A complete security program, built around how your firm actually works.

Accounting Security Foundation

Know what you have, where the risks are, and what must happen next.

Most firms have accumulated years of software, devices, vendors, user accounts, remote access, shared workflows, and informal exceptions.

The Accounting Security Foundation turns that environment into a program the partners can understand and support.

1. Map the environment

We document the systems and relationships that affect client information, including:

• Employees, contractors, and seasonal personnel
• Laptops, desktops, mobile devices, and servers
• Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
• Tax, accounting, payroll, document, and portal applications
• Service providers and technology vendors
• Administrative and privileged accounts
• Client-data storage and transfer workflows
• Remote access and office connectivity
• Backup systems and recovery dependencies

This creates a reliable baseline for every security and compliance decision that follows.

2. Verify the safeguards

We review whether the firm's most important protections are present, appropriately configured, and consistently applied.

That includes:

• Multi-factor authentication coverage
• Administrative-access controls
• Email-security configuration
• Whether endpoint protection and device management are in place
• Encryption at rest and in transit
• Backup architecture and recoverability
• Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace controls
• External exposure
• Client portals and file-sharing workflows
• Onboarding and offboarding procedures

The goal is not to produce a theoretical score. It is to identify where client information can realistically be exposed and what will reduce that exposure.

3. Build the required program

We create or rebuild the core documentation around the firm's real environment:

• Written Information Security Plan
• Written risk assessment
• Incident response plan
• Core information-security policies
• Vendor and service-provider register
• Initial risk register
• Roles and security responsibilities
• Evidence inventory
• Executive reporting structure

The documents reflect the controls and workflows that actually exist. Where reality does not yet match the required state, the gap is documented and assigned.

4. Prioritize remediation

Not every weakness deserves the same urgency.

We convert the findings into a staged roadmap that shows:

• What should be fixed immediately
• What can wait
• What creates the greatest reduction in risk
• Who should perform the work
• Whether the change requires new technology
• What can be handled by the existing IT provider
• What evidence will show that the item is complete

Double Rule coordinates with your existing providers so the roadmap becomes completed work, not another abandoned spreadsheet.

5. Brief the partners

The engagement concludes with a plain-language executive review.

Leadership receives a clear view of:

• The firm's largest exposures
• The safeguards already in place
• Material gaps and business consequences
• The remediation sequence
• Responsibilities and ownership
• Decisions requiring partner approval
• The ongoing operating plan

Typical duration: 2–6 weeks

Structure: one-time fixed-fee engagement

Managed Accounting Security

Keep the program current and the work moving.

A security program starts becoming outdated as soon as employees, vendors, systems, regulations, and threats change.

Managed Accounting Security gives the firm ongoing program ownership without requiring a full-time internal security leader.

Program maintenance

We maintain the documents and records that support the program:

• Written Information Security Plan
• Security policies
• Risk register
• Vendor register
• Incident response procedures
• Evidence and decision records
• Remediation roadmap

Risk and remediation oversight

We track open risks, verify progress, coordinate with responsible providers, and escalate decisions that require leadership attention.

The partners do not have to chase several vendors to determine whether an important security item was completed.

Identity and access oversight

We periodically review administrative access, multi-factor authentication, onboarding, offboarding, and other identity controls with the firm and its IT provider.

Provider coordination

We work with the organizations already supporting your environment, including:

• Managed IT providers
• Cloud and software vendors
• Insurance brokers and carriers
• Payroll and benefits providers
• Tax and accounting platforms
• Outside consultants
• Legal counsel when appropriate

Employee readiness

We manage a practical awareness and training cadence based on the threats accounting personnel are likely to encounter.

Leadership reporting

Partners receive clear reporting on:

• Material risks
• Open remediation items
• Program changes
• Vendor concerns
• Training completion
• Incidents and exceptions
• Decisions requiring approval

The objective is not to overwhelm leadership with technical activity. It is to give them enough information to exercise responsible oversight.

A named point of accountability

When a concerning email arrives, a vendor sends a security questionnaire, an employee leaves unexpectedly, an insurance renewal asks difficult questions, or a client requests evidence, the firm has someone to call.

Structure: annual engagement delivered as a monthly program