Hosting and managed IT for accounting firms: 3 providers, and what none of them says about where your data sits
Three hosting and managed IT providers for accounting and tax firms (Verito, Rightworks and Ace Cloud Hosting), each read on the vendor's own site on 2026-10-18, with public pricing where shown and what each says about where the work runs.
An accountant at a desk with a laptop. Four programs, QuickBooks Desktop, Drake, Lacerte and UltraTax, leave the laptop one by one along a cable over the internet and slot into a server rack in the provider's building. The laptop's screen then shows a window onto that server, and three lamps light beside the building for what the provider keeps running: the server, security and the help line.
Of all the software a firm runs, hosting gives the plainest answer to "where does my client data sit": on the provider's servers. But none of the three providers here names the country or region its servers are in. If a law or a client contract says where client data must be kept, that is the first question to put to them, in writing.
Some firms run their desktop tax and accounting software (QuickBooks Desktop, Drake, Lacerte, UltraTax) on a hosted server instead of on each laptop. They pay one provider to keep the server, the security and the help line running. Each entry was read on the vendor's own site on 2026-10-18. This is one group of the accounting firm software directory.
- Verito. Cloud hosting and managed IT for tax and accounting firms. A private virtual desktop on a dedicated server runs the firm's tax, accounting, practice management and PDF software. Its page says "if it runs on Windows, we host it" and names Drake, Lacerte, UltraTax and QuickBooks. The same team can also manage the firm's laptops, email and security. Public pricing for three users, on an annual agreement billed monthly: Essentials $307 a month ($69 per user plus a $100 server fee), Pro $397, Elite $547, plus a one-time setup of $500. Checked 2026-10-18. TaxDome's site footer lists Verito among its integrations.
- Rightworks. Hosting for QuickBooks and other accounting apps, managed IT, cybersecurity, Managed Microsoft 365 and a written information security plan (WISP) service, for accounting and tax firms. It says more than 50% of the Top 25 accounting firms use it (its own claim). Hosting pricing is not public. The one price list on its site is for a different product: Transaction Pro, a QuickBooks Online import and export tool, at $121, $209 and $479 a month for up to 10, 20 and 50 companies. TaxDome's site footer lists Rightworks among its integrations. Its AI assistant is on the AI tools page. Checked 2026-10-18.
- Ace Cloud Hosting. Hosting for QuickBooks Desktop and tax software on dedicated servers, with managed security (it names managed EDR and SOC-as-a-service). It describes itself as an Intuit-authorized hosting provider for QuickBooks Desktop and states SOC 1, 2 and 3 compliance and 99.99% uptime (its own claims). Plans are quoted on request: the pricing page shows "Get Quote". Checked 2026-10-18.
Where your data sits
Three provider buildings. Verito's shutter lifts on a server rack, a dedicated server running a private virtual desktop, and Ace Cloud Hosting's lifts on its dedicated servers. Rightworks is a blank wall: a managed platform, with no server detail on the pages read. An empty place pin lands on each roof: none of the three pages names a country or region.
Verito and Ace Cloud Hosting both say your work runs on dedicated servers. Rightworks describes a fully managed platform and gives no server detail. None of the three names a country or region.
Verito is the only one that publishes a full price. Its Essentials plan for three users is $307 a month, about $102 per user. With the $500 setup, the first year costs $4,184.
Take it
Ask each provider in writing: which country or region are our servers in, is the server ours alone, and what does the first year cost for our headcount, setup included?
If you are choosing hosting or managed IT for an accounting firm, or you run one of these services and a line here is wrong, I'd like to compare notes: mackenzie@mackenziebowes.com.