E-signatures for accountants

What do accountants need clients to sign?

Every new client starts with an engagement letter that sets out the services, fees and what the client is responsible for providing. Professional bodies expect one, and many firms re-issue them every year or whenever the scope changes. Year-end work adds a management representation letter signed by the directors, and some firms ask clients to approve the accounts before filing.

Bookkeepers and payroll bureaux have their own list: authority to act with the tax office, payroll change authorisations, and direct debit or fee agreements.

• Engagement letter
• Letter of authority to act with the tax authority
• Management representation letter
• Approval of annual accounts
• Fee agreement or payment terms

The tricky parts for an accounting practice

Engagement letters are long, with a schedule of services and standard terms that the client should initial or at least acknowledge. Joint clients, such as a married couple filing together or the two directors of a company, both need to sign.

Tax forms have their own rules. In the US, the IRS allows electronic signatures on Form 8879 but requires the preparer to verify the taxpayer's identity for remote transactions, as set out in Publication 1345. Sign PDF does not check identity, so it is not the right tool for that form. Other tax authorities have their own rules; check them before signing any filing authorisation electronically.

How accountants send an engagement letter in Sign PDF

Once your letter is saved as a template, each new client takes a minute or two.

• Upload your engagement letter. Sign PDF places client and firm signature boxes from the wording.
• Type 'client initials every page' if you want each page of the terms acknowledged, or 'add a checkbox for terms of business accepted'.
• For joint clients, add both names and emails; they can sign at the same time.
• Set the firm's partner to sign last so the client sees a letter the firm has already approved, or first if you prefer.
• Keep the sealed PDF with its certificate in the client's permanent file.

Which plan suits an accountant?

A sole practitioner taking on a couple of new clients a month could use Light at $5 a month for 2 sent documents. Firms re-issuing engagement letters to the whole client list in January, or sending year-end approvals, will want Full at $10 a month for unlimited documents.

Note that re-issuing to 120 clients means 120 sends from a template, as we have no bulk send. It costs nothing more on Full, but it takes time.

Where Sign PDF does not fit an accounting firm

We do no identity verification, so we cannot satisfy anti-money-laundering ID checks or the IRS remote identity rules for Form 8879. We do not integrate with practice management or tax software, and there is no client portal, no team seats and no bulk send.

We are not SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certified. If your professional indemnity insurer or a large client requires that of every supplier, check before you sign up. This is not legal or regulatory advice.