FREE ASSESSMENT
Phishing Readiness Assessment for Accounting Firms
Answer 15 practical questions to see how prepared your employees and internal processes are to recognize, verify and report phishing-related threats.
Questions: 15 · Estimated time: 3–5 minutes · Cost: Free · Email required: No
Built for accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms.
Phishing Readiness Is More Than Spotting a Bad Email
A convincing phishing attempt may appear to come from a client, potential client, manager, vendor, tax-software provider, cloud-storage provider, financial institution, document-sharing platform or government organization.
The request may ask an employee to open a document, follow a link, sign into an account, reset a password, approve a financial change or respond urgently. Good phishing readiness depends on reliable habits for recognizing something unusual, verifying the request and reporting concerns quickly.
This is a readiness assessment, not a compliance audit. Your result reflects only the employee and process areas reviewed by these 15 questions.
Phishing Readiness Assessment for Accounting Firms
Secure Team · secureteamtraining.com/resources/phishing-readiness-assessment/
How Ready Is Your Firm for a Convincing Phishing Attempt?
Answer 15 practical questions about employee awareness, verification habits, account security, reporting and recurring training. You will receive an immediate Phishing Readiness Score, six category results and practical next steps.
Your assessment answers are stored only in this browser while you use the tool and are not sent to Secure Team.
Progress shows assessment completion, not phishing readiness.
Your Phishing Readiness Score
Category Results
Your Strongest Areas
Areas to Strengthen
Three Practical Next Steps
What Does Phishing Readiness Mean?
Phishing readiness is broader than whether employees can identify one suspicious email. A practical organization builds repeatable behaviors around three actions:
Recognize
Notice when a request, attachment, link, login prompt, payment change or communication pattern may be unusual.
Verify
Use the firm’s established process to independently confirm unusual requests before acting.
Report
Report suspicious messages, account activity or mistakes promptly so the appropriate internal contact can respond.
RECOGNIZE → VERIFY → REPORT
This simple framework can be reinforced across phishing training, onboarding and recurring employee awareness.
Why Phishing Matters for Accounting and Tax Firms
Accounting and tax firms commonly work with sensitive taxpayer information, financial documents, payroll, client portals, tax software, document-sharing platforms, payment information, frequent client email and seasonal employees. Those everyday workflows make convincing impersonation and document-related phishing particularly relevant.
Current IRS Security Summit guidance for tax professionals specifically warns about phishing, spear phishing, clone phishing, whaling and new-client schemes, along with unexpected attachments, malicious links and impersonation. The goal is not to create fear; it is to make verification and reporting part of normal work.
Common Phishing Situations Accounting Firms Should Recognize
Unexpected New Client
Someone claiming to be a prospective client sends an unexpected document link. Pause, verify through the firm’s normal process, and report it if the request cannot be confirmed.
Document-Sharing Notification
An employee receives a file-sharing notification they were not expecting. Pause before opening it, verify whether the document was expected, and report it if suspicious.
Account Alert
A message says a password is expiring and requests immediate sign-in. Urgency should not be treated as proof that the request is legitimate.
Client or Executive Request
A familiar client or manager appears to request an unusual change. Use the established verification process instead of relying only on the message itself.
Unexpected MFA Prompt
An employee receives an authentication prompt they did not initiate. The prompt deserves attention rather than automatic approval.
Common Types of Phishing Accounting Firms May Encounter
Phishing
Broad deceptive messages designed to induce an unsafe action, such as interacting with a suspicious link, attachment or request.
Spear Phishing
More targeted phishing customized toward a particular person or organization.
Clone Phishing
A deceptive message designed to resemble or copy a legitimate communication while changing an important element such as a link or attachment.
Whaling
Targeted phishing aimed at executives, leaders or other roles with access to valuable information or financial processes.
Smishing & Vishing
Smishing uses text messages. Vishing uses voice or phone-based social engineering. Employees should focus on the nature of the request, not only the communication channel.
New-Client Scam
A tax-industry-relevant scenario in which someone posing as a prospective client tries to get a tax professional to interact with an unexpected attachment or link.
Phishing Can Reach Employees Through More Than Email
Social-engineering requests may arrive through email, text, phone calls, messaging platforms, document-sharing notifications, cloud-service alerts or other communication channels. Employees should focus on whether the request is expected and whether its instructions make sense—not only on where the message appeared.
How MFA Supports Phishing Readiness
MFA is an important account-security measure and can make a stolen password less useful by itself. It does not make phishing impossible. Employees may still encounter fake login pages, unexpected MFA prompts, impersonation and social engineering.
Training Employees Is Important — But Readiness Goes Further
Training teaches recognition. Phishing readiness also depends on whether employees have a verification process, know the reporting path, use appropriate account protections, receive recurring refreshers, and understand how financial or identity-related requests should be handled.
That is why security-awareness training works best when it reflects the real decisions employees make in accounting and tax workflows.
