Business Insurance for
Accountants & Tax Preparers
Whether you have a small accounting business that is just getting started, or you’re expanding into larger offices with more employees, your accounting business needs specific types of professional insurance coverage. Commercial insurance for accountants is designed to meet the unique day-to-day challenges that can arise for accountant offices large and small.
A few of the things accountant business insurance will help you cover include:
General Liability Insurance
When you run an office you have both clients and employees inside the building regularly. If someone were to trip on a computer cord and hurt themselves, your company can be held legally liable for the medical bills. General liability coverage helps protect you from general accidents that may arise with either employees or customers while they are in your corporate offices.
Business Owners Policy (BOP)
Business owners insurance covers your business structures as well as the contents inside the office. For an accounting office, the primary sections of a business owners insurance policy includes electronic data protection, valuable papers coverage and employee dishonesty.
Electronic Data Coverage
Accountants must be able to rely on having up-to-date computer systems and software in order to serve their clients fully. Computer equipment can fail if it is struck by water from a plumbing leak or an unexpected power surge during a storm. Files and electronic data can be corrupted by viruses, and software must be kept up-to-date so that you can be sure your firm is working with the latest tax codes and regulations. Electronic data coverage helps protect and cover your company in the event of hardware or software failures such as these.
Valuable Papers Coverage
Accounting firms must keep copies of all business and tax related paperwork for a certain period of time. Depending upon the type of clients you have, you may also find yourself sometimes working directly with original financial documentation from your clients. For your firm and for the sake of your client’s documentation, you cannot run the risk of having any disasters happen to critical paperwork. Valuable papers coverage helps protect your company’s and your client’s files in the event that a disaster such as a fire was to destroy critical documents.
Employee Dishonesty Coverage
Having employee dishonesty coverages helps you rest easier about hiring new people into your accounting offices. If an employee steals from your offices when cash is flush during tax season, this coverage helps your company recover.
Commercial Auto Coverage
Whether you allow your employees to use their own personal vehicles for work purposes or you provide leased company vehicles, you must acknowledge the possibility of car accidents in the line of duty. Commercial auto coverage options help you provide protection for the company, the car and other parties involved in the event of problems while driving for business purposes.
Professional Liability Insurance
Professional liability insurance coverage helps protect you and your company in the event that someone makes a mistake or leaves out something critical when completing work for a client. For example, if you accidently put a comma in place of a period on a client’s income tax return, and they are fined by the IRS, professional liability will pay your client for the incurred expenses.
The above are examples of the few types of business insurance your accounting office might need. Additional commercial insurance for accountants exist and can be customized to your specific business environment.
