Signatures
Bokapsys has signing built in, in both directions. You can send an engagement letter, a consent or any other document from a client’s vault for the client to sign, and a client can send you an NDA or a bank mandate for someone at your firm to sign. Signers draw or type their signature, and the signed copy is saved as a new version of the document with a certificate page recording who signed and when.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- To send documents for signature, your role needs permission to send signature requests - by default the firm owner, firm admins, practice managers and bookkeepers.
- To sign on the firm’s behalf, your role needs permission to sign - by default the firm owner, firm admins, practice managers and partners. Only these people can be chosen by a client.
- The document must already be in the client’s document vault.
Send a document for signature
Section titled “Send a document for signature”- Open the client and go to Signatures.
- Click Send for signature.
- Pick the Document from the client’s vault.
- Choose Who signs from the client’s contacts.
- Add a Title and an optional Message.
- Click Send.
The signer gets an email with a private signing link. The link opens only that one document for signing - it does not sign them in to anything else. If the signer can sign in to your client portal or to My Accountant, the same request also appears there under Signatures, so they can sign without going back to their email. Both routes record the signature the same way.
Requests expire after 30 days if they are not signed.
What the signer does
Section titled “What the signer does”- Opens the document and reads it.
- Signs on the Draw tab with a mouse, finger or stylus, or on the Type tab by typing their full name. They can undo strokes or clear the pad and start again.
- Confirms with Sign. Or clicks Decline and says why.
Track a request
Section titled “Track a request”The Signatures tab lists each request with its Status, when it was Signed, and when it Expires. Open one to see Who was asked - including whether they have opened it yet - and What happened, a history of every view, signature and decline. Once someone has signed, you see the signature itself: the drawing or the typed name, beside who signed and when.
You can cancel a request while it is still open.
The signed copy
Section titled “The signed copy”When everyone has signed, Bokapsys adds a certificate page to a copy of the document and saves it as a new version in the vault. The certificate records each signer, when they signed and the IP address they signed from. The unsigned original stays exactly as it was and remains downloadable as the earlier version.
The client can download the signed copy from their portal or My Accountant.
Documents clients send you to sign
Section titled “Documents clients send you to sign”Clients can ask your firm to sign something too.
- In their portal or under My Accountant, the client opens Signatures and clicks Ask [your firm] to sign.
- They choose a file from their computer (a PDF works best), pick Who should sign from the people at your firm who are allowed to sign, and add a title and message.
- The request lands on the Signatures page in your firm console, marked Waiting for you for the person they chose.
Open it, read the document, and sign or decline in the app. The client is emailed as soon as you do. A client can withdraw a request they raised while it is still open.
IRS e-file authorizations cannot be signed here
Section titled “IRS e-file authorizations cannot be signed here”Bokapsys refuses to collect signatures on IRS e-file authorization forms such as Form 8879 and Form 8878, whichever side sends them. The IRS requires identity checks (knowledge-based authentication) for these forms when they are signed remotely, and a drawn or typed signature does not provide that. Rather than produce a signature you could not rely on, Bokapsys stops the request before anything is sent. Use a signing provider that offers the required identity checks for these forms.