IT for accounting firms that makes life easier for your firm and your clients.
BKY looks after the technology behind your practice and the businesses you serve: secure document exchange, the accounting and payroll software your clients run, safe use of AI, and work planned around your busy season. Based in Edmonton with staff in Calgary, serving Alberta businesses since 1999.
Less IT on your plate, and on theirs.
Your practice depends on technology, and so do the businesses you serve. We look after both sides, so less of your time goes to IT problems that aren’t yours to solve.
For your firm
- Fewer interruptions in busy seasonChanges happen in the quiet months, and we answer fast when something breaks.
- Client documents in one secure placeNo more chasing attachments or wondering which version is current.
- AI your team can use with confidenceApproved tools, clear rules and client data kept where it belongs.
- Someone who knows the softwareFrom Sage and QuickBooks to Powerpay, we’ve supported it before.
For your clients
- Help with their own ITComputers, email and security, explained in plain language.
- A simple way to send you documentsUpload once to a private space instead of emailing sensitive files.
- A cloud move without the riskWe plan it, migrate the data and check it carries over correctly.
- Systems that work togetherPayroll, HR and accounting connected, so less is retyped before it reaches you.
Your year has a shape. Our work follows it.
From February through April your team has no time for upgrades, migrations or new passwords, so we don’t ask for it. During those months our job is to keep everything running and answer quickly when something breaks.
Changes happen in the quieter months: security improvements, new equipment, a client portal rollout. Each one is tested and finished before the next season starts, so your firm walks into tax time prepared.
A typical firm’s year
Stop clients emailing their SIN.
Clients mean well. They email T4s, notices of assessment and SIN confirmation letters because email is the easiest tool they have. Each of those messages carries a Social Insurance Number, and each one lingers in inboxes, sent folders and backups long after the return is filed.
The fix is to give them something easier than email. We’ll work with you to choose a secure way to exchange documents that fits how your firm already works, then help your clients get comfortable using it, whatever their level of technical skill.
- A separate space for every clientNo client can see another client’s files, and your staff see only what they need.
- Sign-in with multi-factor authenticationA stolen password alone isn’t enough to get in.
- Links that expireShared documents stop being reachable once the engagement is done.
- A record of who opened whatWhen a client asks whether a file was received, you can check.
- A redirect when email slips throughEmails containing a SIN can be flagged automatically, with a reply pointing the client to their secure upload.
One example: take the chasing out of the annual paperwork.
Here’s one repetitive process we can automate for your firm. Every year you send the same engagement letters, questionnaires and consent forms, then spend weeks following up on the ones that don’t come back. BKY has built data collection and consent systems for organizations that handle sensitive personal information, and can set up the same kind of workflow for your clients.
We use the tools your firm already has wherever we can. Where they fall short, our custom software development team builds what’s missing.
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Send
Each client gets one secure link, with last year’s details already filled in.
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Complete
Clients answer online from any device and upload their slips as they go.
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Consent
Engagement letters and privacy and disclosure consents are signed electronically, including through Docusign, with the date and time recorded.
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Track
See who’s finished, send reminders automatically, and keep a record of every consent.
In practice: CRA T183 authorizations
Each year, every client gets a personal email and text with a link to sign their T183 online. Reminders go out automatically until they sign, and you can see who has received it, who has started, and who has finished.
This year’s T183s
- Client 1Signed
- Client 2Started, not signed
- Client 3Reminder sent
This is one example. If a different process takes up your staff’s time, tell us which one and we’ll show you how we’d automate it.
Use AI in your firm without putting client data at risk.
Your staff are probably using AI already. If no one has chosen the tools, client information may be going into free services whose terms allow them to keep or learn from what’s typed in.
We help you adopt AI the way you’d adopt any system that touches client files: rules first, the right licences, and access controls in place before anything is switched on.
BKY uses AI in its own development and support work under a written policy. We recommend what we practise.
- Write the rulesA plain-language AI policy: which tools are approved, what client information can go into them, and who reviews AI-assisted work.
- Fix who can see whatAssistants like Microsoft 365 Copilot can surface any file a user has access to. We clean up over-shared folders and permissions first.
- Choose tools built for business dataBusiness plans that don’t train on your firm’s data, tied to your staff sign-ins and protected with multi-factor authentication.
- Train your teamPractical sessions on getting good results, checking AI output for errors, and keeping client details out of the wrong tools.
Whatever your clients run, we’ve worked with it.
Accounting and ERP
- Sage 50
- Sage 300
- QuickBooks Desktop & Online
- Dynamics 365 Business Central
- and many smaller systems
Payroll and HR
- Powerpay
- BambooHR
Payments and e-signatures
- Plooto
- Stripe
- Docusign
Your clients’ books live in a mix of places: desktop software installed in a back office, cloud platforms, and sometimes both at once. BKY has worked with ERP and accounting systems large and small, so your staff aren’t left troubleshooting a client’s installation, licence or file access on their own. We also connect payroll and HR systems to the books, so employee and payroll data moves between them without being retyped.
We look after your firm’s own software too: the tax preparation and working-paper tools your team relies on, kept updated and running before filing season.
Still printing cheques?
We help clients move to electronic funds transfer, with supplier payments approved and sent online and records that match the books. On the receiving side, we set up online payments so their customers can pay invoices by card or bank transfer.
No more cheque stock, wet signatures or trips to the mailbox.
Sized for firms of 5 to 100 people.
What a firm needs from IT changes as it grows. We meet you where you are.
5 to 10Staff
No one owns IT
Usually a partner or office manager fills the gap. We become that person: support, security, backups and the client portal, with one number to call.
11 to 20Staff
Growth shows the gaps
Shared logins, informal file shares and laptops that leave the office. We put structure in place before it turns into a problem.
21 to 100Staff
More partners, more offices
We add policy, reporting and automation, and work alongside any in-house IT staff you already have.
Get ready for your next season.
We’ll look at how your firm handles client documents, staff accounts, backups and remote access, then give you a plain-language list of what to fix first and when to fix it.
The best time to book is before January, or right after April.
Part of managed IT for professional services. Facing a cyber insurance renewal? See our cyber insurance readiness assessment.