Tax season is around the corner and for accountants, that means it’s time to shine and get paid. Most accounting firms will see a drastic influx of customers this year as many try to get their tax refunds early. Others, especially those who will owe money, will probably wait until closer to April. Unfortunately for you, that creates far more headaches and means a lot of late nights at the computer. Another thing you need to be prepared for this year are attacks on your data.
That’s right, unfortunately, accountants and their firms are not immune to cyber security threats. Their value is extensive to hackers, much like with law firms and medical businesses, because of the sensitive and valuable data that you hold. Tax papers, financial records and plenty of other information that your clients rely on you to protect.
Accountants Need To Protect Their Data
Do you want to have to tell your clients that your firm suffered a data breach and their information was stolen? No, probably not. The reality is that you cannot give yourself complete protection from these attacks but you can improve your chances of surviving them. That starts with data protection and proper management.
Whether you are using a secure repository or not, you need to do more. Securing your data is the first step but updating passwords and softwares are key, especially this time of year. You should also have your devices scanned and make sure they are in the best condition to handle the workload that you have on the way.
Tax Season Is The Worst
Tax season is the worst for accountants and IT management teams in Florida when it comes to protecting businesses. Why? Because this is the time of year when you are swamped, meaning you could easily make more mistakes. Not only that, but you are emailing dozens, hundreds or thousands of clients right now and they are emailing you back. That’s a lot of messages that hold sensitive data that you need to protect and maybe even encrypt.
Getting setup for this takes some time and you need to work with an IT manager. However, it’s not something you want to hold off until next tax season. Instead, call a local team today to go over the size of your firm, the services you offer and your current efforts to protect yourself and your data.