Service desk and devices
Computers built to a standard and patched; our monitoring checks each one every 15 minutes and logs faults as tickets. See IT support.
IT support for accounting firms, audit practices and professional services
Arke Technologies (Pty) Ltd provides IT support for accounting firms, audit practices, law firms and other professional services firms across South Africa, from Johannesburg. One accountable team runs your devices, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, security, backups and practice software under one SLA, and we build AtlasOS (opens atlaspractice.app), our operating system for professional services firms.
What IT support for accounting firms has to protect
A professional firm holds its clients' identity and tax numbers, bank details, payroll records and financial statements. Under POPIA the firm is accountable for that information, and one compromised mailbox can expose every client on the books.
The work is deadline-bound: SARS submissions, CIPC annual returns and payroll runs do not move because a laptop failed. And firms are targets for payment fraud, where a spoofed email asks a client to pay into "new" bank details. IT support for professional services is judged on all three: client data safe, fee-earners working and fraud stopped at the inbox.
Managed IT services for accounting firms, audit practices and law firms
Our managed IT services for accounting firms cover the whole working environment under one contract:
Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
Monthly or annual licences, with retention that matches your record-keeping rules. See Microsoft 365 licensing and management.
Accounting and practice software
Sage (50, 200 and Business Cloud), Pastel Partner and Evolution, Xero, QuickBooks and your practice management system. See accounting software support.
Security and backup
Hardened Microsoft 365, email and endpoint protection, and tested backups of mailboxes, files and practice data. See cybersecurity services and backup and disaster recovery.
Networks, connectivity and hardware
Wi-Fi and firewalls; business fibre and LTE through our connectivity division Fibre Boyz; laptops, servers and storage through our trading division Server Hub.
The same IT services for accounting firms fit audit practices, payroll bureaux, law firms and consultancies. Architectural practices add large drawing files and their own architectural practice management software, so we size storage and backups to match. Financial advisers should also read IT for financial services.
Accounting practice management software: what to look for
Accounting practice management software runs the firm rather than the books: entities, deadlines, tasks, time and billing. Reviews written abroad rarely test SARS or CIPC work. Whether you run several offices or need the best practice management software for small accounting firms, test each tax and accounting practice management system on five points:
South African compliance. SARS income tax, VAT, PAYE and provisional tax, and CIPC annual returns, scheduled for each entity.- Entities, not only clients. Companies, trusts and individuals, and the links between them.
- Cloud-based, with your data in view. Cloud accounting practice management software, used online in a browser, removes the office server. Ask where the data is hosted, how tenants are isolated and how you would export everything if you left.
- Billing and access. Time-based, retainer and fixed-fee billing, control over who sees which client, and an audit trail.
- The real cost of free. Free accounting practice management software can suit a sole practitioner, but count the set-up hours, the missing support and the cost of moving out later.
AtlasOS: practice management software for accounting firms
AtlasOS (opens atlaspractice.app) is our own practice management software for accounting firms and other professional practices, owned and built by Arke Technologies and in production today. Its six modules cover client and entity management with CIPC and SARS data; SARS and CIPC compliance workflows with deadline alerts; AI-assisted advisory that surfaces overdue tasks and compliance risks without replacing staff judgement; time-based, retainer and fixed-fee billing; staff messaging and a client inbox; and white-label branding with full data isolation between firms.
It is live for accounting and tax practices in South Africa, audit and assurance firms working under IRBA and IFAC standards, and payroll bureaux managing UIF, SDL and PAYE deadlines. See AtlasOS for accounting practices, or visit the AtlasOS site (opens atlaspractice.app).
Atlas OS gives us visibility across 89 entities that we simply did not have before. The compliance tracking alone has saved us significant time every month.
Law practice management software and IT support for law firms
IT support for law firms puts more weight on trust accounting, FICA records and legal privilege, so access control by matter, email security and document retention come first; see IT for law firms.
Much of what you read about law practice management software, or accounting software for a legal firm, is written for other markets, from Malaysia to the United States, and skips FICA compliance tracking and SARS. Free or open source law practice management software can suit a solo practitioner, but someone still has to host, patch, back up and secure it, and the best law practice management software for a solo practice rarely suits several offices. AtlasOS for legal practices is in scoping (see the AtlasOS site (opens atlaspractice.app)); meanwhile, we support the legal software you already run.
Security, POPIA and audit readiness for professional firms
We work to controls aligned with ISO/IEC 27001, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and CIS Controls (alignment, not certification):
- POPIA. A record of the personal information you hold and who may access it, and a breach process your information officer can run. See POPIA compliance.
- Identity and email. Multi-factor authentication, Entra ID governance and impersonation protection against payment-diversion fraud. See email security.
- Testing. We scope, perform and retest penetration tests, and help remediate the findings. See penetration testing.
- Evidence for auditors. When a client asks your firm for a SOC 2 report or ISO 27001 evidence, we put the controls in place and assemble the evidence; independent IT audit firms and SOC 2 audit firms issue the opinion.
- Board reporting. For firms with a board, we report on technology and information governance under King IV Principle 12. See IT governance, risk and compliance.
AI for consulting firms, accounting practices and law firms
AI for consulting firms and professional practices earns its place where staff spend hours reading and summarising contracts, correspondence and financial statements. We build it on our Emergent Intelligence framework, our design rules for AI that supports people rather than replacing them: AI recommends and people decide, every output is explainable, every AI action is logged, and clear limits govern what AI may see.
For law firms, AI solutions usually start with searching and summarising matter files, with a person approving every output. Client data is minimised, encrypted in transit and at rest, and never used to train models without explicit consent. When you compare AI consulting firms or any artificial intelligence consulting firm, ask where your data goes, who approves each output and what it costs to run each month. See AI consulting and implementation.
Procurement fit and continuity
- B-BBEE. Level 1 B-BBEE contributor, which gives buyers 135% procurement recognition (sworn affidavit available on request).
- Documents. A registered company since 2017; company documents, a bank confirmation letter, our CSD supplier number and SARS tax compliance status are available on request. See company facts for procurement teams.
- How to buy. Work starts on a signed SLA or your purchase order. We answer requests for proposal and complete standard bidding documents where a bid requires them.
- Scale. Remote-first delivery and a certified team under one contract, hired for experience, education and certifications in step with the contracts we sign.
- Ownership and exit. You own your data, credentials and documentation, kept in your name, so adding offices or handing over to another provider is orderly.