Question 1

What does IT compliance advisory cost for a small business?

Accepted Answer

ATCOS advisory is $200 per hour at director level, or fixed-fee for defined outcomes: a WISP / FTC Safeguards compliance package starts at $5,000, and second-opinion IT audits and cyber-insurance readiness reviews are quoted fixed-fee up front. Market rates for director-level IT advisory run $200–$450 per hour.

Question 2

What is a WISP and does my firm need one?

Accepted Answer

A Written Information Security Plan (WISP) is the documented security program the FTC Safeguards Rule and the IRS require of every paid tax preparer, at any size. A real WISP names responsible people and defines access controls, MFA, encryption, and incident response. ATCOS builds the program, implements the controls, and maintains the evidence — not a downloaded template.

Question 3

Can you complete our cyber-insurance questionnaire?

Accepted Answer

Yes — and more importantly, we make the answers true. We implement the controls the questionnaire asks about (MFA coverage, tested backups, email authentication, endpoint protection), then document the evidence so renewal answers hold up if a claim is ever examined.

Question 4

Do you make commission on the hardware or software you recommend?

Accepted Answer

No. ATCOS does not resell hardware or licenses, so purchasing advice carries no margin. You get a recommendation, the reasons, and the price you can buy it at yourself — or we handle procurement logistics billed transparently as time.

Engagement	Pricing	What you get
WISP / FTC Safeguards package	From $5,000 fixed	The written program the FTC and IRS require of every tax preparer: named responsibilities, access controls, MFA, encryption, incident response — built, implemented, and evidenced. Annual maintenance available.
HIPAA IT readiness review	Fixed-fee quote	Security Rule gap review — MFA, encryption, risk analysis, AI-tool coverage — with a written remediation roadmap you can hand to an auditor.
Cyber-insurance readiness	Fixed-fee quote	We implement what the questionnaire asks about and hand you the evidence — before renewal, not after a denial.
Second-opinion IT audit	Fixed-fee quote	Vendor-neutral review of your current provider's work product: patching evidence, backup restores, security configuration, ticket history. Sometimes the verdict is "they're fine." You deserve to know.
Purchasing & strategy advisory	$200/hr	What to buy, what to skip, license right-sizing, vendor proposal reviews, next-IT-steps planning — owner-level answers in plain English.

Strategy, Compliance & Purchasing Advisory

What does IT compliance advisory cost?

Fixed-scope engagements

Why owners use this service

Bring us the decision you're stuck on