FREE RESOURCE
Cybersecurity Onboarding Checklist for New Employees
Give new employees a clear introduction to account security, client information, suspicious requests, payment verification, approved systems, and incident reporting.
Checklist items: 30 · Estimated time: 5–8 minutes · Cost: Free · Email required: No
Built for accounting, tax, bookkeeping, and payroll firms.
Security Expectations Should Be Clear Before Sensitive Work Begins
A new employee may receive access to email, tax software, accounting systems, payroll applications, client portals, document storage, shared drives, communication tools, and sensitive taxpayer information very quickly.
Security expectations should be introduced as clearly as job responsibilities. Employees should not have to discover an important security rule only after receiving a suspicious message, approving an unexpected MFA prompt, downloading client information, receiving a payment-change request, or accidentally sending information incorrectly.
Cybersecurity onboarding should explain how work is expected to be done—not simply tell employees to be careful.
PRACTICAL ONBOARDING TIMELINE
From Access Setup to Recurring Awareness
Before Access
Prepare appropriate accounts, access, devices, and security expectations before sensitive work begins.
First Day
Cover account security, MFA, approved systems, client information, and the reporting path.
First Week
Reinforce phishing, verification, payment changes, remote work, and role-specific security procedures.
First 30 Days
Confirm required onboarding topics were reviewed, address open questions, and identify follow-up training.
Ongoing
Continue security-awareness refreshers as systems, workflows, employees, and threats change.
These time periods are a practical Secure Team onboarding structure, not legally prescribed deadlines.
Cybersecurity Onboarding Checklist for New Employees
Secure Team · secureteamtraining.com/cybersecurity-onboarding-checklist-new-employees/
Does This New Employee Know How the Firm Expects Them to Work Securely?
Use this checklist to introduce the security habits a new employee should understand before and shortly after receiving access to business systems, client information, payment workflows, and communication tools.
1. Accounts, Passwords & MFA
Account security begins with knowing which accounts belong to the employee and what normal authentication activity should look like.
2. Approved Systems, Devices & Access
New employees should not have to guess which technology is approved.
3. Client & Taxpayer Information
Sensitive client information should stay inside approved business processes.
4. Phishing, Impersonation & Financial Requests
Employees do not need to become phishing investigators. They need to recognize when normal verification should happen.
5. Incident Reporting, Physical Security & Remote Work
Employees should know the reporting path before something goes wrong.
6. Training, Acknowledgment & Follow-Up
Onboarding establishes the baseline. Recurring awareness reinforces it.
New Employee Security Onboarding Review
0 of 30 items reviewed
Unchecked items can be reviewed with the employee or routed to the appropriate manager, training contact, IT provider, or security contact.
New Employee Security Basics
Our Security Basics
Complete this box before distributing a printed copy internally. The fields intentionally remain blank.
Optional New Employee Cybersecurity Onboarding Record
This blank record can be completed after printing. It is an organizational record, not a compliance or competency certificate.
I acknowledge that I received or reviewed the cybersecurity onboarding topics identified in this record and had the opportunity to ask questions about the firm’s applicable security expectations.
Security Topics Every New Employee Should Know on Day One
How to sign in securely and which business accounts belong to them.
How MFA works and why unexpected prompts should not be approved.
Which systems, devices, storage locations, communication tools, and work methods are approved.
Where client information belongs and how sensitive information may be shared.
How to verify unusual requests and where suspicious activity should be reported.
Before Giving a New Employee Sensitive Access
Define the employee’s role and identify the systems needed for that role.
Avoid unnecessary access and use individual accounts where appropriate.
Configure MFA where applicable, identify approved devices, communicate security expectations, and make reporting contacts known.
This is a management and process decision—not a technical account-provisioning guide.
New Employees Should Receive Access Appropriate to Their Role
Not every employee needs access to every client, folder, payroll function, administrative tool, or business system.
Access should reflect legitimate job responsibilities and should be reviewed as those responsibilities change.
Access should be intentional, not simply inherited because it is convenient.
Account Security Should Be Explained During Onboarding
A new employee should understand which accounts are theirs, how authentication is handled, that credentials should not be casually shared, how MFA is used, what an unexpected MFA prompt means, and where suspicious sign-in activity should be reported.
Employees Should Know Which Tools Are Approved
Without clear onboarding, an employee may improvise with personal email, personal cloud storage, consumer messaging applications, unapproved file-sharing services, personal devices, or unapproved AI tools.
The firm’s process should clarify which systems may be used and who can approve a new tool.
