IT services for Montana accounting firms. No server migrations during tax season.
In tax season, support, monitoring, and routine patching carry on as normal. Large projects like server migrations or replacing office network equipment wait until the season ends, along with the written security plan, multifactor authentication, and encryption work.
The first assessment is free, and the findings are yours either way.
Vetted, tested, and in writing.
Every certified firm is assessed by a third party risk assessor and keeps the required controls in place. The Big Sky Guarantee and Service Warranty put that standard in writing.
Containment, forensics, eradication, recovery, and rebuilding if needed, at no additional cost, within defined service limits.
The Big Sky Guarantee is not an insurance policy. It’s our commitment to do the response work ourselves.
Eligible payments made directly to the organization, up to $500,000 per covered incident, depending on plan.
The Big Sky Service Warranty is not an insurance policy and does not replace cyber insurance.
For certified clients on Professional, Enterprise, or co-managed plans, with required controls in place. Eligibility requirements, service limits, and exclusions apply. Full terms are provided for your review before you sign. See which plans qualify
The firm runs on nine weeks. We schedule around that.
A two hour disruption in mid March costs more than a two day one in July. So the support year generally splits three ways.
No large projects
Support, monitoring, and routine patching run normally. Server migrations and network replacements wait for slow times or after hours.
The major overhauls
Server migrations, network equipment replacement, multifactor authentication rollout, portal enforcement, and the written plan.
Verification
The plan is current and the controls demonstrable before PTIN renewal and the next season.
Four things usually in this order
Remote Desktop open to the internet
Someone needed the tax software from home one March. A port was opened, and it stayed open.
Seasonal accounts still active
Full time staff get offboarded. Seasonal preparers often don’t, and their accounts outlive them by years.
Source documents by email
Clients attach W-2s and voided checks because it’s easy, and nobody pushes back in February.
The untouched tax software server
Lacerte, UltraTax, Drake, or ProSeries, configured once by a vendor and left alone ever since.
“An integral part of my business’ team.”
Find out what’s reachable from outside your office before tax season does.
The assessment is free, and the findings are yours either way. Every one of these is fixable in the off season, without interrupting your workflow in February.
Three rulebooks, one set of documents
They overlap enough that firms reasonably assume someone else is covering them.
FTC Safeguards Rule
Paid preparers count as financial institutions: a written program, a qualified individual, MFA, encryption, vendor oversight, and a report to ownership.
Publications 4557 and 5708
The Security Summit’s plan template is a good start. It can’t describe your systems, staff, or software.
Your E&O and cyber insurers
Renewals ask directly about MFA and encryption. Answers are easier from whoever configured the controls and can evidence them.
A breach of unencrypted customer information affecting 500 or more people must be reported to the FTC within 30 days. Encryption decides whether you’re filing that report.
IT services for accounting firms, priced per device
Published, so you can check it before you call.
Essentials
Per device, per month, plus a per user charge. Managed IT, monitoring, and support.
Professional
Per device, per month, plus a per user charge. Adds eligibility for The Big Sky Guarantee and Service Warranty once certified.
Compliance program
The written plan, policies, training, and vendor file, on top of either tier.
Three times you should call someone else
We’d rather tell you now than in March.
You’re a sole practitioner in the cloud
You need MFA, a password manager, and secure file transfer, not a managed contract. We’ll name them on the call.
You want the project done in March
We won’t do it. If another provider will, ask what their rollback plan is for April 10th.
You need someone in the office daily
Contract clients get same day onsite across Great Falls, Helena, and Billings. If you need a desk filled, hire one.
Around the season, not through it.
What working inside an accounting firm looks like, written as what we do.
So we secure your systems the way attackers probe them.
Frequently asked questions
What partners and office managers ask before the first conversation.
Do we really need a written plan, or is the template enough?
You need one, and the template is a good start. What it doesn’t include is your systems, staff, vendors, and incident response, which is most of what makes it useful if anyone asks to see it.
Who has to be the qualified individual?
Someone at the firm. A provider can support the role and do the technical work, but the designation stays with you. We produce the evidence; your name is on the document.
Our clients won’t use the portal. What actually works?
Enforcement at the mail layer, plus one clear message to clients in December, before anyone is busy. It works far better than asking in February.
Can we keep our current IT person?
Yes. Co-managed is common. We take the security and compliance layer and give them a specialist to call. See co-managed IT.
What if something happens during season?
Call us. Contract clients get same day onsite, with proper evidence collection, and incident work carries no emergency surcharge. For certified clients, the response comes under The Big Sky Guarantee, within defined service limits.
Do we have to report a breach to the FTC?
If unencrypted customer information for 500 or more people is acquired without authorization, yes: within 30 days of discovery, under the Safeguards Rule amendment in effect since May 2024. Encryption is what keeps most incidents out of that category.
How long does switching take?
About two weeks, scheduled outside season, and you’re never between providers.
What does it cost?
Managed IT runs $75 to $95 per device per month, plus a per user charge. The compliance program is priced on top. The pricing page has the full breakdown.
The best time for this conversation is now, not March.
Twenty minutes, a straight answer, and nothing to sign.
“Even though we call because we have a problem, Dawn and James are eager to help us get our system on track again.”