Infallible Password Security for Your Online Accounting

However, there is no need to worry, as online accounting services do everything in their possession to keep the data of their clients safe; the problem will likely come from your side, since in-built this protection only works if the account is properly reinforced with an unbreakable password.

Security measures in place with online accounting solutions

Accounting solutions aren’t completely vulnerable to hacker attempts, but they do at least protect user data by deploying multiple firewalls and leverage military-grade encryption to ensure that aside from those with access to the password, nobody – not even the service provider itself – can see what business owners are doing with their books. In addition to that, network traffic is constantly monitored by specialized staff that can immediately alert users of any suspicious activities or even prevent hacking attempts from happening.

But there are additional security features that users can activate themselves, too. For example, account admins can determine what other users can access and monitor user activity via an audit trail that records each modification made to the books in real time. And if that’s not enough, advanced accounting software like Xero is capable of providing two-factor authentication with which user accounts can be made virtually hack-proof.

What you can do for your account

Although the protection provided by online accounting services is quite satisfactory on its own, the only way to guarantee that only co-workers and associated accountants can access the company’s books is if the account is properly password protected. Everyone hates creating complex passwords admittedly – since it’s a huge challenge just to memorize them – but, thankfully, there are two options that could help.

Option 1: coming up with a strong password

Option 2: using a password manager

A strong memorable password is indeed a good choice, but a complex, randomly generated password is even better. And thanks to password managers there is no need to remember an impossibly complicated login either. The password management program only requires users to memorize a single password, the master password, to access the vault, which actually uses the same bank-level encryption as online accounting solutions.

And this is just the beginning, since a password manager is more than just a multi-platform storage for logins and other types of credentials. It includes pretty convenient features like a browser extension that imports data from browsers and can also autofill login screens, therefore keeping the password hidden from shoulder surfing while the login is completed. And to make things better, there are even password managers that cater for teams with advanced features like an admin portal, the option to store both personal and business-related logins and, most importantly, the sharing of passwords within team members via the safe cloud of the program’s provider.