IT for accounting and tax firms in DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland
IT for accounting firms that can’t afford a bad February.
We keep CCH Axcess, UltraTax CS and your client portal running, your WISP backed by real controls, and your staff using AI without putting client data at risk. Switching to us happens on your calendar, never in filing season.
Prefer to talk now? Call us at 703.344.7813
We already know how your firm runs.
Accounting and wealth management firms are the largest group in our client base. We don’t learn your business on your dime.
Your software
CCH Axcess, UltraTax CS, Drake, QuickBooks, your client portal and Microsoft 365, set up with MFA and supported by people who’ve seen them before.
Your calendar
Nothing changes January through April. Projects land in the fall or after April 15, and we plan around the extension deadlines too.
Your people
Seasonal staff set up quickly and removed the day they leave. Partners who work from home in March get the same secure access as the office.
Your obligations
The FTC Safeguards Rule, IRS Publications 4557 and 5708, and the WISP your PTIN renewal asks about, with documentation you can actually hand over.
Your AI questions
Which AI tools staff can use, what client data stays out of them, and where AI actually saves hours in a tax practice. See how we handle AI.
Most of your WISP is IT work. We do that part.
Tax and accounting firms are covered by the FTC Safeguards Rule, which requires a WISP (Written Information Security Plan). Here’s who handles each piece when you work with us.
We handle
- MFA on every system with client data
- Encryption in transit and at rest
- Access reviews and same day offboarding
- 24/7 monitoring and logging
- Staff security training
We do with you
- Written risk assessment
- Written incident response plan
- FTC notice within 30 days of a breach affecting 500 or more consumers
You own, we support
- Naming the qualified individual who owns the program
- Oversight of your service providers (we document our own controls for your file)
Firms holding information on fewer than 5,000 consumers are exempt from four items (the written risk assessment, continuous monitoring or annual testing, the written incident response plan and the board report). The WISP itself still applies. This is a summary, not legal advice; the rule is 16 CFR Part 314.
Switching to us is the easy part.
The main reason firms keep an IT setup they’ve outgrown is the switch itself. So we do the work, and you approve the plan.
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A written plan
Every system, login and date, reviewed with your firm administrator before anything changes.
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We run the handoff
We work with your current provider on credentials, documentation and licensing so your partners don’t have to.
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Cutover on your calendar
Before January 1 or after April 15. Never during filing season.
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One named contact
The same person from the first call through your first 90 days.
Start on our 90 Day Trial. No long contract to find out whether we’re the right fit. How the trial works
AI Strategy & Enablement Services
AI is already in your firm. The question is whether anyone is managing it.
Staff are pasting client emails and IRS notices into free AI tools with nobody’s approval. That’s shadow IT (technology the firm never vetted), and under the Safeguards Rule each of those tools is a vendor handling client data. Banning AI rarely works, so we help firms get the time savings without the exposure.
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1. Shadow AI
Find out what’s already in use
An AI Readiness Assessment shows which AI tools your staff use today, what client data goes into them and where the real risk sits.
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2. Governance
Set the rules in writing
A one page AI use policy, an approved tools list and a clear line on which client data never goes into a public tool. Written for your firm and reviewed with your partners, so it fits alongside your WISP.
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3. A safe tool
Give staff an approved place to work
A private AI workspace built on Hatz AI, so staff stop reaching for free tools and client data stays under the firm’s control.
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4. Optimization
Put it to work on real tasks
The useful work is refreshingly ordinary: summarizing IRS notices, drafting engagement letters and client emails, cleaning up workpaper notes. We train staff on the tasks that save real hours, then check back on what’s actually being used.
Big enough to handle complexity, small enough to care
Book a Pre Season Readiness Review.
45 minutes with Judson before January. We’ll look at your WISP gaps, your tax software access and how your staff use AI, and you’ll get a one page summary within two business days.
Two CPA firms and three wealth management firms in our region already trust Blue Cotton with their client data. You’ll talk to the same people every time.
Prefer to talk now? Call 703.344.7813.
We’ll reply within one business day to set a time.
