Best Practices for Protecting
Your LA CPA Firm's Data
Courtesy of FPA Technology Services, Inc.
http://www.TechGuideforLACPAs.com
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The most effective starting point
for protecting your CPA firm’s
data, is to not only establish
policies to prevent data loss,
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but to also implement the
right systems and applications
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Establish Firm-Wide Policies
for Physical and Electronic Data
Protection
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Whether your accounting firm
has five employees
or five hundred,
communicating standards
of data protection is vital
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Policies should include:
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• How and where to store
physical records, including
paper, USB drives, and other
media
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• Rules on usage of firm
laptops, mobile devices,
and internet usage on
these devices
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• Ensuring only privileged
employees can access
client files
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• Establishment and
communication of
a file retention schedule,
based on industry standards
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• Enforcing the use of anti-virus
software, and only approved
file share drives, either local
or in the Cloud
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Implement Tools to Govern
Possession of Client Files
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Your clients and employees
are likely comfortable using
cloud storage systems
to retain and share information
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The following are some
industry leading solutions:
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• ProSystem fx Document
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• SmartVault
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• Laserfiche
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• Docuware
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• Intuit Document Center
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Educating Your Staff on
GAPP as Well as GAAP
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Make sure your employees
are aware of data protection
principles established by the
American Institute of CPAs
such as:
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• Limiting the use of wireless
Internet to only within the
office, and ensuring your
Wi-Fi network is protected
with password encryption
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• Sharing client information
with third parties only as
required to conduct business
and only after receiving
client consent
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• Regulating standards
on passwords, anti-virus,
firewalls, and anti-malware
on any device which has
access to client data
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• Ensuring credit card
information is handled in
accordance with Payment
Card Industry security and
privacy standards
(PCI Compliance)
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• Securing physical client
records offsite if possible,
or in a locked area of your
office where visitors don’t
have access
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Perform Recurring
Security Audits
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Consider performing
a Security Audit on your
technology on a yearly basis
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For more information,
check out our
Security Assessment page
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By following these guidelines
and others recommended by
the AICPA, you will retain the
trust of your clients, employees,
and regulatory agencies
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Has your LA CPA firm
established policies to prevent
data loss and implemented
the right systems to prevent
data breaches?
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in the section for Comments
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