do not have a particular control. Email karan@matchpasslabs.com.