If you’re a CFO, year-end gives you a rare pause. The numbers are final. The rush slows down. And that quiet moment often brings an uncomfortable question to the surface.
How do I know if our IT is secure?
Not “Are we hacked?”
Not “Did something break?”
Just… are we actually okay?
Most financial leaders aren’t looking for technical proof. You’re looking for confidence. You want to know if the risk is under control, the costs make sense, and nothing unexpected is lurking to emerge later in the year.
At ONE 2 ONE, we hear this question all the time, especially in Q1. The good news is you don’t need to speak tech to get real answers. You just need to know where to look.
Here’s how we’d suggest thinking about it.
IT Risks CFOs Should Review After Year-End
Security problems rarely show up as alarms. They show up as leftovers.
An example we see:
An employee leaves in October. Their email gets shut off, but their access to a shared finance folder doesn’t. No one notices. Nothing bad happens. Until it does.
Post year-end is the right time to review:
- Who has access to financial systems and sensitive data?
- Which users haven’t logged in for months?
- Which systems feel “owned by everyone” or no one?
If you can’t clearly answer who has access and why, that’s a risk worth cleaning up.
Hidden IT Costs in Growing Businesses
Security and cost are more connected than most people realize.
When systems grow fast, tools stack up. Licenses don’t always get removed. Old software sticks around “just in case.”
Here’s a fictional but familiar scenario:
A company adds a new security tool during a scare. Six months later, they’re paying for it and still paying for the old one. No one can explain the difference between the two.
Hidden IT costs often mean:
- Overlapping security tools
- Paying for licenses tied to former employees
- Services that no longer match how the business operates
When you don’t have clean visibility into IT spend, it’s harder to know if security money is being spent in the right places.
IT Controls for Financial Reporting Still Matter
This is where finance and IT overlap more than most people think.
If IT systems support billing, payroll, revenue tracking, or reporting, then controls matter. A lot.
Ask yourself:
- Who can change financial data?
- Are changes logged and reviewed?
- What happens if a system goes down during a close?
An example:
A finance team can’t explain why numbers changed overnight. Turns out an admin account had broad access and no activity tracking. That’s not fraud. It’s a control gap.
IT controls for financial reporting don’t have to be complex. They just have to exist and be followed.
Operational Risk and IT Controls Go Hand in Hand
Security isn’t only about bad actors. It’s also about downtime and disruption.
Imagine this scene:
Month-end close. A server issue takes systems offline for half a day. Finance waits. Operations waits. Leadership asks questions.
That’s operational risk, not just IT trouble.
After year-end, it’s smart to review:
- Backup and recovery plans
- Who responds when something breaks
- How long systems can realistically be down before it hits cash flow
If downtime would cause financial stress, that’s a security conversation too.
So… How Do I Know If Our IT Is Secure?
Here’s the honest answer.
If you can clearly explain:
- Where your biggest IT risks live
- What you’re paying for and why
- How access and changes are controlled
- How prepared you are for outages and insurance questions
Then you’re in a good place.
If those answers feel fuzzy, that doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means your business has grown and your IT environment hasn’t been reviewed recently.
At ONE 2 ONE, we believe financial leaders deserve clarity, not jargon. The goal isn’t to scare anyone or sell fixes. It’s to help CFOs walk into the new year knowing where risk sits and what actually matters.
Security confidence doesn’t come from tools.
It comes from understanding.
If you want a clearer picture of where your IT environment stands today, we’ve built a short IT Assessment Quiz.
It’s designed for business and financial leaders, not technical teams, and it focuses on risk, controls, and visibility, not jargon.
You can take it on your own time and use the results however you’d like.