Business Email for Accountants & Bookkeepers
Tax season volume, client portals, and fiduciary trust — why CPA firms need branded inboxes.
Part of the collection Business email, industry by industry
Clients send SSNs and bank exports. Receiving that on a personal account is a liability — and looks alarming in the notification preview.
Quick summary
- Named mailboxes for each accountant or bookkeeper, so clients know who is handling their file
- info@ or hello@ for new enquiries
- documents@ or returns@ for the busy season, with one person owning it each day
- billing@ for your own invoices
- Publish SPF, DKIM and a DMARC record so others cannot easily send mail pretending to be your domain
Do not collect sensitive documents by plain email
Tax IDs, bank statements and payroll files are exactly what fraudsters want. Email is fine for “your documents are ready” messages and general questions, but ask clients to upload sensitive files through a client portal or secure file-sharing tool. Check your professional body’s guidance on how client data should be stored and sent.
Mailboxes for a small firm
- Named mailboxes for each accountant or bookkeeper, so clients know who is handling their file
- info@ or hello@ for new enquiries
- documents@ or returns@ for the busy season, with one person owning it each day
- billing@ for your own invoices
Protect your firm and your clients from impersonation
- Publish SPF, DKIM and a DMARC record so others cannot easily send mail pretending to be your domain
- Tell clients you will never change your bank details by email, and confirm any client request to do so by phone
- Use unique passwords and remove mailbox access the day a staff member leaves
- Connect mailboxes to Outlook or Apple Mail over IMAP/SMTP if your team prefers a desktop client
Want to see how your own domain is set up? Use the free SPF checker and DMARC checker: they run in your browser and store nothing.