4 Security Questions to Ask Before Outsourcing for Accountancy Services

4 Security Questions to Ask Before Outsourcing for Accountancy Services You want your accounting and bookkeeping to be done properly, but hiring an in-house accountant or even a part-time bookkeeper might not be feasible for your company. Maybe you don't have the resources to hire a full-time in-house accountant, or you don't know how to manage them. Whatever the situation may be, accounting outsourcing companies are beginning to seem like the ideal answer; yet, you'll be transferring a lot of sensitive financial information to a third party, so you may be wary of these below mentioned points.

What kind of physical security does accounting services have in place at their workplace?

Make sure the servers and other locations where financial records are maintained are properly protected before you focus on the security of your electronic data. Inquire about employees' access to the records area and databases, if the server room is safe, and whether security measures are in place to filter employees accessing the records area.

Inquire about the mechanisms in place to monitor the location and distribution of data for 100% virtual enterprises or even organisations with work-from-home or remote employees.

Ensure that virtual employees are logged into secure servers that do not enable information to be sent to local PCs or printed locally. You definitely don't want your bank information to end up in someone's knowledge.

On accounting outsourcing companies' websites and login portals, what encryption mechanisms are employed?

When transmitting files to a website, a typical encryption approach is to utilise an SSL certificate for 128-bit or 256-bit encryption. This sort of encryption is usually indicated by a lock icon and the addition of "https" to the website URL. Encryption stops hackers from decoding the information transmitted to the accounting company by preventing it from being obtained in plain text by hackers sniffing packets.

If your outsourced accounting service gives clients access to data through a file room or cloud storage, find out what security protections are in place to prevent unauthorised access.

You'll also want to restrict access to yourself and critical employees. Maintain the same level of security for your login credentials as you would for your financial information.

After the accounting companies finish with the files, what happens to them?

Find out what happens to older files once the outsourced accounting company completes your bookkeeping, tax filing, or other accounting work. Does it retain the files on hand for a set length of time, trash them after providing you copies, or store them for a specific duration of time? Make sure you have written confirmation of what happens to your files if you decide to

part ways with your accounting service provider. Your company's financial data is a very important property, but don't wait until there's a problem to get it in writing.

What kind of network security does the accounting services have in place?

Ascertain that the outsourced accounting service's office is connected to a secure network.

Otherwise, an opportunistic hacker might join the network and try to obtain access to network servers, computers, and other devices in order to steal your financial information.

Find out what measures the accounting company has in place to reduce the damage and retrieve the data if a data breach occurs. Find out how the alert system works, including when you'll be notified and how emergency actions will be implemented. First and foremost, be sure that the accounting company you hire has an emergency response strategy in place before a disaster strikes.

Conclusion: Any company's accounting work is a crucial business driver. You can not only save money by outsourcing accounting, but you can also get a lot more for your money. So hire the best accounting outsourcing companies in Mumbai and gain multiple advantages from them.