The Company
For nearly 100 years, the Hannis T. Bourgeois CPA firm has provided comprehensive accounting services. Based in Baton Rouge, La., the firm has recently moved into offering client accounting and advisory services, or CAAS, expanding its range of products available to clients. Hannis T. Bourgeois has approximately 140 employees and about 5000 clients.
The Problem
Without multi-factor authentication in place, and with the increase in security incidents across the country, leaders at Hannis T. Bourgeois wanted to ensure the firm was protected by multifactor authentication. Plus, its incumbent cloud provider provided poor customer service.
The Solution
Rightworks stepped in with an Accounting and Tax Cloud hosting package that featured multifactor authentication and superior customer service. Hannis T. Bourgeois also put new security measures in place. All users, from the firm’s 30 internal users to the clients who used the system, had to implement MFA as an extra level or security. The firm gave employees one week and clients one month to adopt MFA on their devices. The project was a success, Smith says, with Rightworks providing support to employees and clients who needed it. “We didn’t have a lot of pushback from our clients,” Smith says. “Rightworks supported all of our clients who called in. The whole process went very smoothly.”
Why Rightworks?
Hannis T. Bourgeois originally chose Rightworks in 2018 because a previous cloud provider charged comparatively exorbitant fees and provided poor support. “Our clients think of cloud service as an extension to us.” Smith says. “When something goes wrong, they call us. We weren’t getting good support. We were paying a lot of money.” Plus, Rightworks could bill the firm’s clients directly for cloud service, whereas the previous provider could not.
The Benefits
Rightworks’ cloud service is also faster and more reliable that the firm’s previous provider was, but the biggest benefit Hannis T. Bourgeois has received from working with Rightworks is enhanced security—which has led to peace of mind. “We were already a secure organization, but with all the evolution of these hackers nobody is immune,” he says. “Rightworks provides that extra piece of mind that helps me sleep at night.”