June 2017                     Q uickBooks Newsletter
KeepQBDataSafe
How to Keep Your QuickBooks Data Safe 

 

You work hard to make sure your QuickBooks data is accurate. Make sure it's safe, too.

Your QuickBooks company file contains some of the most sensitive information on your computer. You may have customers' credit card numbers and employees' Social Security numbers. An intruder who captured all that data could create tremendous problems for you and a lot of other people.

That's probably the worst-case scenario. But other situations could also spell disaster for your business, which  involve losing your company data through fraud, hacking, or simple technical failures.

We can't overstate the vital importance of protecting your QuickBooks company file, especially your customer and payroll information. Whether someone steals it or it's inaccessible for another reason, it's gone. Keeping your business going after such a loss would be very difficult - maybe even impossible.

Here's what we suggest to prevent that.

Internal Safeguards

No business owner wants to believe that his or her employees could use their QuickBooks access to commit fraud. But it happens. Your company file contains credit card and checking account data that could be used for nefarious purposes. As we discussed last spring, you can restrict user access to specific areas  and actions of QuickBooks.

 

You can limit your employees who have QuickBooks access to certain areas and activities.

To get started, open the Company menu and select Set Up Users and Passwords | Set Up Users. The User List window opens. It should have at least one entry there, for you (Admin). Click Add User and enter the employee's name and password in the next window that opens, then click Next.

Tip: Your QuickBooks license limits you to a specified number of users. If you're not sure how many you're allowed, click F2 to open the Product Information page. The number of user licenses you've paid for appears in the upper left.

On the next page of this wizard, click the button in front of Selected Areas of QuickBooks. The following screens will let you define that employee's access permissions in areas like Sales and Accounts Receivable, Inventory, and Payroll and Employees. When you've clicked through every screen and reviewed the summary displayed, click Finish. Your user will now be able to sign in and access the areas you specified.

You can-and should-take numerous other steps to keep your QuickBooks data safe. If your company is big enough to have a dedicated IT expert, he or she will handle most of this. But there's a lot you can do on your own to prevent data loss and theft.

Keep Your Operating System and Applications Updated

 
 Don't ignore this dialog box.

Software companies' occasional updates offer more than just adding new features and fixing bugs. They sometimes refresh your software to ensure greater security based on new threats. Don't forget about those all-important antivirus and anti-malware applications, as well as QuickBooks itself.

Use Common Sense

You can fight data loss and theft by being cautious. Be diligent about backups. Ideally, you should keep copies local, offsite, and in the cloud,

Shred papers that have sensitive information on them. Log out of QuickBooks when you're not using it or when you leave your office. Be aware of who may be around you, looking over your shoulder.

We take data security very seriously in our own office, and we strongly encourage you to do the same. If your organization needs an independent cyber security assessment, we have experts who can help.  See article below on cyber security assessments. 



QBbackupQuckBooks Backup
Best Practices
For QuickBooks Backup

For all business, we recommend that your IT staff or consultant implement automatic backups of your entire system. However, beyond the systems-level backup, we recommend that you also perform a backup from within QuickBooks, every day that you use QuickBooks.


The primary reason is because the QuickBooks backup function also performs file maintenance functions.  This file maintenance helps protect the integrity of your data files.


For best practices on backing up your data from within QuickBooks, visit our blog article  QuickBooks Backup






PlugInSoftwareNeed Plug-In Software
To Add Features
Missing from QuickBooks?



MBSG software consultants can help.

We are experts at helping companies deploy software for inventory, Accounting, ERP, e-commerce and more.

If you need more than QuickBooks with Advanced Inventory provides, contact MBSG for a no-charge consultation.

Your options include:
  • Keep QuickBooks and add plug-in modules
     
  • Replace QuickBooks with mid-market software
     
  • Training on how to use QuickBooks more efficiently

     

securitytestHow Secure Are You
Against Ransomware or Cyber Attacks?


T he cyber crooks have moved 'down market' to small and mid-size businesses.

They are targeting organizations like you and the 'honey pot' of money for them on your system.

  • Your data
     
  • Client/Customer data
     
  • Security holes that allow them to lock up your data and hold you ransom.

 

Have you conducted an independent assessment of your exposures?

Have your vendors, customers, or insurance company asked to you to attest that your system is secure?

MBSG cyber security experts can help you identify risks to your system and your business. We are experienced, thorough, and affordable. We provide a detailed, action plan to reduce your exposures to data theft and ransomware.
 

 

To ask a question about cyber security defenses or to discuss your concerns,  contact MBSG
 
MBSG | info@mbsg.net | 818 865-1373 | www.mbsg.net

 31255 Cedar Valley Dr. #312 Westlake Village, CA 91362  
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