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Accountants and bookkeepers aren’t technically in the disaster recovery business. You won’t be in charge of tearing damp and moldy drywall out of your clients’ office after a flood. If a fire burns one of your clients’ store locations, you might not be the first person they call to repair the damage.
At the same time, financial records can easily be lost or damaged in a fire. Receipts and invoices for investments your clients make in inventory, equipment or supplies could be destroyed in a flood, making it difficult or impossible to document them to claim deductions at tax time. Employee payroll records and expense reports could be wiped from a hard drive after a cyber attack.
Because financial records can be easily lost in a disaster, accountants and bookkeepers play a critical role in helping their clients prepare for when things go wrong. By taking the right steps now, you can help your clients reduce the impact of a disaster on their business. To guide them in the right direction, start by having a conversation about how prepared they are for a disaster.
Here are three questions you can ask to get the conversation started:
Do you have a disaster preparedness plan?
No matter where your clients’ business is located and no matter what industry they’re in, a disaster can strike at any time. The best way to reduce the likelihood of a disaster having a significant or lasting impact is by having a business continuity plan.
Talk to your clients about how they’ll continue operations during and after a disaster. This could involve setting up remote workstations—and it should definitely involve designating team members to be responsible for financial records.
Do you back your financial records up to the cloud?
Although many business owners may be aware that a drawer or a filing cabinet isn’t the safest place to store financial records, many may assume that backing records up to the hard drive ensures documents are safe. Unfortunately, the truth is that a local hard drive can be compromised by water or fire—or stolen in a cyber attack or a burglary.
The only way to ensure that records survive a disaster is to back them up to a cloud-based accounting software. This will ensure that no matter what happens to the physical office or storefront, a backup will exist in the cloud. Advise clients to use cloud-based accounting tools to protect their records.
Can you provide access to your accounts so we can manage your finances if necessary?
No business owner wants to face the possibility of an unwanted, unexpected leave from their business, but the truth is that some disasters may prevent a business owner from getting back to business as usual for an extended period of time. Not only is the business likely to lose revenue during this period, but it could also lead to a lapse in financial management. Payroll might not be met. Tax payments might be missed. Your client’s business may suffer long-term damage.
But if your client is able to provide ongoing access to the most up to date financial records, you will be able to step in and manage finances on their behalf a disaster.
Help Your Clients’ See Their Blind Spots
As the expert in accounting and bookkeeping, your clients are counting on you to advise them on how to protect their business. They may not know what questions to ask, which means it’s up to you to show them the way. The sooner you start a conversation with your clients, the more time you’ll have to prepare.