Make sure your business owns its own accounts

Accounts to check

• Domain name registration. The account where your domain (yourbusiness.com) is registered. Whoever controls it controls your email and website.
• DNS. Often in the same place: the settings that point your domain to your email and website.
• Microsoft 365. The global administrator accounts and the billing account. (Read more.)
• Website hosting and the website’s own administrator account.
• Firewall and network equipment administrator logins.
• Key software vendors: accounting, payroll, line-of-business applications.
• Social media and online listings.

For each one, confirm

• It is registered in the business’s name, with a business email address that is not tied to one person.
• At least two people or one trusted provider have access.
• Multi-factor authentication is on.
• Renewal dates are known, and payment is not on a departed employee’s card.

Keep a record

Write down where each account lives, who manages it and how to recover it, and keep the record somewhere safe. When someone leaves, or you change providers, you will be glad you did.