OFFICIAL GUIDANCE
Official Phishing Guidance for Accounting & Tax Firms
IRS Security Summit — Phishing Threats to Tax Professionals
Current 2026 IRS Security Summit guidance warns tax professionals about phishing, spear phishing, clone phishing, whaling and new-client scams, and highlights suspicious attachments, malicious links, urgency and impersonation. Read the IRS phishing guidance →
IRS — Current Security Reminders for Tax Pros
The IRS continues to advise tax professionals to watch for suspicious requests, use strong passwords and MFA, and review security practices. Read current IRS security reminders →
FTC Safeguards Rule Guidance
FTC guidance for covered financial institutions calls for security-awareness training and regular refreshers as part of the information-security program. Read FTC Safeguards Rule guidance →
CISA — Phishing & MFA Guidance
CISA recommends teaching employees to recognize and report phishing and provides guidance on MFA as an important account-protection measure. Review CISA small-business cybersecurity resources →
Important: None of these sources require this Secure Team assessment or a particular Phishing Readiness Score.
Continue With the Right Secure Team Resource
Want to Strengthen Employee Phishing Awareness?
Explore practical security-awareness training designed around the decisions employees make during accounting and tax workflows.
Preparing for Filing Season?
Use the Tax-Season Security Checklist to review phishing, MFA, taxpayer data, tax software, payment verification, seasonal employees and other busy-season security practices.
Need a Plan for Recurring Phishing Refreshers?
Use the Annual Security Awareness Training Calendar to plan phishing, MFA, impersonation, payment-fraud and other awareness topics throughout the year.
Hiring Seasonal Tax Employees?
Use the Seasonal Tax Employee Security Onboarding Checklist to review phishing, account security, taxpayer data, reporting and access expectations with seasonal staff.
Want to Evaluate Your Broader Training Program?
Use the WISP Employee Training Readiness Assessment to evaluate onboarding, recurring awareness, training completion and documentation.
SECURE TEAM
Turn Phishing Awareness Into Repeatable Employee Training
Secure Team is being designed to help accounting and tax firms deliver practical cybersecurity awareness training, reinforce phishing recognition and verification habits, onboard seasonal employees, track completion and organize recurring refreshers.
Employees should not have to rely on memory alone when a convincing request arrives.
Phishing Readiness Assessment FAQ
What is a phishing readiness assessment?
It is an educational assessment that reviews whether an organization has practical employee-awareness, verification, account-security, reporting and refresher processes related to phishing.
How can an accounting firm assess phishing readiness?
A useful assessment looks beyond whether employees can recognize a suspicious email. It should also review verification procedures, MFA, financial-change verification, reporting paths, recurring awareness and seasonal onboarding.
What should employees know about phishing?
Employees should understand that phishing can use familiar names, unexpected attachments, document-sharing links, fake login pages, urgent requests and impersonation. They should also know how to verify and report something suspicious.
Why are accounting and tax firms relevant phishing targets?
Accounting and tax firms commonly handle sensitive taxpayer and financial information and rely heavily on email, portals, document sharing and financial workflows. Current IRS Security Summit guidance specifically warns tax professionals about phishing and related scams.
What is a new-client phishing scam?
It is a tax-industry-relevant phishing scenario in which someone posing as a prospective client tries to persuade a tax professional to interact with an unexpected link or attachment.
What is spear phishing?
Spear phishing is more targeted phishing designed around a particular person or organization.
What is clone phishing?
Clone phishing is designed to resemble a legitimate communication while altering an element such as a link or attachment.
What is whaling?
Whaling is targeted phishing aimed at executives, leaders or other high-value roles.
Can MFA stop phishing?
MFA is an important account-security measure, but it does not make phishing impossible. Employees may still encounter fake login pages, unexpected MFA prompts, impersonation and social engineering.
How should employees verify suspicious requests?
They should follow the firm’s established verification process and avoid relying only on the same message or request that caused concern.
What should employees do if they click a suspicious link?
Follow the firm’s established reporting process promptly and notify the appropriate internal contact.
How often should employees receive phishing-awareness training?
There is no universal cadence that fits every organization. FTC guidance for covered financial institutions calls for security-awareness training and regular refreshers; firms should adapt the schedule to their risks, workforce and obligations.
Should seasonal employees receive phishing training?
Seasonal or temporary employees who use firm email, portals, tax software or sensitive information should be included in the firm’s awareness process appropriate to their roles.
Does a high phishing readiness score mean my firm is secure?
No. The score reflects only the areas reviewed in this educational assessment and cannot predict whether an incident will occur.
Is this assessment required by the IRS?
No. This Secure Team assessment is not an IRS-required or IRS-approved assessment.
Does this assessment determine WISP compliance?
No. It does not evaluate a complete WISP and does not certify regulatory compliance.
Does Secure Team receive my assessment answers?
No. The assessment stores answers locally in the browser while you use the tool and does not transmit them to Secure Team.
Educational Use Only
This assessment is an educational readiness tool. It does not provide legal advice, certify regulatory compliance, predict whether a phishing incident will occur, evaluate every cybersecurity control in your organization, or guarantee protection from phishing. Adapt your training and verification processes to your firm’s actual workflows, risks and applicable obligations.