A Pub 4557-aligned WISP for your tax practice. Free.
Use this editable Word and PDF template to map your firm’s data safeguards to IRS Publication 4557 guidance. Adapt each section to the systems, people, and processes you actually use.
Turn Pub 4557 guidance into your firm’s plan
A complete example plan arrives instantly as an editable Word document and PDF, structured section by section.
A useful WISP reflects your real practice. Every section arrives pre-written, so your work is naming your people, your systems, and the safeguards you actually use.
Keep it with your records, review it regularly, and update it when your people, systems, or safeguards change.
Inside the Pub 4557-aligned template
Publication 4557 helps tax professionals organize the safeguards that protect taxpayer data. This template gives you a practical starting structure, with clear places to add your firm’s real people, systems, and practices.
How Pub 4557 and your WISP fit together
Publication 4557 is the IRS guide for safeguarding taxpayer data. It describes practical areas to address, including who is responsible for data security, risk assessment, access controls, staff training, service providers, and incident response.
The FTC Safeguards Rule requires covered tax-preparation firms to maintain a written information security program. Your WISP should be tailored to your firm’s actual safeguards; this template is a starting point, not a certification or a substitute for firm-specific legal or security advice.
Built for tax-preparer workflows
Start with a usable structure instead of a blank page. The template organizes the planning areas so you can focus on the details of your own practice.
Make the document firm-specific. Identify your responsible people, technology, data-handling practices, and review schedule before you approve it.
Common questions about IRS Pub 4557
It is the IRS guide for safeguarding taxpayer data. It helps tax professionals organize the administrative, technical, and physical safeguards that belong in a firm-specific security program.
No. Pub 4557 is IRS guidance; a WISP is your firm’s own written information security plan. This template gives you a structured starting point that you tailor to your practice.
The FTC Safeguards Rule can apply to tax-preparation firms, including smaller practices. What belongs in your program depends on how your firm handles taxpayer data, so document the safeguards that actually apply and obtain firm-specific advice when needed.
A downloaded document is only a starting point. Customize it with your firm’s real systems, responsible people, procedures, and review schedule so it becomes a useful record of how you protect taxpayer data.
The FTC Safeguards Rule establishes written information-security-program obligations for covered firms. Pub 4557 is the IRS guide that helps tax professionals apply sound safeguards to taxpayer data. Use both as inputs when building your firm-specific program.
The template is genuinely free and complete. Bellator is a cybersecurity firm for tax professionals. Some preparers who start with the template later ask us to review their plan or manage their security, and that is the whole business model.
Start with a plan built for your practice.
Download the editable Pub 4557-aligned WISP template and tailor it to how your firm protects taxpayer data.
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