Tax and accounting firms
Your written security plan, done and kept current.
The FTC Safeguards Rule covers tax preparation firms, including accountants who prepare returns, as financial institutions, so a covered firm needs a written information security plan. The IRS publishes a free template. We turn it into a plan that matches your office and the controls behind it.
What the rule asks of a small firm
Under the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, the FTC Safeguards Rule covers tax preparation practices of any size. The updated rule has been fully in effect since June 2023.
The core is a written information security plan, often called a WISP, with a named person in charge of it. The plan has to cover how you protect client data, including two-step login, encryption, access limits, and how you watch for problems.
Firms that hold information on fewer than 5,000 people are excused from a few of the extra paperwork pieces, but not from having the plan itself.
The free IRS template, and what it leaves to you
IRS Publication 5708 is a sample plan written for small tax practices. It is a good starting point, but it is a template. Someone still has to fill it in for your office, put the protections it describes in place, and keep it current.
That last part is where most small firms get stuck, because the plan only helps if it is true.
What we do
Built around Publication 5708, finished for your office.
Office checkup
One hour on site to see what you have, $350, credited toward the work if you go ahead within 30 days.
Write the plan
Your Publication 5708 based plan, filled in for your people, computers, software, and vendors.
Put the protections in place
Two-step login, encryption, backups, and access limits, so the plan describes what is really there.
Keep it current
Revisit the plan whenever something changes, a new system, a new person, or a new location. Monthly care keeps the protections behind it running. The compliance point person add-on is paused for new sign-ups while we finish reviewing its terms.
Questions owners ask
How much does the plan cost?
It depends on the size of the office and what is already in place, so we quote it in writing after the checkup. The $350 checkup is credited toward it.
We already downloaded Publication 5708. Is that enough?
A blank or generic template is not a plan. It needs your details, and the protections it promises have to exist.
Is this legal advice?
No. We handle the technical side and the plan. Your attorney or a compliance advisor should review anything you are unsure about.
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