You receive an email asking you for your sensitive financial information, what do you do?
If your answer was to give that information immediately without question, then it’s probably time for some more cybersecurity training.
Clients put a lot of trust in you to handle their personal tax, but asking them to trust your email security might be a step too far.
Is there a better way to get information from clients that doesn’t risk a massive data breach?
Are your personal tax clients lazy or just anxious?
It can be frustrating for accountants to have to continually chase personal tax clients for information as the deadline for filing draws ever closer.
The prospect of doing this with Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is likely causing a fair amount of stress, given that there will be a need to gather enough data for an extra four updates.
Every year, reports circulate around the vast number of people who wait until the deadline of 31 January to file their Self Assessment tax returns.
Such news tends to be met with eyerolls and shell-shocked accountants recalling the lengths they had to go to in order to prevent clients from getting fined.
However, it may not be entirely fair to attribute all of this to idleness when there could be legitimate concerns at play.
Emails were never designed to be secure document exchanges and clients may feel instinctively wary of submitting sensitive information this way.
News of data breaches and cybercrimes is unlikely to convince your clients to be more trusting of data that pertains to their entire financial profile.
It might be that clients barely scrape the deadline, as it takes them that long to build up the courage to put their faith in your emails.
Can improving security improve responsiveness?
Data security is stressful for everyone exposed to it.
Clients stress that their data will leak, accountants stress about keeping it secure and criminals stress that they might not get everything they need before getting caught.
Two of those three groups could do with a bit less stress while the latter deserve a lot more.
Transitioning away from emails and utilising secure platforms for personal tax clients makes sense from a data protection point of view.
Who doesn’t love a secure account, sealed behind a password that can only be accessed by select individuals?
Your clients. Surprisingly, they don’t like that either. They have too many accounts already – will another one actually help?
Glasscubes provides a secure alternative that does not get bogged down with passwords and accounts.
Instead, Glasscubes sends clients a clickable link that takes them to a secure space where they can upload only what is required in that moment.
No need for dumping entire sets of personal data into an email. No passwords to remember. Just the straightforward submission of sensitive data.
Not content with just making the process more secure, Glasscubes also removes the need to continually remind clients to submit their information.
Automated reminders can be set at the pace that is required, aligned to deadlines and personalities to ensure time is not wasted with chasing.
The powerful AI at the heart of Glasscubes can pull the information from complex client submissions, so poor handwriting should not be the devastating delay it once was.
Cybercrime is a concerning prospect that all accountants need to protect against.
Glasscubes gives you a way to stay secure without alienating your clients.
Keep clients happy and their data secure. Book a demo today!
