Should a small Irish accountancy practice keep its practice software and client files on an office server, or move to the cloud?

Server or cloud for accountants: what lives on a practice server, how hosted practice software changes things, busy-season access and the decision steps.

The short answer: choosing a server or cloud for accountants usually comes down to your practice software. Suppose your accounts, tax and payroll vendors offer hosted versions that suit you. Then an ageing office server often isn’t worth replacing. However, if key software only runs locally, a smaller server or hybrid setup may still make sense.

This guide is for principals and office managers at small accountancy practices in Meath, Cavan, Westmeath, Louth and Dublin. It covers what sits on your server, how hosted versions change things, busy-season access and the decision steps.

What lives on a typical practice server?

In many small practices, the office server does more than store files. It often holds the databases for desktop accounts, tax and payroll software. It may also hold the shared client folders, scanned documents and years of closed working papers. In addition, it can run printing, user logins and backups.

So before comparing a server or cloud for accountants, list every job your server does. Our guide to SharePoint or a server for project files covers the general file-storage questions. This post focuses on the parts that are specific to accountancy practices.

Server or cloud for accountants: what hosted practice software changes

Many practice software vendors now offer hosted or cloud versions alongside desktop editions. Features, data location and pricing vary by product and by edition. Therefore, check the details with each vendor rather than assuming the hosted version matches the desktop one.

With a hosted version, the vendor runs the database, and staff sign in through a browser or app. As a result, you no longer need a server just to run that program. On the other hand, you now depend on broadband and on the vendor’s own service.

The vendor also becomes a processor of your clients’ personal data. The Data Protection Commission says you need a written agreement with a cloud provider. It also says to establish exactly where the provider holds your data, with extra steps if it’s outside the EEA.

ROS and busy-season access

ROS itself doesn’t depend on your server. Revenue’s ROS system requirements say you can use a wide range of operating systems and browsers. Instead, the pressure point in any server or cloud for accountants choice is your practice software and files.

During busy season, staff may need those from home in the evenings. With a local server, they need a secure route back into the office. With hosted software, they sign in directly, although multi-factor authentication still matters. Our guide to secure remote working for accountants covers ROS certificates, laptops and remote access in detail.

Either way, make your server or cloud for accountants decision well before the November pay and file deadline. A rushed migration in October is a risk you can avoid.

What usually stays on-premises

Whichever server or cloud for accountants option you choose, some things stay in the office:

The firewall, broadband router, switches and Wi-Fi.
Printers and scanners, including scan-to-folder settings.
Any desktop software with no hosted version you’re happy with.
Sometimes a closed archive, if moving it isn’t worth the effort.

For this reason, many practices end up hybrid for a few years. Active work moves to hosted software and Microsoft 365. Meanwhile, one older program or the archive stays on a small local server. Our guide to IT security for accountancy practices explains how to protect both sides.

Server or cloud for accountants when the server is ageing

If your server is near the end of its life, work through these steps in order:

List every program, database and folder on the server, and who uses each one.
Ask each software vendor whether a hosted version exists and what it includes.
Check where each hosted service stores data, and get the processing agreement.
Test your broadband from the office during a busy afternoon.
Price a like-for-like server against the hosted options over several years.
Plan the move outside busy season, and test restoring data before switching off the old server.

Hypothetical example

A six-person practice in Navan has a server due for replacement in spring. Its payroll vendor offers a hosted version, but its older tax program only runs locally. So the practice moves payroll and client folders to the cloud first. Meanwhile, it keeps a smaller server for the tax program until the vendor’s hosted option suits it.

Questions to ask about server or cloud for accountants

Put these questions to your software vendors and your IT provider before you decide:

Does the hosted version include every module we use today?
Where is our data stored, and is it inside the EEA?
How do we get our data back if we leave?
Who backs up the hosted data, and can we test a restore?
What happens to files and software that stay on a local server?

On the last point, a Microsoft 365 backup doesn’t cover a local server. Server backup needs its own plan in any server or cloud for accountants setup.

How Sweeney Computer Services can help

Oliver Sweeney founded the company in 1985. Today, we support more than 50 businesses and more than 10 schools from Hurdlestown, Kells, Co. Meath. We work alongside your practice software vendors, and we can help you weigh up a server or cloud for accountants. We quote server and migration projects separately.

Our managed packages cover the day-to-day support. Silver, from €45 per user per month excluding VAT, covers remote support, monitoring and patching. It also includes antivirus and EDR with ransomware protection, plus Microsoft 365 backup of email, OneDrive and SharePoint. Gold, from €70 per user per month excluding VAT, adds email security, phishing awareness training and a business password manager. It also adds application control, Microsoft 365 admin and support, and 24/7 security monitoring by our security operations centre partner. Microsoft 365 licences are billed separately.

Device and server backup is available only as part of a managed package, scoped in the proposal. We test restores every two weeks, and records are available on request. Read more about our IT support for accountants, our Microsoft 365 services and our managed IT support packages.

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