Every tax return is a short biography: names, Social Security numbers, bank accounts, income and the names of the children. Criminals know this, and they know that a small accounting office is easier to get into than a bank. Filing season adds pressure, deadlines and a flood of email from clients who are sending sensitive documents any way they can. Good IT support for accounting firms starts before the rush, not during it.
Zippie IT, a veteran-owned company in Meridian, Idaho, provides IT support for accounting firms, enrolled agents, bookkeepers and tax preparers. Our goal is to have the work done before January, not during it.
Why tax preparers are named in the FTC Safeguards Rule
The Federal Trade Commission’s Safeguards Rule applies to a broad group of businesses it calls financial institutions, and the FTC lists tax preparation among them. If you prepare returns, the rule expects you to protect customer information with a written information security program that fits the size of your firm and the sensitivity of what you hold.
In plain terms, the program is expected to cover:
- A named person responsible for the program (the Qualified Individual).
- A written risk assessment that looks at where client data is and how it could be exposed.
- Safeguards such as access controls, encryption, multi-factor authentication and secure disposal.
- Regular testing and monitoring.
- Staff training.
- Oversight of the vendors who touch client data, from cloud software to your IT provider.
- A written plan for responding to an incident.
Since 2024 the rule also requires notifying the FTC if an event exposes unencrypted information about 500 or more people. Some firms are smaller than that, but the habit of a written response plan is worth having either way.
The IRS Security Six
The IRS and its partners in the Security Summit ask every tax professional to put six basic protections in place. They are a good checklist for the technical side of any firm:
- Anti-virus software that updates automatically.
- A firewall.
- Two-factor authentication on the accounts that matter, and especially on tax software.
- Backup software or a backup service.
- Drive encryption on laptops and desktops.
- A virtual private network for anyone working outside the office.
We check each of the six in your office, tell you plainly where you stand and fix what is missing.
IT support for accounting firms around filing season
Technology changes are much safer in May than in March. We schedule the heavy work, such as new firewalls, laptop encryption, mailbox protection and backup testing, for the off-season, and we freeze changes in the weeks around deadlines. During busy season we stay reachable for the problems that cannot wait, such as a printer that will not print returns or a preparer who is locked out.
Remote preparers, seasonal staff and extension-season clients bring their own risks. We set up individual accounts that can be switched off the day someone leaves and a secure way for clients to send documents, so they stop emailing scans of their Social Security cards.
What we do and what we leave to you
We help build and run the technical parts of your security program, and we can help you document them. We do not act as your lawyer or your compliance officer, and we do not decide for you what the rule requires. Your firm’s owner or a professional adviser makes that call. For the technology that supports it, our managed IT services and Microsoft 365 support are the usual starting points.
Get started
For IT support for accounting firms that works around your calendar, book a free network and security review and we will check the six protections above, send you a written report and walk you through it. You can also take our cybersecurity health check in about five minutes, or contact us at (208) 810-1795.
We use your details to respond to your request. If you want details, see our Privacy Policy.
Frequently asked questions
What does IT support for accounting firms include?
Help desk support for preparers, protection for email, laptops and tax software, tested backups and scheduled off-season projects that cover the IRS Security Six.
Does the Safeguards Rule really apply to a small tax practice?
The FTC lists tax preparation among the businesses covered, and the requirements scale with the size of the firm and the information it holds. Ask your own adviser how it applies to you.
What is a written information security plan?
A document that says who is responsible for protecting client data, what risks you looked at, what safeguards you use, how you train staff and what you will do if something goes wrong. The IRS publishes a template for tax professionals.
When is the best time to do this work?
May through December. Changes made during filing season are risky, and many firms discover problems only when they are busiest.
Can clients send us documents safely?
Yes. A secure portal or encrypted file transfer replaces email attachments, keeps a record and is easier for clients than they expect.
Can you help with the risk assessment?
We can do the technical part: inventory the systems, check the settings and list the gaps. You or your adviser review it and own the final document.