New Employees Should Know the Firm’s Rules for AI Tools
Employees may encounter AI tools while writing, summarizing, researching, organizing information, creating correspondence, or working with documents.
Do not paste sensitive client, taxpayer, payroll, credential, or confidential firm information into an AI tool unless that use is explicitly approved under the firm’s process.
This does not mean all AI use must be prohibited. It means employees should understand the firm’s approved process before using business information with an AI service.
Explain Where Client Information Belongs Before the Employee Handles It
New employees should understand the firm’s approved client portal, document-storage locations, file-sharing methods, expectations for local downloads, personal accounts, printed records, and remote work.
Employees should not have to guess where a sensitive file belongs.
Teach Verification, Not Just Recognition
New employees should understand that suspicious requests may appear to come from clients, managers, vendors, tax software providers, government organizations, coworkers, or familiar services.
The useful habit is simple: PAUSE → VERIFY → REPORT.
New Employees Should Know That Financial Changes Receive Extra Verification
Direct-deposit changes, vendor bank changes, payroll changes, payment instructions, client payment changes, and executive payment requests may require independent verification under the firm’s process.
New financial instructions should follow the firm’s verification process before money moves.
Employees Should Know How to Report Before They Need to Report
A new employee should know what kinds of events should be reported, who receives the report, how to contact them, what happens if the normal contact is unavailable, and that uncertainty is enough reason to ask.
You do not need to prove that a security incident occurred before reporting something unusual.
Security Expectations Still Apply Outside the Office
New employees should understand firm expectations concerning approved devices, screens, sensitive conversations, physical documents, storage, downloads, approved access methods, and household or public visibility when working remotely.
Cybersecurity Onboarding Should Include Physical Information Too
Security is not limited to email and passwords. Printed tax returns, W-2s, notebooks, handwritten notes, folders, printers, removable media, laptops, and phones can all contain sensitive information.
Employees should follow the firm’s physical information-handling procedures.
Security Onboarding Should Continue After Day One
Day 1: accounts, MFA, approved systems, client data, and incident reporting.
First week: phishing, verification, payment changes, remote work, and role-specific procedures.
First 30 days: confirm required training completion, answer questions, review onboarding gaps, and identify future refresher training.
These are practical onboarding milestones, not government-prescribed deadlines.
What About Seasonal Tax Employees?
This general checklist is designed for new employees throughout the year. Temporary filing-season staff may need an additional review focused on rapid onboarding, short employment periods, tax-season phishing, taxpayer documents, temporary system access, and access removal when the assignment ends.
General New Employee Onboarding
Use when an employee is joining the firm and needs a complete baseline security introduction.
Seasonal Onboarding
Use when temporary or seasonal staff need a filing-season-specific security review.
OFFICIAL GUIDANCE
How Cybersecurity Onboarding Fits Into a WISP
IRS — Employee Management and Training
Current IRS WISP guidance identifies employee management and training as a core area and emphasizes tailoring the WISP to the firm’s size, scope, complexity, and sensitivity of customer data. Review current IRS WISP guidance →
IRS Publication 5708 — Sample WISP Materials
Publication 5708 provides sample WISP material covering administrative safeguards, staff training, personnel responsibilities, and an Employee/Contractor Acknowledgement of Understanding. The Secure Team acknowledgment on this page is an educational organizational template, not the IRS form. Review Publication 5708 →
IRS Publication 5709 — Maintaining the WISP
Publication 5709 emphasizes employee management and training and encourages making the WISP available to employees for training purposes while keeping the plan current as the firm changes. Review Publication 5709 →
FTC Safeguards Rule — Staff Training and Access
FTC guidance for covered financial institutions calls for security-awareness training and regular refreshers and addresses access controls, MFA, incident response, and maintaining safeguards as operations change. This Secure Team checklist is not an FTC-prescribed onboarding form. Review FTC Safeguards Rule guidance →
Important: These official sources support the broader importance of employee security training and access management. They do not require this exact 30-item Secure Team onboarding checklist.
Continue With the Right Secure Team Resource
Will the New Employee Handle Client or Taxpayer Information?
Use the Client Data Handling Checklist to reinforce approved handling processes.
Teach Employees What to Do With an Unusual Message
Use the Suspicious Email Verification Checklist to reinforce how employees should pause and verify before acting.
Will the Employee Work With Payments or Payroll?
Use the Payment & Direct-Deposit Change Verification Checklist to reinforce independent verification before changing financial instructions.
Does the Employee Know What to Report?
Use the Incident Reporting Quick Guide so employees understand what suspicious events should be reported.
Onboarding Filing-Season Staff?
Use the Seasonal Tax Employee Security Onboarding Checklist for temporary and filing-season staff.
