Protecting Your Business From Tax Season Risk Starts With Process
- Maria Mor, CFE, MBA, PMP
- Feb 10
- 6 min read
Every tax season, we see the same pattern repeat. Not because business owners are careless but because sensitive information flows through too many hands, systems, and inboxes without clear controls.
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The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners warns that tax season creates a unique vulnerability window. Financial documents move between business owners, bookkeepers, tax preparers, and sometimes third-party services. Each handoff is a potential exposure point. And most businesses have no documented process for who should share what, when, or through which channel.
The real risk isn't your tax preparer. It's the setup you're using to work with them.
Where Tax Season Risk Actually Comes From
Tax season fraud doesn't start with malicious preparers. According to ACFE fraud examiners, it starts with structural gaps that make fraud easy—even accidental.
Here's what I've seen in 25 years across different industries: businesses treat tax preparation as a one-time event, not an ongoing process. They rush to gather documents in March, send everything in a single email, and hope nothing goes wrong.
That approach creates several exposure points:
Access to full financial records. Your tax preparer needs bank statements, payroll data, and revenue reports. But how do they receive it? Email attachments? Shared drives? USB drives handed across a desk? Each method has different security implications—and most businesses never document which method is appropriate.
Shared credentials. Some businesses give preparers direct access to QuickBooks, bank portals, or payroll systems. The access stays active long after April 15. No one tracks who logged in, when, or what they viewed.
Email chains with no encryption. Sensitive financial documents travel through regular email sometimes CC'ing multiple people with no thought to who else might intercept or access those messages later.
Verbal instructions with no record. "Just send everything" becomes the standard. No checklist. No confirmation of what was actually shared. No way to reconstruct what happened if something goes wrong.
The pattern I've observed: fraud risk increases when no one is clearly responsible for how information moves.
News-Themed Scams Exploit Process Gaps
Recent tax season scams show how quickly criminals adapt to headlines. In January 2025, PolitiFact documented scam emails claiming people "must act" to claim a $2,000 "tariff dividend," using actual Trump administration policy proposals to create urgency and steal banking information.
Public radio reported a spike in phishing texts and emails from scammers posing as IRS agents, asking for routing numbers and account details for supposed tariff-related deposits. CNBC warned that unsolicited contacts about "tariff rebates" or "tariff dividends" are almost certainly scams.
Why do these work? Because businesses are already confused. Policy changes, tax law updates, and conflicting news create uncertainty. Scammers insert themselves into that confusion.
But here's what I've learned in operational work: these scams succeed because of weak internal processes. When employees aren't trained on verification steps—when there's no clear protocol for "how do we confirm this is real"—scammers win.
AI-Powered Scams Require Process Discipline
The Record reported in 2025 that hackers are using AI-generated audio to impersonate taxpayers' accountants and the IRS. SecureWorld noted a sharp increase in AI-driven phishing emails that create realistic IRS-themed communications. Forbes documented cases of deepfake IRS agents and voice-cloned tax advisors threatening legal action.
These aren't hypothetical. Bugcrowd's Casey Ellis told The Record that generative AI and deepfakes are "game-changers for scammers," enabling highly convincing impersonations that mimic legitimate IRS communications.
I once worked with a team that received what appeared to be a voice message from their long-time accountant, asking them to urgently transfer documents through a new portal. The voice sounded exactly right. The request seemed reasonable. They almost complied, until someone asked, "Did we confirm this through our normal channel?"
That question saved them. Not because they were suspicious people. Because they had a process that required verification through established channels before sharing sensitive information.
What My CFE Training Taught Me About Process Gaps
In my training as a Certified Fraud Examiner, I learned to approach process gaps by asking specific questions:
Who had access?
When did they access it?
Why did they need it?
What controls existed?
What evidence remains?
These questions aren't about suspicion. They're about clarity. They help identify where processes break down—where good people operating with good intentions can inadvertently create exposure.
Most businesses don't think in these terms. They think about trust, speed, and convenience. And that's reasonable. But when tax season arrives and sensitive information needs to move quickly, the absence of clear answers to these questions creates risk.
