Viego AS
In 2020, Viego Accounting AS assessed how the company would meet the requirements of GDPR and the new personal data law, related to the fact that traditional email could no longer be used to exchange personal information. In a newsletter from Regnskap Norge, they became aware that the problem could be easily solved, and at a reasonable price, by using the encrypted communication solution Verji.
Viego Regnskap AS Viego Accounting AS is owned by the employees and the CEO, Helge Stornes, is the main shareholder.. Helge says they are ten employees with a turnover of about 10 million kroner this year. 10 million kroner. Eight employees are located in Kvadraturen in Kristiansand, one in Poland, and one in the Philippines. Good electronic solutions ensure that the two employees who moved from Norway work just as efficiently as if they were in the Kristiansand office.
Today, Viego Accounting serves a wide range of customers from many industries. The restaurant industry, retail, craftsmen, doctors, dentists, bloggers, various service professions, voluntary organizations, condominiums, and holding companies make up most of their client portfolio.
When Helge decided to implement Verji, he was curious about how customers would react to having to use a new system. They are now using Verji for the third year, and the experience is that there have been zero problems getting customers to communicate on Verji. The employees say that most customers are aware of the legal requirements for exchanging personal data, and they perceive it as positive and professional that the accounting firm facilitates secure communication. Those customers who haven’t heard about GDPR and personal data haven’t been a problem, says Helge, as they trust what the firm says about the topic since they are the professionals.
Helge sees that more and more communication must be encrypted via Verji to reduce the risk of cyberattacks. They currently use Evry as their IT supplier and experienced a lack of access to several systems for 3-4 weeks due to a ransomware attack on Evry. The attack came right in the middle of the annual settlement, making it especially frustrating to lose access to crucial systems. Fortunately, they avoided data loss from the attack. They have good plans to handle cyberattacks, believing that businesses today must have plans A, B, and C to maintain operations, given the different cyberattacks companies can face.
Businesses today must have plans A, B, and C to maintain operations if they are targeted by a cyberattack.
Viego Accounting notices a trend where larger clients are moving parts of their accounting function out of Norway for cost reasons, e.g., to Poland. However, payroll is still handled in Norway, and it’s within this payroll area that Verji is most used. They never pay out wages without the payroll being approved via Verji by someone at the client’s end. Pay slips are also sent encrypted via Verji to customers.
Viego Accounting’s largest payroll client has several thousand employees spread across restaurants throughout Norway, organized into 45 limited companies. Three employees work with this client, and Verji is used in communication with the various district managers when discussing payroll basis and payroll approval before processing.
Verji is also useful in communication with different auditors and especially when they get new clients and need to receive information from a previous accountant.
When asked about his experience with support, Helge says that Verji has been quite self-explanatory, so they haven’t needed support.
Verji recently launched new functionality to easily sign documents with Bank-ID in encrypted communication rooms, and Helge says they will use this functionality in the future to sign assignment agreements, data processor agreements, payment agreements, etc., with clients. with clients.
In summary, Helge is satisfied that Viego Accounting has made the necessary adjustments to the regulations, and therefore does not have to worry about fines and reputational damage related to violations of the personal data law. NRK reported on July 14th that many small and medium-sized businesses violate the law every day because they use email that isn’t an approved messaging service for exchanging personal data. The Director of Datatilsynet, Line Coll, states in the article that they expect all businesses processing personal data to take action. According to Coll, it’s very clear that even small and medium-sized businesses should comply with the regulations, and they warn that it’s not unthinkable they will also inspect smaller businesses.
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