What Should a CPA Firm Look for in a Managed IT Provider?

Most CPA firms in Houston and Dallas — with 10 to 50 employees — should expect to invest between $95 and $145 per user per month for managed IT that includes real security, not just basic remote monitoring. Accounting practices handle client tax records, Social Security numbers, bank data, and sensitive financial statements year-round. The wrong IT partner leaves all of that exposed. Before signing any managed IT agreement, your firm needs to evaluate five non-negotiable criteria — and most providers in the market won't meet all of them.

Do They Understand the Compliance Demands on Accounting Firms?

CPA firms aren't just responsible for uptime. You handle sensitive financial records that are subject to the FTC Safeguards Rule, state data protection laws, and IRS Publication 4557 guidelines on protecting taxpayer data. Any managed IT provider you work with must understand these obligations — not just generic cybersecurity.

Look for a provider with documented experience serving accounting or professional services firms. Ask whether they can walk you through the specific security controls required for firms your size and whether they've supported clients through compliance reviews. A provider that gives you a blank stare at the mention of the FTC Safeguards Rule is not the right fit for your practice.

Does the Provider Include Dark Web Monitoring and Phishing Protection?

CPA firms are high-value targets. Attackers know that accounting practices store client financial data year-round and are especially vulnerable during tax season when staff are busy and less alert. Two of the most important security layers your IT provider must include are:

• Dark Web Monitoring: Continuously scans criminal forums and data breach repositories for your firm's email addresses, passwords, and credentials. If a staff member's login appears on the dark web, you'll know before an attacker can exploit it.
• Phishing Simulation and Security Awareness Training: Regular simulated phishing emails test whether your team would click a malicious link. Paired with ongoing training, this significantly reduces the risk of credential theft and ransomware — the two most common attack vectors against CPA firms.

Both should be included in your base managed IT plan — not sold as expensive add-ons. If a provider doesn't include them in their standard offering for professional services firms, that's a red flag.

Can They Back Up and Restore Your Microsoft 365 Data?

Most CPA firms rely on Microsoft 365 for email, document storage, and collaboration. What many firms don't realize is that Microsoft does not provide full backup for your data. Deleted emails, accidentally overwritten files, and corrupted SharePoint data may be unrecoverable without a dedicated third-party backup solution.

Your IT provider should include Microsoft 365 backup with at least one year of retention in your managed plan. Ask them specifically: "If an employee accidentally deletes a client email thread from 90 days ago, can you restore it?" If the answer is anything other than a clear yes, your firm is exposed. This is not optional coverage for an accounting practice.

Do They Manage Your Email Authentication — DMARC, SPF, and DKIM?

Cybercriminals frequently impersonate CPA firms to defraud their clients — sending fraudulent invoices, fake tax documents, or wire transfer requests using your firm's domain name. Email authentication protocols are the technical defenses that prevent this:

• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance): Tells receiving email servers what to do with messages that fail authentication checks. Without it, criminals can send emails that appear to come from your firm.
• SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Specifies which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Adds a digital signature to outbound emails that verifies they haven't been tampered with in transit.

These records require ongoing management as your email infrastructure changes. A competent managed IT provider handles the initial setup and keeps them current — reducing the risk that your clients receive a fraudulent email that appears to be from your firm.

What Are Their Response Time Commitments for Your Firm?

Not all IT support is equal when something breaks during tax season. Every provider you evaluate should give you written SLA (Service Level Agreement) commitments — not vague promises about "fast response." Here's a benchmark for what a managed IT provider serving CPA firms should commit to in writing:

• Critical (system completely down): Response within 2 business hours or less.
• High priority (significant business impact): Response within 4 business hours.
• Medium priority: Response by the next business day.

If a provider can't put these timeframes in writing, keep looking. IT downtime during tax season costs accounting firms far more than the monthly IT fee — in lost billable hours, client trust, and staff productivity.

How a Houston CPA Firm Closed Its Security Gaps After a Phishing Incident

A 10 person Firm in Houstoncame to Scorpion Technology after a phishing email compromised a staff member's Microsoft 365 account. The attacker had access for 6 months days before being detected — long enough to access client financial records and internal communications.

After moving to Scorpion's Assured managed IT plan, the firm put the following protections in place:

• Dark Web Monitoring that detected two additional compromised credentials within the first 30 days — before those accounts were exploited.
• Phishing simulation training that reduced click-through rates from
• Microsoft 365 Backup with daily snapshots and one-year retention — ensuring client email history and document records are protected and recoverable.
• Managed DMARC, SPF, and DKIM configuration that immediately blocked domain spoofing attempts targeting the firm's clients.

The firm passed their first FTC Safeguards compliance review within 6 months'

Ready to Find the Right IT Partner for Your CPA Firm?

Accounting firms in Houston and Dallas can't afford to treat IT as an afterthought. The combination of sensitive client data, strict compliance requirements, and year-round deadline pressure makes your practice a high-priority target — and a high-risk environment if your IT provider isn't purpose-built for professional services.

If your current provider isn't delivering on these five criteria, it's worth having a conversation with a provider who specializes in firms like yours. The right managed IT plan for a CPA firm should include dark web monitoring, phishing training, M365 backup, email authentication management, and written SLA commitments — all as standard inclusions, not upsells.

 

About Scorpion Technology

Scorpion Technology has served small businesses and healthcare practices across Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio for over 19 years. We specialize in HIPAA-compliant IT for medical practices and professional services firms, with a 15-minute guaranteed response time for all managed clients. Our team is local, responsive, and built around keeping your practice running — not just fixing problems when they break. Learn more at ScorpionITSupport.com or call 713-623-1266.