Updated 14 October 2026.
Computer Services New Jersey (CSNJ) is an IT company in Holmdel, Monmouth County, supporting accounting and CPA firms across New Jersey and New York City. We keep your tax and accounting software running through the January to April 15 crunch and the September and October extension deadlines, help you meet the IRS and FTC data-security requirements for tax preparers, and answer support requests in 30 minutes or less.
Tax season changes how IT has to work
For an accounting firm the year is not even. From January to April 15, and again before the September and October extension deadlines, a frozen workstation or a locked remote session costs filings, not just time. That is why the way we work changes in those weeks: no maintenance windows during the crunch, extra capacity when the volume rises, and top priority for anything that blocks a return from being filed.
Outside the crunch we use the quiet months for what cannot be done in busy season: yearly software upgrades, new workstations and the clean-up of accounts and permissions.
Tax and accounting software
Most firms run a mix of professional tax software, accounting software and a document system, each with its own yearly version update, hosting choices and remote-access needs. The ones we are asked about most often are:
- Lacerte and UltraTax CS
- CCH Axcess and ProSystem fx
- Drake Tax
- ATX
- QuickBooks
Each has a yearly update that has to land before the season starts, and each behaves differently when staff work from home or when the software is hosted in the cloud. We support all of them.
IRS Publication 4557 and the FTC Safeguards Rule
Tax preparers are treated as financial institutions under the FTC Safeguards Rule (16 CFR 314), and the IRS says the same in Publication 4557. In practice that means a written information security plan (WISP), a named person responsible for it, multi-factor authentication and encryption of client data. The IRS publishes a template for the plan in Publication 5708. Most small firms do not realise this applies to them.
Since May 2024 a breach affecting 500 or more people must be reported to the FTC within 30 days. We help you complete the plan, put the technical safeguards in place and keep the plan true as your office changes. We do not give legal advice, so confirm with your compliance advisor how the rule applies to your firm.
Client portals, file exchange and e-signature
Clients send tax documents by email attachment, and those documents then sit in inboxes for years. A client portal or secure file-exchange tool, such as ShareFile or SmartVault, keeps documents out of email, and an e-signature step keeps engagement letters and returns signed and on record. We help you choose, set up and connect these to the way your staff already work.
Seasonal staff and tax-season phishing
Every year firms add temporary preparers and reviewers. Each one needs fast access to the right client files, nothing more, and needs the access removed the day they leave. We set up onboarding and offboarding so that is routine, including secure remote work for staff who work from home.
Tax season is also phishing season: fake emails that impersonate the IRS, a client or a software vendor, and requests to change refund or payment details. A short staff briefing before January and email protection that blocks the obvious fakes remove most of the risk.
Where this fits with our other services
This page covers what is different for accounting firms. For the services behind it, see our managed IT services, cybersecurity services and cloud backup.
Proof
Our CPA firm server migration case study shows what that looks like: a well-known CPA firm in Union, NJ moved seven years of tax databases to a new server, with the 2025 software deployed and secure remote access set up for staff. Another real example is our payroll and financial services case study: a payroll and financial services firm with offices in several states, where tax filings and pay cycles cannot be interrupted, moved to a private network with no missed deadlines.
Find out where your firm stands, in one visit
Book a free IT assessment: your computers, network, backups and written security plan, checked against what the IRS and FTC expect and how your tax software actually runs.
Frequently asked questions
Do you support Lacerte, UltraTax CS or CCH Axcess?
Yes. We support Lacerte, UltraTax CS, CCH Axcess, ProSystem fx, Drake, ATX and QuickBooks, including their yearly updates, hosting and remote access.
Can you help us put together a written information security plan (WISP)?
Yes. We complete the plan with you from the IRS template in Publication 5708, put the technical safeguards behind it in place and keep it current. Your compliance advisor confirms how the FTC Safeguards Rule applies to your firm.
What happens if our tax software goes down on April 14?
Call or use our Get Help page at any hour. We answer support requests in 30 minutes or less, and during tax season anything that blocks a filing is our first priority.
Do you work with small practices of 3 to 10 people?
Yes. Support is available as flat-rate managed IT with unlimited monthly support, or as hourly and block support, so it can fit a small practice.
Can seasonal staff work from home securely?
Yes. We give each seasonal preparer access to only the client files they need, over a protected connection with multi-factor sign-in, and remove it when they leave.
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