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e-signatures?


Catherine

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CPAperless has now discontinued its "Signature Flow" utility that got e-signatures and billed per signature (instead of a hefty monthly fee).

Anyone have any ideas where we can find a new vendor for this service? I saw word of one - somewhere - months ago but as we all know this year has had a few distractions, and I can't remember who or where it was.

We are specifically looking for a per-signature billing, if possible, because we only do a dozen or so e-signatures per year. Paying $15/month-plus is just stupid for that super-low volume.

Thanks in advance!

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I have been using Verifyle for $9 per month but one doesn't need to keep it year round.  It has some clunky parts for the less than savvy tech folks but most have managed surprisingly well.  It's been worth it to me as all my returns are e-filed and have the e-signature.  One or two had to print out the 8879 but were able to scan an upload back to Verifyle. 

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I use CCH's eSign. The license is free; you pay per signature. (And, if you want to use it for un-verified signatures, such as an engagement letter, there's a smaller fee. I haven't done that, though.) I've been happy with it. Even my older clients and those with few electronics have been able to use it. It's based on the AssureSign platform that a lot of my clients used for mortgages and other financial services.

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17 hours ago, Lion EA said:

I use CCH's eSign. The license is free; you pay per signature. (And, if you want to use it for un-verified signatures, such as an engagement letter, there's a smaller fee. I haven't done that, though.) I've been happy with it. Even my older clients and those with few electronics have been able to use it. It's based on the AssureSign platform that a lot of my clients used for mortgages and other financial services.

I reviewed the CCH eSign video they posted online.  So, clients need to sign the form with a sylus pen or I guess they can use their finger.  This assumes they have a touch screen to accomplish this.  Do you find this to be an issue?  I assume most people today have a touch screen of some sort? 

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They can use their finger on their smart phone or touch screen, but there's an option to just type in their name -- or so clients tell me. I myself cannot pass the verification (ex used this address for a long time, so no matter how many times I work with the credit bureaus, I still have things from his second marriage creep back in, get questions like what street did you live on in Syracuse or who was your mortgage holder on your current house or which number is your Brooks Bros account? that have nothing to do with me!!) so haven't been able to get all the way to the signing to test it myself. I'd hoped to have a client eSign in my office so I could watch the process from a client's perspective, but I had NO clients in my home office this year.

I haven't had anyone "fail" eSign due to not being able to sign. I've had young kids without much of an electronic footprint out there who couldn't pass. (All my college-kid clients pass.) Because NY wouldn't accept any type of electronic signature until they tested it a bit this year (and finally voted it in) and I have NY residents and a lot of NY commuters, I haven't used eSign a lot until this year and not for all of this season. This is my third year with it. But now that NY allows electronic signatures, I try it first with all personal returns. (I don't think biz returns are eligible.) I think it's three out of four questions to "pass," but I've had clients who "fail" (usually a question way in their past) a couple times over my three years, and I just resend and they "pass" the second time.

The resulting signature box is really teeny, tiny, but there's also a box that verifies it was eSigned with date/time.

I'm going to ask around about the touch screen issue.

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If using eSign for MFJ, each spouse need an separate email. Each spouse gets an email on my behalf via eSign and follows the instructions. eSign combines the signatures and sends me an 8879 with both signatures and dates on it.

I had a couple this year where the husband doesn't have email. Wife had email and could have one also at her work, so she had me use one for her and one for hubby, and all worked fine.

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17 hours ago, Max W said:

I have my clients print out the 8879 and sign it. 

That doesn't work for the client who, during tax season, is in South America and does not have access to a printer.  Or for my clients in eastern Europe.  There are some situations where e-sigs are really the best way out of a pickle.

What we did with the CPAperless was re-use the one email twice, and send a separate email saying you first, then it'll come back and you go second.  Klugey but functional.

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Verifyle is a bit clunky like that, too.  One has to list each person as an account and it has to be (I found out later) the name as on the return.  William, not Bill, for example.  There is an editing tool whereby a couple can e-sign the second name but only 2 couples could figure it out.  I could not but forwarded the instructions, such as they were, received from Verifyle. Some, actually many, folks are so much more technologically astute than I am!  At least one couple printed out the 8879, signed, scanned, then uploaded to the portal but not everyone has a printer and/or scanner.

It's always something!

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