IT Support Checklist for Small Offices: What to Check Every Week, Month and Year

Most small offices do not have a dedicated IT person. Technology gets attention only when something breaks — a laptop will not start, the website is down, or an ex-employee still has access to the company email. A simple routine prevents most of these problems. This is the checklist we use when we take over IT support for a small business.

Start with an inventory

You cannot look after what you have not listed. Create one shared spreadsheet with:

• Every computer, phone, printer and router — who uses it, purchase date and warranty end date.
• Every online account the business depends on: domain registrar, hosting, business email, accounting software, payment gateway, social media — and which person is the owner.
• Software licences and their renewal dates.
• Where backups are stored and when they were last tested.

Every week

1. Check that last night's backups actually ran (look for the success email or log, not just the schedule).
2. Install pending Windows, macOS and phone updates — or confirm automatic updates are on.
3. Glance at website uptime and form submissions: is the contact form still delivering enquiries?
4. Clear obvious problems reported by staff before they pile up.

Every month

1. Update website software — WordPress core, themes and plugins, or your framework dependencies.
2. Review user accounts: remove anyone who has left, and check that shared passwords were changed afterwards.
3. Check free disk space on computers and servers.
4. Review antivirus/endpoint protection status on every computer.
5. Restore one file from backup to prove backups work.

Every year

1. Renew the domain and SSL certificate well before expiry — set auto-renew where possible.
2. Review software subscriptions and cancel ones nobody uses.
3. Plan replacements for devices that are out of warranty or no longer receive security updates.
4. Do a full disaster-recovery test: could you restore the website and key files onto a new machine within a day?
5. Refresh staff on phishing and password basics.

When to bring in outside help

If nobody in the office has time for this routine, or the checklist keeps getting skipped, that is the point where an IT support plan pays for itself. The cost of a few hours of maintenance each month is almost always lower than the cost of a day of downtime or a lost domain.