A Practical Access Review for Small Business Teams

Start with the systems that matter most

List email, finance, customer records, hosting, social accounts, and any system that can reset access to another service. Assign a business owner to each account and confirm that at least two trusted people understand recovery steps.

Remove access that no longer has a purpose

Review former staff, contractors, shared accounts, and old integrations. Replace shared passwords with named accounts where possible, require multi-factor authentication, and store emergency credentials in an approved password manager.

Make the review repeatable

Record who approved access and when it should be reviewed again. A quarterly reminder is better than a one-time cleanup. For a broader assessment, review IT security services and the security review process.