[10keyLeah]

I’d like to see our small 2 person practice beef up our security when sending e-mails and files. I’ve been reading around a bit, but I’d like to see if anyone here has feedback on this.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[Anonymous]

A lot of programs can put a password on PDFs when sending them. I'm sure hackers can hack them, but this can help provide a basic level of security. Something that's standardized – like putting a password on a client's document which is always the last 5 digits of their last name and the middle 2 digits of their social – is something you can easily tell someone for them to open their fiels, but others won't be as quick to guess.

[10keyLeah]

Thanks Lilla. We have been doing both of the things you mention. As you said, it is at least basic security. Is this typical security among small practices? I would assume it would be, but wondering if there is reason to try and do more.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[Anonymous]

In the small practices I worked in, yes it was standard practice. However, I live in the hills of Kentucky, so that's probably not saying much…! As I was leaving the one practice, we were just starting to use a service through our software (Drake) that allowed clients to upload documents to a secure portal and us to send documents to the secure portal, rather than sending them via email. Clients get set up with a login and password, and it's like a dropbox thing. I think it was $500/year for enough storage for our little practice to use. We'd also started scanning in all their tax documents and uploading them to the same dropbox, but under a practitioner-only section, so that we could have backups of the records.

[Tncincy]

I am all for security, I am really slow about the cloud and all the new stuff, but it is a breath of fresh air from all the paper. I also worry about all the pass word changes and what to do when something bigger and better comes along. It seems like as soon as I learn to use one technique or software or change to a different form of technology, it changes. How do we deal with the personal insecurities of learning more new stuff.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[10keyLeah]

Thanks, Lilla. Your comment gives me some insight into what other small practices are doing. Computer stuff has been a bit of a challenge for our small practice. When I came on board, one of the first things I discovered was that our server and computers had not been updated in almost 2 years.

tncincy – I can understand being slow to change or adapt to new computer stuff. Sometimes the ‘new' stuff isn't always the best option – at least not until all of the bugs are worked out. My hope is to just make sure we are acceptably secure, and to get us using programs more often where it makes sense.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[ibCPAsoon]

Were a little larger than 2 people – about 24 full time at my firm.

We use something ShareFile to send things securely. It has a plugin built in directly to Outlook that converts the attachment into a link for the recipient to download. You can require them to login to access and the link expires in a specified period of time. Clients can also send files to us. Packages seem to start at $16 a month per their website. I'm not involved in our billing side of things so I cant give you a better estimate than that.

PRO: Gives you a notification when the client downloads it so there's a little bit of a trail that the client did in fact receive your document. From my experience, our clients have loved it.

CON: A big issue I have found is for older clients and not tech savvy clients. Some clients cannot grasp the concept of clicking the link instead of their being an attachment and CANNOT download the file even after walking them through in person.

We also originally used something called LeapFile – which was the same concept and seems to start at $10 a month. I liked this one the same.

BEC - PASS JULY 2014
FAR - PASS DEC 2014
AUD - PASS FEB 2015
REG - PASS MAY 2015

[Author]

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