Industries · Finance & Accounting
IT services for finance and accounting firms combine cybersecurity, regulatory compliance support, and reliable helpdesk coverage so your team protects client financial data and keeps working through tax season. Compeint delivers all of it as one managed service for accounting and CPA firms across New York and New England, with security controls mapped to the rules your firm answers to.
Finance and accounting firms carry unusual IT risk because they hold the exact data attackers want and cannot afford downtime when it matters most. Your systems store Social Security numbers, bank details, and complete financial pictures for every client, which makes a breach both a security failure and a compliance event. Five pressures show up in almost every accounting firm we assess.
Most firms carry these risks with little or no internal IT, which leaves partners troubleshooting software instead of serving clients.
Compeint runs, secures, and plans the technology an accounting firm depends on, so your people spend their time on client work rather than IT problems. We bundle the services most firms would otherwise split across several vendors into one accountable relationship.
Compliance for an accounting firm starts with the FTC Safeguards Rule, and Compeint builds the technical controls that satisfy it. Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the FTC classifies accountants and tax preparers as financial institutions, so the rule applies to sole practitioners and multi-partner firms alike. Its core provisions have been enforceable since June 2023, and they require a real, documented security program rather than a one-time checklist. Read the requirements straight from the source in the FTC Safeguards Rule guidance.
The rule asks every covered firm to designate a qualified individual, keep a written information security program, run risk assessments, encrypt client data, enforce multi-factor authentication, train staff, oversee vendors, and maintain an incident response plan. Firms that hold data on fewer than 5,000 consumers get some reduced obligations, but MFA, encryption, staff training, and vendor oversight still apply. Breach notification has no small-firm exemption, so a firm has to report a security event affecting 500 or more consumers to the FTC. The IRS supports the same work with a free Written Information Security Plan template in Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data.
Two further standards apply depending on the clients you serve. SOC 2 is a voluntary AICPA attestation, and while it is not a legal requirement, enterprise clients and cyber-insurance carriers increasingly ask for it. Because SOC 2 and the Safeguards Rule call for nearly the same controls, the security foundation Compeint puts in place usually supports both. Firms that accept card payments also fall under PCI DSS, which shares common ground with GLBA around access controls, encryption, and monitoring. Compeint maps your controls to the standards that genuinely apply to your firm, and never bolts on the ones that do not.
Compeint fits accounting firms because we combine the security depth the regulations demand with helpdesk coverage built around how your firm actually works. We know the software your team lives in, we schedule maintenance away from filing deadlines, and we answer with a real engineer rather than a ticket queue. Pricing is one predictable monthly rate quoted after a short assessment of your users, devices, and compliance needs, which turns IT into a line item you can budget with confidence. As a local team serving New York and New England, we pair fast response with an understanding of the firms in our region. When your clients trust you with their financial lives, your technology has to earn that trust every day, and that is the standard Compeint holds itself to.
Cloud hosting puts your tax and accounting software in a secure, managed data center that your team reaches from the office, from home, or from a client site. Compeint hosts and maintains the applications you already run, including Drake, Lacerte, UltraTax CS, ProSeries, CCH ProSystem fx, CCH Axcess, Thomson Reuters tools, and QuickBooks Desktop and Enterprise, so staff keep the exact workflow they trained on. Every connection is protected with multi-factor authentication, encryption, and secure remote access, which keeps client financial data safe no matter where people work. Hosted environments also scale for the season. Tax work compresses into a few intense weeks, and cloud capacity expands to handle the load instead of slowing your team at the deadline. On-demand software updates roll out without the delays of local installs, so every workstation runs the current version during filing weeks. When a firm is ready to move, Compeint plans the cloud migration in stages so nothing breaks mid-engagement.
A secure client portal lets your clients upload tax documents, review returns, and sign engagement letters without sending Social Security numbers through unencrypted email. Compeint sets up branded portals and encrypted file sharing so sensitive records stay protected in transit and at rest, which is exactly what the FTC Safeguards Rule and IRS Publication 4557 expect. Access controls limit each file to the people who need it, and audit trails record who opened what and when, which gives you evidence during a regulator review or a cyber-insurance renewal. Clients get a professional, simple way to send documents, and your staff stop chasing attachments across inboxes. Replacing email attachments with a portal closes one of the most common ways client data leaks, because a tax return sitting in an email thread is far easier to intercept than one inside an encrypted portal. The result is a smoother client experience and a smaller attack surface at the same time.
Tested backups and a layered defense let an accounting firm recover from ransomware without paying a ransom and keep working through a filing deadline. Compeint keeps immutable, off-site backups that attackers cannot alter or delete, and we verify them with scheduled restore tests so a recovery works when you actually need it. Prevention comes first, with endpoint detection and response, network segmentation, email security, and multi-factor authentication stopping most attacks before they spread. Around-the-clock monitoring watches for unusual activity and isolates a compromised device quickly, and a documented incident response plan tells everyone what to do so a security event does not turn into chaos. Because January through April carries so much of a firm's revenue, business continuity planning keeps your team productive even while systems are being restored. An attack or an outage should be an inconvenience your firm recovers from in hours, not an event that costs you a filing season.
