Email and document access
Client records and correspondence move by email. A compromised mailbox is a confidentiality breach with a paper trail attached.
Sectors
IT support for accountancy practices
A systems failure at an accountancy practice costs more than a lost morning. It can mean a missed filing deadline, a client record you cannot open before a meeting, or no clear answer about who accessed a client's file. We keep the systems that carry that trust running, and help you assemble the evidence a practice is judged on.
30 mincritical response, SLA backed
24/7monitoring and alerting
What this protects
Client trust, and the evidence behind it
Accounting runs on confidentiality and deadlines. When either slips, the client relationship is what pays for it.
Client confidentiality
The duty to keep client information confidential sits with the practice. Weak access control or a shared mailbox turns a duty into a risk.
Deadlines that do not move
Self assessment, VAT and company filings have fixed dates. A failed system the week before a deadline is lost billable hours and a scramble to recover.
Evidence for the file
Audit trails, access records and a clear backup history are increasingly asked for, by clients, insurers and the practice's own regulator.
Compliance
What we help you evidence
We do not certify a practice and we cannot guarantee compliance. We put the technical controls in place and help you produce the evidence when it is asked for. What applies depends on the firm's regulated activities; where a practice is separately authorised, FCA operational resilience expectations can also come into scope.
AML and KYC record-keeping
Where ICAEW AML guidance applies to the practice, the records it expects need to be accurate, retrievable and retained. We make sure the systems holding them are controlled and backed up.
Client confidentiality and access control
Named accounts, multi-factor authentication and least-privilege access, so a client's file is seen only by the people working on it.
UK GDPR and personal data
Subject access requests, retention and breach obligations all depend on knowing where personal data lives. We map it, secure it and document it.
Cyber insurance and client questionnaires
Insurers and larger clients ask the same questions about backups, patching and access. We help you answer them with evidence rather than reassurance.
Proactive IT Experts is not a compliance consultancy and does not provide legal or regulatory advice. We put the technical controls in place and help you assemble the evidence. Meeting your regulatory obligations remains the responsibility of your firm.
The systems a practice actually depends on
Practice management software, document management, the email that carries client correspondence, and the figures that go into a filing. Underneath it all sits a simpler question. Who can see which client, and on which device?
Most accountancy firms run a small team and a heavy dependency on a handful of applications. That combination is unforgiving. A single closed system in the week before a self assessment deadline can quietly wipe out the value of an entire year of IT spending.
Where practices are exposed
Backup and retention
Retention rules cut both ways: keep records long enough, and be able to remove them when the duty ends.
Access as people move
Joining, leaving, changing roles. Access that is not tightened quickly is where confidentiality quietly leaks.
What we set up for a practice
- Multi-factor authentication on email, practice software and remote access
- Named accounts, so no shared logins sit in a password file
- Backups that are tested by restoring from them, not assumed
- Documented access reviews, so you can show who had access and when
- Encrypted devices, with a remote wipe if a laptop is lost
- A written record of incidents, in case it is ever asked for
Working with a practice, not around it
We keep the disruption low. Most work happens out of hours or in a window you choose, and we tell you before we connect. Nobody wants a change to the document system on the morning everything is due.
Your team keeps the tools they know. We secure the way they reach them rather than forcing everyone onto something unfamiliar in the middle of a busy quarter.
Response and terms
Critical issues get a 30-minute response, backed by SLA, with round-the-clock monitoring. Two named engineers and an account manager know the practice, so nobody explains the setup from scratch.
Agreements are rolling monthly, with no multi-year lock-in and no exit fees. When something is genuinely wrong, you ring and you reach an engineer.
Why a named engineer matters more than a helpdesk number
When the alarm goes off at two in the morning before a filing deadline, you want a person who knows your setup, not a call queue. Every client gets two named engineers and an account manager rather than a rotating rota.
It also means the advice is specific. Whether a client's security questionnaire is realistic, whether a cloud move actually saves money, or whether your current backup would survive a ransomware event are all questions you can put to us directly.
Questions we get asked about accountancy
We support the common practice management, document and accounts packages, alongside Microsoft 365 and the email that surrounds them. Where a system is unusual, we learn it rather than wave it away.
We do not give legal or regulatory advice, and we cannot guarantee compliance. What we do is put the technical controls in place and help you assemble the records and evidence the guidance expects.
Named accounts, multi-factor authentication, least-privilege access and encrypted devices. Access is reviewed so you can show who could see what, and when.
Critical issues get a 30-minute response and are covered round the clock. Tested backups mean a failed system is a recovery, not a lost week.
No. The same rolling monthly agreements apply here as everywhere else. No multi-year lock-in and no exit fees.
Not sure what your sector actually requires of you?
Bring us the questionnaire, the audit finding or the tender requirement. We will tell you what is already covered, what is not, and what it would take. That conversation is free and it is 60 minutes.