Verito
Cloud hosting and managed IT provider for accounting firms with private servers, cybersecurity monitoring, and compliance support.
Rightworks
Website: www.rightworks.com
Rightworks at a glance
- Best for
- US firms hosting desktop tax and accounting software
- Pricing model
- Per user per month, by application set
- Deployment
- Managed cloud hosting
- Regions
- United States
- Key integrations
- Lacerte, ProSeries, Drake Tax, QuickBooks Desktop
Last reviewed . Pricing and features change frequently — confirm current details with the vendor.
Rightworks is a cloud hosting and managed IT platform for accounting firms, running desktop tax and accounting applications in a managed environment so staff can work remotely from any device.
How accounting firms use it
It resolves a specific bind. A firm’s tax software may be desktop-based, but its staff need to work from home, from client sites, or across offices — and maintaining a self-managed remote access setup means running servers, patching, and backup with no internal IT function.
Hosting removes that without forcing a software change. Given how disruptive switching tax packages is, decoupling the “work remotely” decision from the “change tax software” decision is usually the right sequencing, and firms often stay hosted for years before revisiting their application choice.
Key features
Application hosting covers the main US desktop tax and accounting packages alongside standard office software, with the environment managed including updates and seasonal capacity.
Security includes SOC-certified data centres, managed backup and recovery, multi-factor authentication, and monitoring — capabilities that map onto IRS Publication 4557 safeguards and the written information security plan requirement most firms now have to evidence.
Managed IT services consolidate hosting, security, and support into one vendor relationship rather than several.
Who it’s best for
US accounting firms running desktop applications that need secure remote access and want IT managed by a provider familiar with filing season patterns and the profession’s compliance obligations.
Firms already on cloud-native tax and accounting software have no need for hosting. Cetrom and Verito are the direct competitors, and the practical comparison is support responsiveness during peak season rather than infrastructure specifications.
Rightworks FAQ
- Why host desktop tax software rather than move to cloud-native software?
- Switching tax software mid-career is disruptive and expensive — staff know the interface, prior-year data lives there, and conversion carries risk on carryforwards and depreciation. Hosting gives remote access and managed backup without changing the application, which is often the more sensible sequencing for a firm that wants flexibility now and will reconsider its software later.
- What security does it provide?
- SOC-certified data centres, managed backup, multi-factor authentication, and security monitoring. For US firms this maps onto IRS Publication 4557 obligations and the written information security plan requirement, which is increasingly what drives the purchase rather than remote access alone.
- Which applications can be hosted?
- The main US desktop tax and accounting packages — Lacerte, ProSeries, Drake Tax, UltraTax CS, and QuickBooks Desktop — alongside general office software. Firms should confirm their specific version and any niche applications are supported before committing.
- How does it compare to Cetrom and Verito?
- All three host accounting applications for US firms. Differences are mostly in support model, pricing structure, and how much managed IT is bundled beyond hosting. Firms typically choose on support responsiveness during filing season, when downtime is least tolerable — worth asking for references specifically about February through April.
Rightworks Alternatives
Other cloud hosting tools for accounting firms, ordered by how much of Rightworks's functionality they cover.
Cetrom
Managed cloud hosting for accounting firms with SOC 2 certified data centers, hosting CCH, Thomson Reuters, and Intuit apps.