An End-of-Year IT Checklist to Protect Your Business While You’re Out of Office

As the year winds down, many businesses begin preparing for well-deserved time off. Offices close, teams travel, and inboxes slow. Unfortunately, cyber threats and IT issues do not follow the same schedule.

In fact, the end of the year is one of the most vulnerable times for businesses. Reduced staffing, delayed responses, and overlooked systems create opportunities for disruptions that can carry into the new year.

Before your team officially goes out of office, reviewing a simple end-of-year IT checklist can help protect your systems, data, and operations while business activity is quiet.

Confirm IT Coverage and Escalation Paths

One of the most important steps is knowing exactly who is responsible if something goes wrong.

Make sure your team understands:

  • Who to contact for IT support during holiday closures

  • What qualifies as an emergency

  • How quickly issues will be addressed

If you work with an IT service provider or managed service provider (MSP), confirm holiday coverage, response times, and escalation procedures ahead of time. Clear expectations prevent confusion when response time matters most.

Review User Access and Permissions

End-of-year transitions often mean changes in staffing, vendors, or contractors. This is the ideal time to review who has access to your systems.

Take time to:

  • Remove access for former employees and contractors

  • Review administrative and privileged accounts

  • Ensure employees only have access necessary for their role

Excessive permissions are one of the most common cybersecurity risks for small and midsize businesses. A quick access review can significantly reduce exposure.

Verify Backups and Disaster Recovery Plans

Backups are essential, but only if they are working.

Before year-end, confirm:

  • Backups are running successfully and consistently

  • Backup data is stored securely and offsite

  • Someone knows how to restore systems if needed

Testing backups is just as important as having them. Discovering an issue after data loss is far more costly than addressing it proactively.

Secure Devices and Physical Spaces

With many employees traveling or working remotely, device security becomes even more important.

Remind your team to:

  • Lock and shut down devices before leaving the office

  • Avoid unsecured public Wi-Fi when traveling

  • Keep work devices separate from personal use

If offices will be unattended, confirm physical security measures such as locked equipment, restricted access, and alarm systems are in place.

Stay Alert for Holiday Phishing and Cyber Threats

Cybercriminal often increase activity during holidays, using themed phishing emails and social engineering tactics.

Common holiday scams include:

  • Fake shipping notifications

  • Gift card requests

  • Messages impersonating executives or vendors

A brief reminder to employees about how to spot and report suspicious emails can prevent major incidents while teams are distracted or out of office.

Avoid Major IT Changes During Downtime

Unless absolutely necessary, the end of the year is not the time for major system changes.

Whenever possible:

  • Pause large updates or migrations

  • Maintain stability over speed

  • Monitor critical systems more closely

Unexpected issues are harder to resolve when key decision-makers or technical staff are unavailable.

Prepare for the New Year Strategically

Use the slower pace to set your business up for success in the coming year.

Before signing off:

  • Document unresolved IT issues

  • Schedule security reviews or audits

  • Align IT priorities with business goals

Proactive planning helps January start smoothly instead of reactively.

Final Thought

The end of the year is more than a pause. It is an opportunity to protect what you have built and prepare for what comes next.

The new year is a great time to re-evaluate your IT support. With new threats everyday, including the use of OpenAI, investing in an MSP will save you thousands. Book a call with our team today.