The reason is because fewer people have access to postcards send in the mail than have access to your email.
A lot of contractors are told to email QuickBooks contractor data files to their tax preparer, bookkeeper or any number of places and continually put themselves at tremendous risk of identity theft or worse.
In cases where they have stored data about their present and past clients they put their clients at risk too which if it is traced back to you could mean bankruptcy or worse.
Any network carrier can see the contents of your email. Most of them never pay attention or track the content; however, there is always the chance that someone with proper clearance and software can intercept a copy of your QuickBooks contractor data file and
We have warned against this practice for several years and in most cases nobody pays any attention until it is too late. Here are the top ten ways emailing your QuickBooks contractor file can hurt you:
You are using a "Free" email provider with little or no security.
Your email program has been compromised and you don't even know it. Which could mean every bit of email you send or receive is being copied and sent to identity thieves.
Your tax preparer, bookkeeper or whomever you sent it to has little or no email security and everything inside their email program is being copied and sent to identity thieves.
Any network carrier can see the contents of your email. Most of them never pay attention or track the content. However, there is always the chance that someone with proper clearance and software can intercept a copy of your QuickBooks contractor data file and mine the data or sell it to the highest bidder.
Your bookkeeper can intercept your QuickBooks contractor data file that you emailed, make a copy and sell it or give it to your competitors. If you think this never happens ask yourself how many side-jobs your construction employees have done using your tools, your equipment and your material.
Your bookkeeper emails a copy of your QuickBooks contractor data file to their personal email and sells it or gives it to your competitors.
You password protect your QuickBooks contractor file before emailing it simply puts a red flag on it which tells thieves there is some extremely valuable information here. There are hundreds of websites selling QuickBooks password breaker software tools.
The email address you were given was bogus and you did not realize it until it was too late.
You mistyped the email address into your email program and sent your QuickBooks for contractors data file who knows where.
Your tax preparer or bookkeeper mistyped the email address into their email program and sent your QuickBooks for contractors data file who knows where.
There are a lot more issues related to the perils and pitfalls of emailing your QuickBooks for contractors file than I have listed here.
The problem is that it costs money which is why most accountants don't use it because it is cheaper for them to put you at risk than for them to spend money.
A secure file transfer system encrypts your QuickBooks for contractors file before it leaves your computer and then stores it on secure servers.
Your QuickBooks contractor file waits patiently until the person you intend to receive it puts in their user name and password and downloads the encrypted QuickBooks contractor file. The secure file transfer system automatically converts it back into a useable QuickBooks for contractors file once it is safely at the new destination.
This service works will all QuickBooks files, Word documents, Excel files and just about anything that can be uploaded.
There are a number of companies offering this type of service and in most cases the "Free" ones are to be avoided as they could be worse than sending your QuickBooks contractors file by email.
Premium services are the ones that cater to accounting firms and in addition to secure file transfer they will scan the QuickBooks contractor and all other files for viruses before uploading them which offers further protection.
We use a firm that specializes in working directly with accountants and have been a client since the mid 1990's and have enjoyed excellent service and no problems.
You can take a look at how it works here Fast Easy Accounting Secure File Transfer
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