Accounting Firms
CPA firms, tax preparers and bookkeeping practices.
Industry
Category
Software
Tax preparation
Drake · Lacerte · UltraTax · ProSeries · Thomson Reuters CS
Accounting & bookkeeping
QuickBooks Desktop · QuickBooks Online · Sage
Delivery & hosting
Hosted desktops · client portals
Not seeing your software? Tell us what you run. We’ve worked in more than fits on a page.
Sound familiar
Twelve weeks with no slack — From January to April nothing can break — and that's exactly when equipment that's been limping since the fall finally quits.
Client documents arrive by email all season — Because nobody set up something easier to use than an attachment.
Three vendors, no answers — When your hosted environment is slow, the host, the software vendor and your internet provider each point somewhere else.
Shared files corrupt and staff get blamed — Multi-user accounting files fail in ways that look like user error until they aren't.
Seasonal preparers keep their access — Onboarded fast in January, still in the system in September.
You have real obligations nobody explained — Most firms first hear about their security requirements in a vendor's marketing email.
What you’re held to
The FTC Safeguards Rule — this is the one that's enforceable — As a tax preparer you're a financial institution under federal law. You're required to have a written information security program with a named person responsible, a risk assessment, access controls, encryption, multi-factor authentication and vendor oversight. (16 CFR Part 314)
IRS Publication 4557 — The IRS guide to safeguarding taxpayer data. It's guidance rather than law — it explains what the Safeguards Rule expects of you. (IRS Publication 4557)
IRS Publication 5708 — A free IRS template for building your written plan, aimed at sole practitioners and small firms. If you don't have a plan, start here. (IRS Publication 5708)
Your PTIN renewal — You confirm at renewal that you have a data security plan in place. (IRS PTIN renewal)
Workpaper retention — Set by the state board. (NC State Board of CPA Examiners, 21 NCAC Chapter 08)
