WISP IT SUPPORT

[artp]

I took the sample plan outline from the IRS website and tried to tailor it for my small one man tax operation (no employees) but not comfortable with what I have. Does anyone have an IT support person who works with smaller clients who could set up the WISP for me? Thanks for any suggestions.

Art

[Lee B]

Or does anyone have a sample plan tailored for an one person (no employee) office.

I would also be very interested.

TIA

[artp]

Someone mentioned Tech 4 Accountants. Anyone used them? Reliable? Cost effective?

[Margaret CPA in OH]

I think Catherine has someone that prepared hers or worked with her. It might have been Tech4Accountants.  I took my template to my computer guy who has built my last many computers and configured everything including firewall, etc.  We worked through it together as he has done this for other firms.  I had to fill in the details about equipment the majority of which he provided, connected and secured.  He is a cyber security expert so I feel pretty good about my WISP.  We followed the IRS Pub. 5708.  It took only about an hour so his charge to review and confirm some things was not bad.

It will likely be my last straw and surely bring on retirement at the end of this 3 year license period, if not before. 

[BulldogTom]

2 hours ago, artp said:

I took the sample plan outline from the IRS website and tried to tailor it for my small one man tax operation (no employees) but not comfortable with what I have. Does anyone have an IT support person who works with smaller clients who could set up the WISP for me? Thanks for any suggestions.

Art

@Catherine has been raving about her guy.   You should send her a PM and look up the post she started a few weeks back.

Tom
Longview, TX

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

3 hours ago, Margaret CPA in OH said:

I think Catherine has someone that prepared hers or worked with her. It might have been Tech4Accountants.  I took my template to my computer guy who has built my last many computers and configured everything including firewall, etc.  We worked through it together as he has done this for other firms.  I had to fill in the details about equipment the majority of which he provided, connected and secured.  He is a cyber security expert so I feel pretty good about my WISP.  We followed the IRS Pub. 5708.  It took only about an hour so his charge to review and confirm some things was not bad.

It will likely be my last straw and surely bring on retirement at the end of this 3 year license period, if not before. 

My local IT business that I have worked with for at least 15 years, decided that I am too small for them. I was really sad, but they don't want one computer jobs anymore. They had no idea what a WISP plan is and they work with some other local CPA firms, so I guess I will just keep searching. I really want to change to a laptop with a dock soon, since I will be retiring at the end of 2024 and don't want to be tied to my gigantic desk. I'm going to try to sell it, since we will be downsizing and moving out of state. 

 

[TexTaxToo]

14 hours ago, NECPA in NEBRASKA said:

They had no idea what a WISP plan is

Be careful when saying "WISP" to an IT person.  For them, it will generally mean a type of router that connects to a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP).

[artp]

Thanks for all of your feedback.  Decided to go with Tech 4 to get this done correctly. 

[Catherine]

@artp just sent you email.

Anyone else who needs a WISP please contact me and I'll send you Ben's contact information. I don't want to post it openly without his express permission; I should ask him, I guess!

[Catherine]

He says I can post his email.

Ben is his name;    [email protected]

[Lee B]

It took me about an hour to go through the sample template and modify it to fit my no employee situation.

I still have several small attachments to fine tune but it's almost done.

[Slippery Pencil]

A few years ago on The TaxBook forum, someone posted the following (https://forum.thetaxbook.com/forum/discussion-forums/main-forum-tax-discussion/298864-written-data-security-plan-for-tax-preparers#post299231):

Given how we are repeatedly reminded how important it is to have a written plan sitting on the shelf, it's odd that no one wants to actually provide a template of any kind. The closest I've seen is Tax Tip 2019-119 from the IRS, issued Aug 29 2019. So, using the available guidance in that tax tip, here is my written plan. Note that the law doesn't say it has to be very good, just that I have to have one. So, done.

* Include the name of all information security program managers.

Me.

* Identify all risks to customer information.

Fire, theft, flood, earthquake, government seizure of property, software malfunction, mis-addressed or mis-delivered communications. No risk from employees because I have none.

* Evaluate risks and current safety measures.

Yes, they are all risks. Current safety measures include physical locks, a dog on the premises, up to date professional computer software with all vendor supplied security patches applied within one week of release, and encryption of customer data in digital form.

* Design a program to protect data.

Immediately scan client paper documents into secure encrypted digital storage, then return or shred the paper. Use unique passwords for each login requiring a password. Do not share passwords. Use MFA for tax software access.

* Put the data protection program in place.

Yes.

* Regularly monitor and test the program.

Take this plan off the shelf once per year and read it. Test: get a colleague to come over and promise to buy them a meal if they access customer information in my tax office without my help, within 30 minutes.