Disaster Recovery Plan

In the past few months, we have seen a high amount of natural disasters across the country. Hurricanes, forest fires, and tornadoes have affected individuals and business across our country. Although we are less likely to see some of these disasters in central Illinois, we are not immune to disasters, whether natural or man-made. At Martin Hood, we recommend that our clients have a formal disaster recovery policy, approved by the board, especially as it relates to accounting information. The extent of the policy may vary, but in the case of a natural disaster, having a policy that is a step-by-step approach and specific would be very helpful.Some of the questions you may want to answer in a policy such as this are:

• Where is the backup of accounting information stored offsite?
• Who will be leading the charge of restoring the accounting information?
• Where will the accounting information be restored?
• What equipment will you need to purchase to get the accounting information to an operational state?
• Will your accounting software work on a different computer?
• Who will be authorized to access the accounting software until the information is operational?
• What accounting information will you want to reconcile first?

These are just some ideas, but a reminder that a detailed, step-by-step approach, short or long, will be helpful in the case of a disaster. You can never be too careful! Let us know if you would like to talk through what a disaster recovery plan might look like.