IT Support for Accounting Firms in Kansas City
Tech 360 Solutions provides managed IT support for accounting firms, CPAs, and tax preparers in the Kansas City area. One monthly price per user covers the tools, the monitoring, and the people who answer when something breaks.
The firms we support hold years of client tax returns, bank details, and Social Security numbers. That data is what criminals want, and it's what the IRS expects you to protect. Our job is to make sure it's protected, and that your systems stay up when the deadline is three days out.
IT services for accounting firms
The same managed service we provide every client, applied to the way an accounting firm works.
Managed IT support
Every computer in the firm is monitored and patched, and you call people who already know how your office is set up. Preparers don't lose an afternoon re-explaining the problem.
Cybersecurity
Managed security software on every device, identity threat detection for your Microsoft 365 accounts, and email authentication so nobody can send mail that looks like it came from your firm during filing season.
Microsoft 365 and cloud
Microsoft 365 Business Premium is bundled into every seat. Email, files, Teams, and the security features Premium includes, licensed and managed by us.
Backup and disaster recovery
Managed, monitored backup for client files and firm data, with restores tested before you need them. A backup nobody has restored from is a hope, not a plan.
Network monitoring
A business-grade firewall and access points, managed by us, with guest and personal devices kept off the systems that hold client data.
Remote-work security
Encrypted laptops, multi-factor authentication on every account, and remote access that doesn't leave a door open. A lost laptop becomes an inconvenience instead of a breach notification.
Strategic IT planning
A written roadmap with pricing and timelines, so hardware replacements and security gaps get scheduled in the off-season instead of discovered in March.
Why accounting firms choose Tech 360
Kansas City based
We're local. When a problem needs someone in the office, that's a drive across town, not a ticket routed to another time zone.
Built for regulated work
The owner spent more than 20 years in legal technology, where client confidentiality and compliance were never optional. Accounting firms live under the same kind of rules, and the company is built around them.
A written standard, applied to every client
Every environment we manage is built to the same documented baseline. When a client or the IRS asks how their data is protected, you have an answer on paper.
Their response time is consistently fast, which is critical during our busy season when downtime isn't an option. They're reliable, easy to work with, and always handle issues quickly and professionally. It's a huge relief knowing our IT is in good hands.
The IT problems accounting firms actually have
Most firms we talk to have some version of the same list. Which of these sounds familiar?
Protecting client financial and taxpayer data
Returns, bank statements, and Social Security numbers for every client you've ever had, often sitting in a shared folder that every login can reach.
Staying up during tax season
A server that dies in October is a problem. The same server dying on April 10 is a different category of problem.
Phishing aimed at your firm
Criminals know tax preparers are busy in March and that a fake message from a client with an attached W-2 gets opened. One click can expose every client file.
Secure remote access
Seasonal preparers, partners working from home, and a client portal all need to reach firm data without leaving that data reachable by anyone else.
Keeping tax and accounting software running
Annual version rollovers, hosted desktops, printing, and a shared data folder that every workstation has to reach. When it breaks, nobody at the firm has time to sit on hold with the vendor.
Backup nobody has ever tested
The backup that was set up years ago, has never been restored from, and may or may not include the folder that matters.
Security, WISP, and compliance
If you have a PTIN, the IRS expects you to have a Written Information Security Plan. IRS Publication 4557 and the FTC Safeguards Rule spell out what that plan has to cover: who's responsible, what data you hold, how it's protected, and what happens when something goes wrong.
The technical controls the plan describes are the ones we put in place for every managed client anyway. Multi-factor authentication on every business account. Each user gets their own login, because shared accounts make it impossible to know who did what. Encrypted computers. Managed backup with tested restores. Email authentication so criminals can't impersonate your firm. And staff who've been shown what a phishing message aimed at a tax office looks like.
We help firms get the plan written and, more to the point, make it true. The article below walks through what the IRS actually requires and what a workable plan looks like for a small firm.
Read: The Security Plan Your Tax Firm Is Supposed to Have in WritingAccounting and tax software
The firms we support run Lacerte and QuickBooks, alongside Microsoft 365 for email and files.
Whatever suite your firm uses, hosted or installed locally, the support looks the same. We make sure it opens, runs, prints, and reaches its data from every workstation and from home. Its data is in the backup set, and we've proven a restore works. Access to it is controlled. And when the fault is inside the software itself, we open the ticket with the vendor and stay on it, so your preparers don't.
What we don't do is teach the software or answer tax questions. That stays with the vendor's support desk and your own staff, where it belongs.
IT support during tax season
From late January through the April deadline, and again in the fall for extensions, a technology problem costs an accounting firm more per hour than at any other time of year. A workstation that won't boot, a hosted desktop that won't connect, or a printer that quits on a deadline day isn't an inconvenience. It's billable hours gone and a client who may not come back.
Our approach is to do the disruptive work in the off-season. Hardware replacements, operating system upgrades, and software version rollovers get scheduled for May through December. During season, the goal is that nothing changes unless it has to, and that when something does break, you reach a person who already knows your setup.
Security doesn't relax in season either. Phishing aimed at tax preparers peaks when firms are busiest, because criminals know a rushed preparer opens attachments. The monitoring and email protection stay on, and we watch for the sign-in from somewhere your staff isn't.
Talk to us before next seasonQuestions accounting firms ask us
- What IT support does an accounting firm need?
- At minimum: monitored and patched computers, multi-factor authentication on every account, managed backup with tested restores, email protection against phishing and impersonation, and someone to call who already knows the firm's setup. Firms that hold taxpayer data also need a Written Information Security Plan, and the IT provider should be able to help write one that's true.
- Does my CPA firm need dedicated IT support?
- A firm with a handful of staff usually doesn't need a full-time IT person, but it does need someone responsible for security and uptime. Managed IT support fills that gap at a fixed monthly price per user, which is what most small CPA firms in Kansas City end up choosing.
- Do you offer IT support for accounting firms in Kansas?
- Yes. Tech 360 Solutions is based in the Kansas City metro and supports accounting and tax firms on both sides of the state line, including Johnson County.
- What is a WISP for an accounting firm?
- A Written Information Security Plan is a document that says what client data your firm holds, who is responsible for protecting it, what safeguards are in place, and what you'll do if there's a breach. The IRS requires it for anyone with a PTIN, and a template that was downloaded and never filled in doesn't count.
- Do accounting firms need a Written Information Security Plan?
- Yes. When you renew a PTIN, you attest that you have a data security plan. The FTC Safeguards Rule applies to tax preparers as financial institutions, and IRS Publication 4557 describes what the plan should contain.
- What does the IRS require for a WISP?
- IRS Publication 4557 asks for a named person responsible for security, an inventory of the client data you hold, the safeguards protecting it, and a response plan for a breach. The full breakdown, and what a workable plan looks like for a small firm, is in our WISP article. IRS WISP guidance in the article.
- What cybersecurity protections should CPA firms have?
- Multi-factor authentication on email and every business application, encrypted computers, managed security software that someone actually monitors, email authentication so criminals can't send mail as your firm, backups that have been restored from at least once, and staff who know what a phishing message aimed at a tax office looks like. These are the controls a WISP describes, and they're the baseline we build every client to.
See Where Your IT Actually Stands
Free compliance and IT assessment, a $500 value. Actionable findings on where your systems stand and what, if anything, needs attention.
- Response within 1 business day
- Written report you can keep
- Follow-up only if you ask