Your Firm Has a Target on Its Back. Here's What to Do About It.

By Summit CPE | Continuing Professional Education for CPAs

If you're a CPA, you're sitting on one of the richest troves of personal and financial data a criminal could ask for: Social Security numbers, bank account details, payroll records, tax returns, and complete financial pictures of individuals and businesses alike. That makes accounting firms of every size an attractive target for cybercriminals. And unlike a retailer that loses credit card numbers, a breached CPA firm loses something harder to repair: the trust that the entire client relationship is built on.

The good news is that most of the risk is manageable with the right practices in place. The challenge is knowing where to start and making sure your whole team (not just your IT person) understands their role in keeping client data safe. That's exactly what Summit's CPE course, Cybersecurity and Client Data Protection for CPA Firms, is designed to do.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

CPA firms handle an unusual concentration of sensitive information: tax records, payroll data, banking details, financial statements, and identity data, all in one place. That combination makes firms a prime target for phishing, credential theft, ransomware, business email compromise, and insider risk. These threats are growing more sophisticated every year. Regulators have taken notice too, with expectations around data retention, secure disposal, and records management becoming a standard part of practice management, not just an IT afterthought.

The reality is that most breaches don't start with some sophisticated zero-day exploit. They start with a convincing email, a reused password, or an unlocked laptop left in a coffee shop. The strongest defense isn't necessarily a bigger IT budget. It's a well-trained team that knows what to watch for.

What the Course Covers

The course is built around two practical, real-world lessons that mirror how risk actually shows up inside a firm.

Lesson 1: Data Risks, Access Controls, and Remote Work Safeguards

This lesson starts with the basics: what data your firm actually handles and why it's valuable to bad actors. From there, it walks through the most common threats firms face, including phishing, credential theft, ransomware, business email compromise, and the often-overlooked category of insider risk.

The course then moves into the access control practices that meaningfully reduce exposure: multifactor authentication, least-privilege access, smart password practices, and routine account reviews. These aren't abstract IT concepts. They're practical steps any firm can put in place regardless of size or budget.

With remote and hybrid work now standard across the profession, the lesson also covers the specific risks that come with working outside the office: device security, VPN use, and the kinds of home-office considerations many firms haven't formally addressed. It closes with guidance on data retention and secure disposal, plus the records management expectations regulators increasingly look for, along with the security awareness habits that cut down on everyday human-error risk.

Lesson 2: Vendor Management, File Sharing, Incident Response, and Client Communication

The second lesson zooms out to the broader ecosystem your firm operates in, because your security is only as strong as the vendors and processes connected to it. It covers vendor risk management for the tools every firm relies on: tax software, cloud platforms, payroll systems, and client portals.

From there, it dives into the practical realities of how your firm exchanges information every day, including secure document exchange, file sharing, e-signatures, and the attachment risks that come with everyday email use. It also covers backup practices, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning so your firm has a plan in place before it's needed, not after.

Perhaps most valuable is the section on incident response: a clear workflow for detection, containment, documentation, and escalation when something does go wrong. The course also addresses the often-overlooked operational pieces of a breach, including cyber insurance, when to involve legal counsel, notification considerations, and how to communicate with regulators. It wraps up with guidance on client communication both before and after a security incident, because how you communicate during a crisis can matter as much as how you respond to it.

Built for Real CPA Workflows

This isn't a generic cybersecurity course repackaged for accountants. Every topic is framed around the specific data, tools, and workflows CPA firms actually use, from tax software vendors to client portals to the kind of file sharing that happens dozens of times a day during busy season. That specificity is what makes the difference between content that checks a CPE box and content your team will actually remember and apply.

Who Should Take This Course

This course is relevant for:

• Partners and firm owners responsible for risk management and regulatory compliance
• IT and security leads within accounting firms who need accounting-specific context
• Staff accountants and client-facing team members who handle sensitive data daily
• Anyone responsible for vendor relationships, client portals, or incident response planning

Whether your firm has five employees or five hundred, the principles in this course scale to fit your environment.

Earn CPE Credit While Strengthening Your Firm's Defenses

Cybersecurity isn't a project with an end date. It's an ongoing discipline, and the threats facing CPA firms evolve constantly. Staying current isn't just good practice; for many firms, it's becoming a baseline expectation from clients, insurers, and regulators alike.

Cybersecurity and Client Data Protection for CPA Firms gives your team the practical, firm-specific knowledge they need to recognize threats, tighten access controls, manage vendor risk, and respond effectively when an incident occurs, all while earning valuable CPE credit in Information Technology.

Ready to strengthen your firm's defenses and protect the clients who trust you with their most sensitive information?

Enroll in Cybersecurity and Client Data Protection for CPA Firms today through Summit CPE

Don't wait for a breach to find the gaps in your firm's data protection practices. Take the course now and give your team the tools they need to keep client data safe.