Need to Track Required Training After Onboarding?
Use the Employee Cybersecurity Training Tracker to record assignments, completion dates, outstanding training, and future refreshers.
Need a More Complete Training Record?
Use the WISP Training Documentation Template to document what was taught, who received it, what evidence exists, and what follow-up was identified.
SECURE TEAM
Turn Security Onboarding Into a Repeatable Employee Process
Secure Team is being designed to help accounting and tax firms onboard employees with practical cybersecurity-awareness training around phishing, account security, client data, payment verification, incident reporting, and everyday security decisions.
New employees should understand the firm’s security expectations before they encounter their first suspicious request.
Cybersecurity Onboarding FAQ
What is a cybersecurity onboarding checklist?
It is an organized review of the security expectations a new employee should understand when receiving business-system access and beginning work with sensitive information.
What cybersecurity topics should new employees learn?
Topics commonly include account security, MFA, approved systems, client-data handling, phishing and impersonation, payment verification, incident reporting, remote work, physical information, and recurring security-awareness training.
When should new employees receive cybersecurity training?
Important security expectations should be introduced early enough that employees understand them before they begin using sensitive systems and handling client information. The firm’s exact timing should follow its WISP, policies, role requirements, and applicable obligations.
Should cybersecurity training happen on the first day?
Many foundational topics are useful on or before the first day of sensitive work, but the exact schedule should reflect the employee’s role and the firm’s procedures.
Should new employees receive MFA training?
Employees should understand how the firm’s authentication process works, how MFA is used for relevant systems, and how to report unexpected prompts or sign-in activity.
Should new employees learn how to identify phishing?
Yes. Employees should be introduced to the firm’s process for recognizing unusual messages, independently verifying requests, and reporting suspicious activity.
Should accounting employees receive client-data handling training?
Employees who handle client or taxpayer information should understand the firm’s approved storage, sharing, access, printing, remote-work, and reporting procedures.
Should payroll employees receive payment-verification training?
Employees involved in payroll or financial changes should understand the firm’s verification and approval process before changing direct deposit, vendor banking, payroll, or other financial instructions.
Should new employees know how to report security incidents?
Yes. A reporting path is most useful when employees know it before something goes wrong.
What systems should a new employee be allowed to access?
Access should reflect legitimate job responsibilities and the firm’s established access-control process.
Should new employees use personal devices for client information?
Employees should follow the firm’s device and storage policy. IRS sample WISP guidance discusses keeping client PII off personal employee devices that are not under the firm’s direct control.
Should cybersecurity onboarding include remote work?
If employees may work outside the office, onboarding should explain the firm’s expectations for approved devices, storage, screens, physical documents, access methods, and household or public visibility.
Should cybersecurity onboarding include AI tools?
The firm should explain whether and how AI tools may be used with business information. Sensitive client, taxpayer, payroll, credential, or confidential firm information should not be placed into an AI tool unless the use is explicitly approved under the firm’s process.
Should new employees sign a security acknowledgment?
An acknowledgment can help document that security policies or training were reviewed, but whether one is appropriate or required depends on the firm’s policies and applicable obligations. IRS Publication 5708 includes a sample Employee/Contractor Acknowledgement of Understanding.
What is the difference between new-employee onboarding and seasonal employee onboarding?
General onboarding establishes a complete baseline for someone joining the firm. Seasonal onboarding focuses on temporary filing-season work, rapid access, taxpayer documents, tax-season threats, and eventual access removal.
How often should cybersecurity training be refreshed after onboarding?
Current FTC guidance for covered financial institutions calls for security-awareness training and regular refreshers. The firm’s specific schedule should reflect its WISP, risks, employee roles, and applicable requirements.
Does the IRS require a cybersecurity onboarding checklist?
No. IRS guidance emphasizes employee management and training within WISPs, but this Secure Team checklist is not an IRS form.
Does the FTC require this exact checklist?
No. FTC Safeguards Rule guidance addresses staff training, access controls, MFA, and other safeguards for covered financial institutions, but it does not prescribe this exact checklist.
Does completing this checklist make the firm WISP compliant?
No. This checklist is an educational onboarding resource and does not create or certify a complete WISP or determine regulatory compliance.
Does Secure Team receive employee information through this checklist?
No. The interactive public checklist stores only checkbox state in the user’s browser and does not ask for employee personal information.
Educational Use Only
This checklist is an educational onboarding resource. It does not create or certify a complete WISP, determine regulatory compliance, prove employee competency, or replace your firm’s HR, IT, cybersecurity, legal, or employee-training procedures.