The Ultimate 30 Point IT Readiness Checklist for Tax Season for Accounting Firms

How to protect your firm from downtime, data loss, and compliance risk during your busiest months.

Tax season is the most stressful and most vulnerable period of the year for accounting firms. Systems slow down, software updates break things, internet connections get overloaded, and attackers aggressively target CPA firms because they know you are working long hours with extremely sensitive data.

The question most firms ask is simple:

Are we truly ready for tax season from an IT and security standpoint?

This 30 point checklist gives you a complete, accountant specific guide to ensure your systems stay fast, secure, and reliable from January through April. It covers disaster recovery, tax software stability, client data protection, licensing compliance, remote work readiness, internet redundancy, and more.

Use this checklist as a preparation guide, internal SOP, or an evaluation tool with your IT provider.

1. Disaster Recovery and Backup Reliability

When tax season begins, uptime is not optional. Your entire business relies on your systems performing at peak levels. The first step is confirming that if something fails, your data and applications can be restored quickly and cleanly.

• • Disaster recovery plan updated and validated including RTO and RPO.

• • Recent backups restored and tested to confirm files can be recovered.

• • Offsite and cloud backups meet retention rules for tax and financial data.

• • Critical servers replicated with tested failover before January 15.

• • Workstations and laptops backed up including devices used by remote staff.

Why this matters:
Most CPA firms assume backups are functioning properly. During tax season, a failed restore or corrupt database can cost days of billable time and create compliance risks. A tested restore is the only restore that can be trusted.

2. Patch Management, Software Updates, and Rollback Safety

Tax season is the worst time for updates that break your workflow. You need control over updates along with the ability to roll back quickly.

• • Security patches scheduled during low risk hours.

• • Rollback plan ready for OS updates that cause issues.

• • Tax software updates tested in a safe environment first.

• • Rollback process for tax software confirmed and documented.

• • Firmware updates for network devices completed before tax season.

Why this matters:
A surprise Windows update or tax software patch can disrupt the entire firm. Firms that test and stage updates avoid last minute emergencies.

3. Network Stability, Load Capacity, and Redundancy

Slow networks and internet outages are the most common disruptors during tax season.

• • Internet redundancy in place such as dual ISP or cellular failover.

• • Failover tested under real world load.

• • Firewall throughput verified for peak usage.

• • WiFi optimized for heavy traffic including temporary staff.

• • VPN or secure remote access tested and stable.

Why this matters:
Internet outages can halt e filing, client portal access, and cloud tax applications. A second internet line with automatic failover is one of the highest return investments a CPA firm can make.

4. Security Hardening and Client Data Protection

Cybercriminals aggressively target accounting firms during tax season. Ensuring firm wide security reduces the likelihood of breaches and protects your reputation as well as your clients.

• • Multi factor authentication enforced across all systems.

• • Client portal security tested including password rules and timeout settings.

• • Audit trails enabled for all client file access.

• • Email security configured including SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and phishing protection.

• • Dark web monitoring active for firm domains and leadership.

• • Endpoint protection with EDR or MDR active and reporting correctly.

• • Security awareness refreshers completed before January 31.

Why this matters:
A single compromised account can expose thousands of tax records. MFA combined with proper email security prevents most account takeover attempts.

5. Licensing, Compliance, and Access Control

Tax season is when licensing issues, access problems, and compliance gaps appear at the worst possible moment.

• • All software licensing verified and renewed including tax software, Adobe, Office or M365, and practice management tools.

• • Document retention and archive policies validated for regulatory requirements.

• • Vendor compliance documentation updated.

• • Least privilege access reviewed for all staff including seasonal hires.

• • Data encryption policies confirmed and enforced.

Why this matters:
Improper licensing can deactivate critical software during peak filing days. Compliance gaps expose the firm to regulatory and legal problems.

6. Workflow Tools, Scanners, and Productivity Systems

Small workflow delays turn into significant time loss during tax season.

• • Scanner, printer, and signature pad drivers updated and tested.

• • File server or SharePoint structure optimized for fast retrieval.

• • Practice management systems configured for high volume tracking including deadlines and e file acknowledgments.

• • Remote staff tools tested and standardized.

Why this matters:
Even ten second delays in scanning or file retrieval add up across hundreds of returns.

Bonus Items That Improve Performance Even More

• • After hours support plan documented.

• • E file monitoring dashboard set up.

• • Temporary staff onboarding templates ready.

• • Quick training guide for secure client document transfer.

Final Thoughts

Tax season does not have to create technology chaos. With proactive preparation, tested backups, controlled updates, strong security, stable networks, and clear communication, your accounting firm can operate smoothly and confidently throughout your busiest season.

If you would like help evaluating your IT readiness for tax season, we offer a Tax Season IT Health Check that includes a customized risk review for accounting firms.