The IRS publishes an annual "Dirty Dozen" list of tax scams. The 2025 list highlights email schemes, phishing, social-media misinformation, and bogus credits promoted with urgent, misleading messages. The IRS explicitly states it does not initiate contact via text, social media DM, or email to ask for personal or financial information.
Yet businesses continue to respond to unsolicited messages. Not because they're careless—because they have no documented process for what to do when they receive one.
What Weak Processes Actually Look Like
Most businesses don't think they have weak processes. They think they have fast processes. But fast and safe aren't the same thing.
Here's what weak tax season processes look like in practice:
No documented approval steps. Anyone can send financial documents to anyone who asks, as long as the request "sounds right."
No separation of duties. The same person who gathers documents also uploads them, approves them, and confirms receipt—with no second set of eyes.
No visibility into what was shared. If someone asks, "Did we send 2024 bank statements to the preparer?" no one can answer definitively without searching through email.
No checklist of what should be shared. Each year, different people gather different documents. Sometimes payroll is included. Sometimes it's not. No standard.
No record of who accessed what. Shared drives, cloud folders, and portal access show no log of activity. If something goes wrong, there's no trail.
I'm not suggesting businesses need complex systems. I'm suggesting they need clarity. Strong processes protect good people from bad outcomes.
Why Outside Perspective Helps
Based on 25 years of operational work, I've learned that fraud doesn't happen because business owners are incompetent. It happens because proximity creates blind spots.
When you're inside your business every day, patterns become invisible. The way you've always handled tax documents feels normal, even when it's creating exposure. This is a proximity issue, not a competence issue.
An outside perspective asks different questions:
Who currently has access to financial systems?
How do documents move between internal team and external preparer?
What happens if someone receives an unusual request?
How would you know if something was compromised?
These aren't gotcha questions. They're process questions. And they reveal gaps that are invisible from the inside.
Important Disclaimer
I am not a tax advisor, IRS advisor, lawyer, or CPA. This article does not constitute tax, legal, or accounting advice. I do not provide advice in my capacity as a Certified Fraud Examiner. This content is educational only and reflects observations from operational experience. For tax, legal, or accounting guidance, consult qualified professionals licensed in those areas. For questions about IRS procedures or tax compliance, visit irs.gov or speak with your tax professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do we know if our tax season process has gaps?
If you can't quickly answer "who has access to what right now" or "what did we send to our preparer last year," you have a gap. Process gaps aren't always obvious until something goes wrong. The best time to identify them is before tax season, not during it.
Can we protect our business without making tax prep more complicated?
Yes. Protection doesn't require complexity. It requires clarity. Document who should share what, through which channel, with whose approval. Create a simple checklist. Train your team on verification steps. These aren't bureaucratic—they're practical.
What if we've worked with the same preparer for years?
Trust and verification aren't opposites. Long-term relationships are valuable. But even trusted relationships benefit from documented processes. If your preparer is professional, they'll appreciate clear protocols. If they resist transparency, that's a signal.
How do we verify whether an IRS communication is real?
The IRS does not initiate contact through email, text, or social media. They mail letters. If you receive unexpected digital communication claiming to be from the IRS, do not click any links. Go directly to irs.gov and verify through official channels. When in doubt, contact your accountant through your established communication method—not through information in the suspicious message.
What's the biggest mistake businesses make during tax season?
Treating tax preparation as a one-time task instead of a process. Gathering documents at the last minute, sending everything in bulk, and hoping for the best creates multiple exposure points. The businesses that stay safe treat tax season as an ongoing workflow with clear handoffs, documented approvals, and verification steps.
Ready to Close Your Process Gaps?
Tax season risk isn't about your tax preparer's credentials. It's about how information moves inside your business before it ever reaches them.
If you're not sure where sensitive information flows or who has access to what, that's the gap to address. Not with suspicion. With process clarity.
Book a 30-minute discovery call. We'll identify where your business is most exposed and give you a clear next step; no sales pitch, just assessment. Book a Discovery Call.
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