CASE STUDY

Tax Desk ISO27001

How Tax Desk cut ISO 27001 audit preparation from months to days – strengthening trust with clients and partners.

Client overview

Tax Desk is a specialist tax consultancy serving professional firms and corporate clients worldwide. Their reputation depends on precision, confidentiality, and client confidence.

Primary Contact

Nick Aston

Compliance Context

ISO 27001 certification and ongoing surveillance audits

The challenge

As Tax Desk’s client base grew, so did scrutiny from regulators and corporate partners. Maintaining ISO 27001 wasn’t optional – it was a core trust signal.

But compliance management was being held together with spreadsheets, scattered documents, and consultant-led processes. Each surveillance audit triggered weeks of data gathering, version chasing, and evidence checks. It was expensive, time-consuming, and draining on the team.

Leadership wanted a central, sustainable way to manage evidence, track risk, and stay audit-ready all year – without the chaos.

Manual effort

Evidence collection and audit prep relied on spreadsheets, email threads, and memory.

Scattered proof

Documents and records existed, but not in a way that was consistently accessible or accountable.

Audit anxiety

Preparation became a recurring “big push”, instead of continuous, low-effort readiness.

The solution

Tax Desk partnered with Protects to turn a fragmented, consultant-heavy approach into a single integrated ISMS environment.

Framework mapping

Protects provided ISO 27001 framework content, policy structure, and control mapping in one place - giving Tax Desk a clear baseline and a consistent way to manage change.

Live registers and ownership

The Risk Register, Asset Register, and Document Hub made evidence live, allocated, and accountable — so the ISMS reflected reality, not a once-a-year scramble.

Task-driven progress

Updates were task-assigned and tracked, giving directors real-time visibility of progress and readiness without chasing people or spreadsheets.

Training built into the system

Staff training - covering cybersecurity awareness, data protection, and ISO 27001 principles - was completed directly within the platform, creating reliable evidence by default.

Setup, without drama

Setup was quick and simple, converting what had previously taken months (and significant consultancy spend) into a streamlined, transparent, audit-ready process at a fraction of the cost..

The results

The difference was immediate. Audit preparation time fell from months to days, with evidence, risk assessments, and training records available in a few clicks.

The latest surveillance audit ran smoothly, with positive feedback on the structure and accessibility of the ISMS. More importantly, it reduced uncertainty for leadership – compliance became something they could see and trust.

Months to days

Audit preparation time reduced dramatically by centralising evidence and making readiness continuous.

Confidence restored

Leadership gained real-time visibility of what was done, what was current, and what needed attention.

Less due diligence friction

Clear evidence and governance improved trust signals with clients and partners, shortening onboarding cycles.

Smoother audits

Structure and accessibility made audits less disruptive and far more predictable.

“We no longer fear a regulator or client asking for evidence. Protects gives us everything we need instantly.”

Nick Aston - Director, Tax Desk

The outcome

Today, Tax Desk maintains ISO 27001 confidently, with monitoring, updates, and staff training managed through Protects.

By embedding Protects into day-to-day operations, the firm turned compliance from a reactive task into continuous, visible proof of trust – protecting reputation while freeing people to focus on client delivery.

Governance doesn’t live in a binder. It becomes day-to-day visibility, accountable actions, and evidence you can produce on demand.

Want audit readiness without the chaos?

Protects helps you keep risk, evidence, policy, and progress in one place – so audits become predictable, not painful.