Outsourcing Partner Checklist for CPA Firms

Outsourcing works when three things are settled before the first file moves: the quality standard, the security of client data, and the protection of your client relationships. These questions cover all three, and apply to any provider, including us.

Quality

1. Will you complete a trial piece of real work before we commit?
2. Will you work to our checklists and in our software, or to your own?
3. Who checks the work before it reaches our reviewer?
4. How are open items and judgement calls recorded?
5. How do you track and respond to our review notes?

People and continuity

6. Will the same people work on our files each season?
7. What happens to our work when someone is ill or leaves?
8. Do your preparers hold PTINs, as the IRS requires of anyone who prepares returns for compensation?
9. What training do they receive on United States tax and accounting?

Security and compliance

10. Can we read your written information security plan?
11. Where does the work physically and technically happen?
12. How do you help us obtain and track section 7216 consent?
13. How are Social Security numbers handled?
14. Who can download, print or email client data, and how is that prevented?
15. How will you tell us about a security incident, and how quickly?

Clients and contract

16. Will you undertake in writing never to solicit or serve our clients?
17. Who owns the workpapers and data, and how are they returned or destroyed when we part ways?
18. How is the scope defined, and how are changes priced?
19. What overlap will your team have with our working hours?
20. Who is our named contact, and who do we call when they are unavailable?

General information for accounting professionals, not legal or tax advice. Confirm requirements against current law and IRS guidance.