Outsourced accounting refers to having accounting done by a third party instead of an employee of the business. The concept of accounting outsourcing has gained immense popularity in the past years and more businesses in the USA and Canada are looking at outsourcing as a means to cut significant back office cost and remain competitive in the market. Whether you are starting a new business or running an established business, outsourcing accounting can be of great use. Though Accounting outsourcing offers great cost savings, how confident are you as an owner that your accounting data is secured with an outsourcing accounting services provider. Data security is a worry for buyers. The outsourcing accounting vendor has access to many sensitive financial documents: income tax returns, mortgage loan documents, credit card payments etc.
How can buyers be sure their data remains safe?
Briefly elaborated are a few points and questions realted with data security which you can ask the outsourcing accounting vendor-
Physical Security (security mentained at the workstation)
- Screening of visitors and employees by a security guard during entry and exit for data storage media like floppies, cds, usb drives etc
- Make sure that no employee carries cameras, camera phones and digital recording media in the premises
- PCs used by processors have disabled floppy/USB and CD ROM drives
- PCs used in accounting and financial analysis work are denied email and web access
- As an additional step you should ensure that no client data resides in PCs used for internet access
Data Security
- Get information on the server which the accounting outsourcing vendor uses and where is it located
- Make sure that the server is protected using Symantec Antivirus and firewall.
- Access to the server should be preferrably through 128 bit SSL encryption which ensures transmission security
- Comprehensive security audits are performed
- All data is backed up on a regular basis in a back-up server
Network Security
- Network security is maintained through Symantec Antivirus and firewall protection
- Segmented LAN with firewall protection
PC Security
- Make sure that there is Individual domain accounts for each processor which ensures that the access to source documents is restricted to the employee who would be working on your files or authorized employees only
- No fax and printing capabilities should be connected with the PCs
- Virus protection through Symantec Antivirus
- No usage of paper in the floor area
When you engage with an outsourcing accounting vendor also enter into an agreement of strict non disclosure of data which ensures that the data would be kept secretly and any breach on the agreement would be punishable under the law.
These are a few points which can be used before you link with some outsourcing accounting vendor. In most of the cases outsourcing vendor too ensures you know beforehand about the security measures they take for your accounts data and details.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น