January is when people finally book the appointments they’ve been avoiding.
Doctor. Dentist. Maybe even that weird noise in the car.
Preventive care is boring.
But not as boring as a preventable disaster.
So here’s the uncomfortable question:
When was the last time your business tech had a real checkup?
Not “we fixed the printer last week.”
An actual health exam.
Because working and healthy are not the same thing.
The “I Feel Fine” Trap
Most people skip physicals because nothing hurts.
Businesses skip tech checkups for the same reason:
- “Everything’s running.”
- “We’re too busy.”
- “We’ll deal with it if there’s a problem.”
But tech problems don’t announce themselves.
Your blood pressure can be dangerous while you feel fine.
A cavity can rot quietly for years.
Technology behaves the same way.
Most small-business disasters come from:
- Known risks that were ignored
- Aging equipment that was “fine”
- Backups that existed—but didn’t restore
- Access that was never cleaned up
- Compliance gaps no one checked
A system can run every day and still be one bad morning away from chaos.
What a Real Tech Physical Actually Checks
A proper tech assessment looks at your firm the way a doctor looks at you—systematically, hunting for problems you don’t know you have.
🫀 Vital Signs: Backup & Recovery
If everything else fails, can you recover?
- Are backups completing successfully?
- When was the last restore test?
- If your server died at 9 a.m. Monday, when would you be operational?
Most firms discover backup failures during the emergency.
That’s not a test—that’s a crash.
❤️ Heart Health: Hardware & Infrastructure
Hardware doesn’t fail politely.
- How old are your servers, firewalls, and workstations?
- Is anything past manufacturer support?
- Are replacements planned—or just postponed?
Old equipment slows down quietly… until it stops completely.
🧪 Bloodwork: Access & Credentials
Who has access to what?
If your answer is “probably the right people,” you’re overdue.
- Can you list every active user?
- Any former staff or vendors still hanging around?
- Shared logins with no accountability?
Access creep is one of the most common causes of breaches—and it’s almost always accidental.
🚨 Cancer Screening: Disaster Readiness
Nobody likes worst-case scenarios. That’s why they matter.
- If ransomware hits tomorrow, what’s the real plan?
- Is it written down?
- Has anyone tested it?
“We’ll figure it out” isn’t a plan.
It’s a prayer.
📋 Specialist Referrals: Compliance
For accounting firms, “healthy” isn’t subjective.
- Client data privacy expectations
- CRA-related sensitivity
- Contractual security requirements
- Audit-readiness
Generic IT advice doesn’t cut it. Industry context matters.
Warning Signs You’re Overdue
If any of these sound familiar, it’s time:
- “I think our backups are working.”
- “The server’s old, but it still runs.”
- “We probably have ex-employees in the system.”
- “The disaster plan is… somewhere.”
- “If that person left, we’d be in trouble.”
These aren’t red flags.
They’re flares.
The Cost of Skipping the Checkup
A checkup costs hours.
A failure costs days—or weeks.
- Downtime: Lost billable hours and client confidence
- Data loss: Files gone forever
- Compliance exposure: Fines, audits, reputational damage
- Ransomware: Six-figure recovery costs aren’t rare anymore
Prevention is boring and affordable.
Recovery is expensive and public.
Why You Can’t Do This Yourself
You don’t diagnose your own health.
You see a professional who knows what “normal” actually looks like.
Tech is the same.
A proper IT partner:
- Knows what healthy looks like for accounting firms
- Recognizes patterns before they explode
- Spots issues you’ve normalized
That’s prevention—not firefighting.
Schedule Your Tech Physical
It’s January. You’re already booking preventive care.
Add this one.
Book an Annual Tech Physical.
We’ll give you a plain-English view of:
- What’s healthy
- What’s risky
- What needs attention before it becomes an emergency
No jargon. No pressure. Just clarity.
[Schedule your 15-minute discovery call]
Because the best time to catch a problem
is before it becomes one.
