In this case study, we look at the relationship we have with an accounting firm in Portsmouth, NH. We have deleted their name to respect their privacy, but we’re going to explain why they reached out to us, how we assessed their situation, and the tactics we used to improve their IT environment. They’ve been with us for years, and they are a very happy client.
Why the Accounting Firm Contacted PCG
This accounting firm was having issues with its current managed service provider (MSP) in the middle of tax season. This is the busiest time of year for accountants, and they were concerned about their uptime and redundant servers.
Because they deal with a lot of sensitive data like Social Security Numbers and bank account details, they also wanted to make sure their tech was as secure as possible and in particular that their remote workers had a secure connection.
Security is critical for all businesses, but it’s especially important for accounting firms that deal closely with sensitive financial information from multiple clients. If an accounting firm suffers a security breach, their business may be in jeopardy, and their name may get tarnished.
Additionally, this firm was struggling with a lack of standardization in their PC setup process including in how they were accessing FileCabinet, and they also wanted more guidance on their IT efforts.
Developing an IT Strategy
To develop an actionable IT strategy, we worked through a network and security assessment and developed a business continuity plan to address uptime concerns. Here’s a closer look at what each element entailed.
Network Audit
To get a solid sense of this accounting firm’s IT needs, we started with a network audit. The network is the foundation of the company’s technology, and if it’s not working properly, everything will suffer.
During the network assessment, our engineers went on-site to the accounting firm and worked through a checklist to verify the firm’s tech infrastructure. We looked at what was in place, assessed the functionality of the servers, assessed specific applications, and checked out what was under warranty. We also reached out to the vendor of their accounting software to determine how their current backup was working and if it could protect them from any downtime.
Our network audits involve multiple elements such as checking the switches, looking at the firewall, assessing password policies, and analyzing the setup of their business applications. Our engineers also looked at the firm’s PC setup process, assessed how employees were logging in, and found out how the licensing keys for the software worked.
As we worked through the checklist and talked with the PC users at the firm, we documented everything. Then, we talked with the client about what was the most critical in relation to their needs.
Security Assessment
Then, we assessed the firm’s IT security. Again, we have a checklist that we work through that allows us to assign a risk score to our clients so we can help them decide where to prioritize their efforts.
With this client, we reviewed their cyber insurance, policy, and looked at their practices such as how remote workers were connecting, whether or not they were using multi-factor authentication (MFA), how they were managing their WiFi network, and if they were connecting risky mobile devices to their network. Ultimately, we wanted to identify security gaps and minimize the risk of their client data being breached.
Business Continuity Plan
Finally, to safeguard their uptime, we looked at their redundant server. Like many accounting firms, they didn’t want their server in the cloud, and they wanted to ensure their redundant server was ready to kick in if their main server went down.
We wanted to ensure they had as much uptime as possible. We determined that the main server was functioning correctly, but we also realized that if it failed, the backup server wouldn’t automatically kick in so we developed a plan to replace the redundant server and address that issue.
Implementing the IT Strategy
We want to have a relationship with our clients. We want to ensure that we can meet their needs and that they will benefit from our services. We explained to this client how we could support them and how they could access our team. Then, we walked them through the onboarding process as well as the tools and documentation strategies that we were going to use.
Once they decided that they wanted to work with us, we developed a managed service plan to meet their needs. We showed them the information we had gathered during the assessment process and asked them questions about the areas where we needed more information. Here is a brief overview of the services we provided to them.
Improving the PC Setup Process
To improve the PC setup process, we sat down with some of the firm’s PC users to see them in action. We discovered that they do a lot of printing and a lot of data sharing. With tax prep and accounting, you often have one person work on a file and then another person double-checks everything before it goes to the final accountant.
To ensure everything worked seamlessly and safely, we wanted to make sure that all the PC users had what they needed from dual screens to printer access to the right VPN.
Business Continuity Plan
Based on the concerns we had about the firm’s redundant server, we wanted to ensure the backup would work correctly, but we also wanted to ensure that no other issues would occur. So we created a business continuity plan which involved creating access through the cloud.
24/7 Help Desk
We have a few different help desk options for our MSP clients, and to ensure this client has the tech support they need especially during tax season, we provided them with access to a 24/7 help desk service.
This ensures if someone faces a tech issue when they’re working late or on the weekends during tax season, they can easily get help.
VCIO Meeting
After 90 days, we sat down with the client for a virtual chief information officer (VCIO) meeting. We invest time in the company before scheduling these to ensure we understand their needs, network, and tech challenges.
During this meeting, we create a roadmap and budget to provide our clients with the information they need to move forward with their technology.
Outcomes of Working With PCG
We’ve been working with this client for years now and have a great rapport with our dedicated engineer visiting their site once a month.
Over the years, we’ve helped them transition to MS 365, implement a business continuity plan, and work on several other projects. In all cases, our efforts are planned and timed so that major projects happen outside of tax season. That way when tax season comes around, their network is primed and ready to go.
Ultimately, our job is to keep their IT running smoothly so they don’t have to worry about it. We also try to be as proactive as we can about repairs or other issues so they don’t have to deal with downtime or productivity disruptions.
Contact PCG to Talk About Your IT Needs
Whether you own an accounting firm or any other type of business, your IT is critical to your bottom line., If it’s not working properly, your profits can suffer. To get help with your IT needs, contact us today. At PCG, we work closely with all of our clients to customize a managed service plan that works for their unique needs.
