How should an advice firm protect client financial information?
Protect the mailbox, verify every payment change by phone, manage every device, and keep the evidence your licensee will ask for.
Read the full articleWho should own your IT hardware and licences?
Your business, in its own name, with the records to prove it. Check before a changeover forces the question.
Read the full articleWhat should an advice firm be able to tell its licensee about cyber security?
Specific, dated answers rather than assurances. A maturity report answers most licensee questionnaires in one document.
Read the full articleCan accounting firms use AI safely?
For drafting, summarising and first-pass analysis, with a person checking. Not by pasting client financials into public tools.
Read the full articleWhat IT does an accounting firm need?
A ledger platform, document management that survives an audit, protected email, and capacity that holds up through tax season.
Read the full articleWhy can't staff install their own software?
Because installing software means administrator rights, and administrator rights are what turn one compromised laptop into a compromised business.
Read the full articleWhat is the 3-2-1 backup rule?
Three copies, two kinds of storage, one kept offsite. The old rule still works, with one modern addition ransomware made necessary.
Read the full articleIs it legal to record business calls in Australia?
It depends on your state and on consent. Announce it, get advice for your jurisdiction, and decide retention before switching it on.
Read the full articleHow should an accounting firm protect client financial data?
Protect the mailbox, control who sees which client, manage the devices, and verify every payment change by phone. In that order.
Read the full articleHow should an accounting firm prepare its IT for the busy season?
Fix the connection, replace the slow machines and test the backups in the quiet months. Nothing gets fixed cheaply in October.
Read the full articleShould you create channels or separate Teams?
Separate Teams when the access list differs. Channels when the same people need another conversation. Permissions decide it, not tidiness.
Read the full articleIs a hosted desktop still the right setup for an advice firm?
Often not any more. Managed local machines with cloud platforms are usually faster and cheaper than the remote desktop they replace.
Read the full articleDoes a small law firm need the Essential Eight?
Not by law, and increasingly by expectation. Insurers, corporate clients and government panels ask, and the controls fit legal risk well.
Read the full articleIs managed IT better than in-house IT?
One salary buys one person. The same spend buys a team, tooling and 24/7 cover. Where each model wins, and the hybrid between them.
Read the full articleIs Microsoft 365 backed up?
Microsoft keeps the service running; your data is your responsibility. What the built-in retention actually covers, and where it stops.
Read the full articleExchange Online Plan 1 or Microsoft 365 Business Basic: which do you need?
Plan 1 is email only. Basic adds Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive for a little more. Almost everyone should take Basic.
Read the full articleWhat should a small business automate first?
The task that happens weekly, follows the same rules every time, and annoys someone. Boring on purpose, because the first one teaches.
Read the full articleShould you buy refurbished business computers?
Sometimes, for the right roles. Check remaining warranty, remaining supported life, and who stands behind it if it fails.
Read the full articleTrust accounting and IT: what should a firm have in place?
Payment verification, restricted access, tested backups and an audit trail. The IT controls that sit underneath the regulatory ones.
Read the full articleIs it safe to let an AI notetaker join your client meetings?
Only with consent, and consent is a legal question in Australia, not a courtesy. Ask first, every time, and know where the recording goes.
Read the full articleLEAP, Actionstep or Smokeball: what matters from an IT point of view?
Choose on how your firm works, then make sure it integrates with email and documents. Integration is where firms lose the value they paid for.
Read the full articleRemote vs on-site IT support: do you still need someone who can show up?
Remote fixes most of modern IT, faster. The rest needs hands, and the contract decides how quickly hands arrive.
Read the full articleDoes a small business still need a server?
Many no longer do. The test is whether anything you run genuinely requires one, rather than whether you have always had one.
Read the full articleWhat should an Essential Eight assessment report look like?
Scores with evidence, a summary an owner can read, a sequenced roadmap, and a date. Anything less is a brochure.
Read the full article
