The IT Decisions That Don’t Age Well—And How to Clean Them Up Without Replacing Everything

At some point in the past few years, someone at your firm made a tech decision that was exactly right at the time.

Maybe it was:

• A document-sharing platform set up during tax season to speed up client uploads

• A phone system added during a growth spurt

• A managed services contract signed when you had half as many staff

• An old user account left active “just in case” after someone left

None of these are bad decisions. But here’s the thing:

Most tech decisions weren’t meant to last forever.
And yet, that’s how they’re treated.

Why This Matters More Than Ever for Accounting Firms

Accounting firms grow and change constantly. Client expectations shift. Staff rotate. Regulations evolve. But if no one reviews your systems and contracts along the way, your IT slowly drifts out of alignment with how your firm actually works.

It’s rarely dramatic. More often, it shows up like this:

• Friction in daily workflows

• Security gaps you didn’t know existed

• Tools nobody really uses (but you’re still paying for)

• Missed automation opportunities

• Confusion during audits or renewals

We recently worked with a firm that hadn’t looked at their IT setup in three years. When we did a quick review, here’s what we found:

• Multiple people had admin access they no longer needed

• Two overlapping file-sharing platforms—both paid

• An antivirus solution that didn’t meet their cyber insurance renewal requirements

• A VoIP system that couldn’t scale with new hires

No one did anything wrong. They just hadn’t stopped to ask:
“When did we last look at this—and is it still serving us?”

The Good News: You Don’t Need to Upgrade Everything

A common fear is that any tech review will lead to big bills, major upgrades, or a full system overhaul.

It doesn’t have to.

You probably don’t need to upgrade everything—just make sure what you have still fits the way your firm works today.

That’s the difference between a tech reaction and a smart business review.

What to Look At During an IT Check-In

You don’t need a full audit. A focused, strategic walkthrough once a year can go a long way. Here’s where we typically start:

1. Access & Identity

Who still has access? Are there former employees in your systems? Are permissions too broad?

2. Software & Subscriptions

Are you paying for tools your team no longer uses—or that duplicate each other?

3. Security Baseline

Are you meeting the new “minimums” that cyber insurers and clients expect, like MFA and proper backups?

4. Communication Tools

Are your phones, email, and messaging systems helping—or getting in the way?

5. Documentation & Risk Transfer

Could someone else pick up where your IT manager left off—or is everything stuck in one person’s head?

6. Vendor Fit

Is your IT provider still a match for your size, industry, and risk level?

The Risk of “Set It and Forget It”

Treating IT like a one-time project leads to systems that silently fall behind.

It’s not just about tech—it affects your whole operation:

• Compliance gaps in audits or reviews

• Unnecessary expenses that build up year over year

• Frustration among staff

• Missed chances to simplify how you serve clients

And the longer it goes unchecked, the more tangled it gets.

Smarter Business Takeaway

You don’t need more tools.
You need the right ones—configured to match the firm you’ve become.

That means setting aside time to review, clean up, and reset where needed. It’s the IT version of spring cleaning: clear out what’s outdated, tighten what’s loose, and make room to grow.

If it’s been a year or more since anyone looked at your firm’s IT systems holistically, now’s a great time to take a step back.

You don’t need to replace everything.
You just need to make sure the foundation still supports where you're going.

Want Help Reviewing Your Setup?

If you’d like a second set of eyes on your systems—or just want to know what questions to start with—I’m happy to talk it through. No pressure, no pitch.

Just a practical conversation about where you’re at and how to move forward.