passwords? not enough; those can be removed.
by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless
when dealing with digital files, the most effective way to transfer them is electronically over the internet, either with secured email or through a portal.
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many firms have emailed clients copies of tax returns and financial statements over the years. unfortunately, this is not always the most secure method as the firm does not have control of the various internet service providers and the relay servers between the firm’s email server and the client’s email account.
though using a password on the file provides some level of security, there have long been vendors providing password “removal” services for adobe pdf, microsoft word and microsoft excel files. there are also secure email delivery services that are great for one-time delivery – such as citrix sharefile and cpaperless safesend – but these are standalone products that do not natively integrate with the firm’s other practice applications.
some states have also disallowed the transmission of any documents with certain personally identifiable information unless that information was redacted, which can also be cost-prohibitive.
to resolve this issue, accounting vendors are promoting portal solutions that allow for secure movement of files both to and from clients. portals are secure websites, most often accessed through the firm’s own website where a secured connection allows data to be uploaded and downloaded by both the firm and the client. each client would have a unique directory access to the portal so there is no risk of seeing another client’s file, which was a problem with early ftp (file transfer protocol) sites that were incapable of this.
selecting a portal requires analysis of the level of security provided by each vendor. for example, firm personnel need the ability to access single-location clients and clients with multiple entities. in this way, the portal application can restrict access only to the personnel who are authorized to view and update the documents.
“53% primarily deliver tax returns in a digital format and 18% of firms delivered the majority of their organizers digitally.” – cpafma 2017 survey
the most effective portals integrate directly with a firm’s document management, workflow and tax applications as this reduces the training required and makes it easier to move files in and out of the portal. firms should look at portal solutions that will notify the in-charge for a specific client whenever any new document is uploaded or downloaded to the portal, as well as maintain an audit trail of activity.
if the firm does not have a document management application, some of the leading providers of the “canned” accounting firm websites provide a portal as part of their service. a comprehensive listing of accounting-specific website providers can be found at www.websites4accountants.com.
recommended action: acquire portal solution for all client file transfer and educate personnel and clients on usage.