ACCOUNTANCY AND FINANCE · SOUTH WALES
IT that does not wobble in January
IT support and cyber security for accountancy practices across South Wales, designed around the deadline weeks when nothing is allowed to break.
- Rolling 30 day contract
- Named engineer
- Published prices
Written for this sector, not adapted to it
What practices actually need
January cannot wobble
Deadline weeks are not the time for changes. We freeze non-urgent work and plan capacity ahead of them.
Client financial data
Highly sensitive and highly targeted. Encryption, access control and backup that has been restore-tested.
Microsoft 365 done properly
Most practices live in it. Security defaults are not enough for the data you hold.
Software that must work
Practice and tax software has specific requirements. Those dictate the environment, not the other way round.
Secure client file exchange
Email attachments are not the answer for sending accounts and tax returns.
Seasonal capacity
More staff and more load for three months a year, without paying for it all twelve.
The one with a date on it
Deadline weeks change the whole approach
Most IT problems are inconvenient. In an accountancy practice during the last fortnight of January they are existential. We plan around that explicitly: a change freeze either side of the deadline, capacity checked in advance, and out-of-hours cover in place for the weeks that need it. It costs almost nothing to plan and it is the difference between a bad afternoon and a filing failure.
31 Jan
Self assessment. For two weeks either side of it an inconvenient IT problem is not inconvenient.
What we put in place for deadline weeks
- A change freeze either side
- Capacity checked in advance
- Out of hours cover booked
- No upgrades, however tempting
What else comes up
The two that cost practices money
Why practices get targeted
An accountancy practice holds bank details, National Insurance numbers and full financial pictures for every client on its books. That is a richer target than most single businesses, and attackers know it. The controls are not exotic: multi-factor authentication everywhere, tested backups, email authentication, and staff who recognise a lookalike domain. The failure is usually that one of those four was never finished.
Stop emailing accounts as attachments
Sending a set of accounts as an email attachment means you have lost control of that file permanently. A client portal with proper access control costs less than most practices expect and removes a whole category of risk, as well as the endless "did you get my email" exchanges. Most practice software already includes one that nobody has switched on.
Questions
Accountancy and finance, answered
Can you work around our January deadline?
Yes, and we plan for it. Non-urgent changes are frozen either side of the deadline, capacity is checked in advance, and out-of-hours cover can be added for the weeks that need it.
Do you support practice and tax software?
We support the environment it runs on and work alongside your software vendor. Their requirements dictate how we build the environment rather than the reverse.
How do you protect client financial data?
Multi-factor authentication everywhere, encryption at rest, access control that can be evidenced, and backups that are restore-tested rather than assumed to work.
Can we get Cyber Essentials?
Yes, £1,450 fixed including the remediation work needed to pass. Increasingly asked for by larger clients during their own supplier checks.
Can you help us send files securely?
Yes. Most practice software already includes a client portal that has never been switched on. Where it does not, we can set one up.
Services this sector uses most
A free review, and an honest answer
An hour of our time, on site. You get a written list of what is fine, what is risky and what is costing you money. If everything is healthy, we will tell you that and leave you to it.