Backups that keep pace with tax season
Hourly copies of client files, and a restore proven before January.
An accounting firm’s files change fastest when it can least afford to lose them. We copy workpapers hourly, image the practice server nightly, and time a restore drill before the season opens.
Where accounting firms lose work
Peak-season change rate
In March, one lost afternoon means re-keying dozens of returns. Hourly versions cap the loss at an hour.
Everything on one server
Tax software, the practice database and client folders often share one machine. A nightly image rebuilds it whole.
Retention set by policy
How long you keep prior-year files is your compliance owner’s call. We set backup retention to match it.
Files from client portals
Portal uploads end up in a shared folder. We copy that folder and note what the portal itself keeps.
The plans that fit a practice
Server Backup
Images the practice-management server nightly and keeps 7 yearly versions for prior-year lookups.
Standby Recovery
If the server fails in March, it runs as a cloud machine, with a 4-hour target.
Workstation Backup
Preparers’ laptops copy every hour, including the ones taken home on weekends in March.
Restore Drill
A timed restore each quarter, with one scheduled before the season starts.
Your first 90 days
- Week 1
Map the practice
We list each system, from the tax server to scanned source documents, and agree how much work each can lose.
- Day 10
Copy, then prove it
Hourly file versions and a nightly image are running. We restore one client folder and send you the timing.
- Each quarter
Drill before deadlines
Before the busy season, a full drill: files, one mailbox and the server, timed and written up within 3 business days.
Questions accounting firms ask us
Can you back up our tax and accounting software?
Yes, if it runs on a Windows server or workstation. The server gets a nightly image and hourly file versions, and databases are captured in a consistent state so they open cleanly after a restore. During the free backup check we test-restore one company file, so you see it work before you sign anything.
How long do you keep backups of prior-year files?
By default, servers keep 30 daily, 12 monthly and 7 yearly versions. Your compliance owner decides how long client records must be kept, and we set backup retention to match and write it into your recovery map. A backup is not an archive, so closed-year files should also live in a records folder you control.
What if the server fails during tax season?
We restore it. On the Standby Recovery plan, we aim to have it running as a cloud virtual machine within 4 hours while the hardware is replaced, and staff connect through a secure tunnel. Without Standby Recovery, a typical server restores to new hardware overnight. Both are targets, not guarantees.
Will you complete our security questionnaire?
Yes, we complete client security questionnaires and answer in writing. We do not claim certifications. Whether our controls meet the rules your firm follows is your compliance owner’s decision, and we give them what they need to make it: where copies live, who can reach them, and how every access is logged.
We already copy the server to an external drive. Is that enough?
It is one copy in the same building, which a fire, a theft or ransomware can reach along with the server. Keep it as a fast local copy if you like. We add encrypted copies in two US regions, one of them locked against deletion, and test them every quarter.
Worth reading first
See what you could restore
A free 45-minute backup check, one test restore, and a plain written page of findings.