Most accounting firms pay for managed IT as a predictable monthly fee rather than unpredictable break-fix bills, and Compeint quotes that fee after a short assessment of your firm. Two pricing models are common. A per-user or per-device rate scales with your headcount and equipment, while a flat monthly rate covers an agreed scope for the whole firm. What you pay depends on a few clear factors, including the number of users and devices, the depth of security and compliance work your firm needs, whether you add secure cloud hosting, and how much tax-season and after-hours coverage you expect. Firms that already employ internal IT often choose co-managed IT, paying only for the security, after-hours, and project help they lack instead of a full outsourced team. Because the fee is fixed and quoted up front, IT becomes a line item you can budget with confidence rather than a series of surprises. Compeint publishes the scope before quoting, so you know exactly what is covered.
Finance and accounting firms need managed IT with 24/7 monitoring, layered cybersecurity, a responsive helpdesk, backup and disaster recovery, secure cloud or hosting for tax software, and compliance support mapped to the FTC Safeguards Rule and GLBA. Compeint delivers all of these as one accountable service so nothing falls between vendors.
Yes. The FTC classifies accountants and tax preparers as financial institutions under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, so the Safeguards Rule applies to firms of every size. Compeint helps you meet its requirements, including multi-factor authentication, encryption of client data, a written information security program, and a designated qualified individual.
Yes. A Written Information Security Plan is required under the FTC Safeguards Rule for any firm that handles client financial data, and a sole practitioner is covered the same way a multi-partner firm is. Firms holding data on fewer than 5,000 consumers get some reduced obligations, but MFA, encryption, staff training, and vendor oversight still apply.
SOC 2 is a voluntary AICPA attestation, not a legal requirement, but many enterprise clients and cyber-insurance carriers ask for it. SOC 2 and the FTC Safeguards Rule ask for nearly the same technical controls, so the security work Compeint puts in place for one usually supports the other.
Yes. Compeint supports the applications accounting firms run every day, including Drake, Lacerte, UltraTax CS, ProSeries, CCH ProSystem fx, and QuickBooks, whether they run on local servers or hosted in the cloud. We keep them patched, backed up, and secured, and we coordinate with your software vendors when an issue crosses into their product.
Compeint plans support coverage around your busy season and avoids scheduling maintenance during peak filing weeks. Around-the-clock monitoring catches problems early, and our helpdesk answers fast when something breaks mid-deadline, so a technology issue does not cost you billable hours.
Outsourcing to a managed IT provider gives a small or mid-sized firm a full team of specialists for less than the cost of one senior hire, with security and compliance expertise built in. Co-managed IT is also an option if you have internal staff and want Compeint to add after-hours coverage, cybersecurity, or projects.
Compeint layers defenses across email, endpoints, and the network, including multi-factor authentication, endpoint protection, email filtering, and encryption of data at rest and in transit. Tested backups and a documented incident response plan mean that if an attack does land, you can recover quickly rather than pay a ransom.
Managed IT for an accounting firm is usually a predictable monthly fee, priced either per user and device or as a flat monthly rate for an agreed scope. The amount depends on your number of users and devices, the depth of security and compliance support you need, whether you add secure cloud hosting, and how much tax-season and after-hours coverage you want. Compeint quotes a fixed fee after a short assessment and publishes the scope up front, so IT becomes a budget line rather than a stream of surprise bills. Co-managed IT lets firms with internal staff pay only for the help they lack.
Yes. The FTC Safeguards Rule requires each firm to designate a Qualified Individual to oversee its information security program, and that person can work for a service provider rather than be an employee. A Compeint cybersecurity specialist can serve as your Qualified Individual while a partner or manager stays the internal point of contact. Your firm remains ultimately responsible for compliance, so we document the roles, run the program, and report to your leadership at least once a year.
Yes. Compeint sets up branded, encrypted client portals so clients can upload tax documents, review returns, and sign engagement letters without emailing Social Security numbers as attachments. Files stay encrypted in transit and at rest, access controls limit each document to the right people, and audit trails record who opened what and when. This meets FTC Safeguards Rule and IRS Publication 4557 expectations and gives clients a simpler, safer way to work with your firm.
Compeint runs a structured onboarding that starts with an assessment of your environment, documents your systems and accounts, and coordinates the handoff with your previous provider so nothing is lost. We stage the transition to minimize disruption and schedule the cutover away from filing deadlines whenever possible. You get a clear plan and timeline up front, and security controls such as multi-factor authentication and tested backups are put in place as part of the move rather than left for later.
Accounting firms, meet steadier IT
We will review your environment, check it against the FTC Safeguards Rule, and show you exactly where managed IT fits, with no obligation.
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