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.
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.
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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