The Old Way: Mailing, Faxing, Chasing (and Waiting)

Remember mailing out engagement letters? Printing two copies. Sticking them in envelopes. Waiting for the client to sign and send one back. Hoping they remembered to include every page.

Or faxing? That beautiful moment when you finally get the fax back but half the signature page is cut off.

And even in the “modern” era: juggling a third-party eSign app that doesn’t connect to your client records. Which means you’ve got one set of docs in Dropbox, another in your eSign tool, and none of it neatly tied back to the actual client in your CRM.

That’s hours lost. Clients annoyed. And you? Stuck being part-time admin when you should be the advisor.

Why eSign Matters for Accountants

Electronic signatures aren’t just a convenience. For firms, they’re a game-changer:

• Time savings. No mailing. No faxing. No waiting weeks. Documents get signed in minutes, not days.
  
• Client convenience. Clients click, sign, and move on — no printing, scanning, or running to FedEx.
  
• IRS compliance. Forms like 8879 require Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA). A compliant eSign tool makes that seamless.
  
• Audit trails. Every signature comes with a timestamp and verification record for legal protection.
  
• Universal use cases. Engagement letters. Proposals. Contracts. 7216 consents. And, of course, IRS forms.
  

The bottom line? If you’re still making clients print and scan, you look outdated.

If you’re still printing, scanning, or faxing, you’re behind. Modern firms sign smarter—with eSign built in.

A Client Story (Because This Is What They Feel Too)

Picture this:

It’s tax season. Your client is traveling for work, living out of hotel Wi-Fi. You need their 8879 signed today.

Old way? You email the PDF. They try to print it in the hotel lobby, run out of toner, scan it back crooked, and email it from their phone. Half the time it doesn’t send.

New way? You send an eSign request. They tap their phone, verify with KBA, and it’s signed in under two minutes. Done. Audit trail captured. You get back to work.

That’s the difference. And clients never forget which firms make their lives easier.

The Problem With Standalone eSign Tools

Sure, you can use DocuSign, Adobe Sign, or one of a dozen other tools. But here’s the issue:

• Disorganized. Signed docs live in another platform, not tied to your client hub.
  
• Costly. Another subscription to manage (and pay for).
  
• Disconnected. No link to proposals, billing, or workflows.
  

Which means you’re piecing together tools when what you need is one seamless system.

Enter CountingWorks PRO: Built-In eSign That Just Works

CountingWorks PRO bakes eSign right into your ClientHub:

• All-in-one. Engagement letters, proposals, IRS forms, contracts — all signed inside the same platform where client communication lives.
  
• KBA-ready. IRS forms like 8879 are fully supported with Knowledge-Based Authentication.
  
• Audit trails included. Every document has a verifiable signature record.
  
• Cost savings. One platform. One bill. No extra standalone subscription.
  
• Organization. Every signed doc automatically attaches to the right client record in your CRM.
  

So instead of chasing signatures across three different apps, you have one secure place for all of it.

eSign: The Modern Standard

The ROI of eSign

Let’s run the numbers:

• Old way: Mailing/faxing takes 3–5 days + admin time. Chasing down signatures adds hours.
  
• New way: Documents signed in minutes. Audit-ready. Stored automatically.
  

Multiply that across 100+ clients during tax season, and you’re saving dozens of hours — while collecting engagement letters and consents faster than ever.

And that’s before you factor in the cost savings of replacing standalone eSign tools.

The Real Payoff

eSign isn’t optional anymore. It’s the baseline for how modern firms operate. But when you integrate it into your CRM, it becomes more than a signature tool: it becomes part of a seamless workflow.

CountingWorks PRO makes it easy:

• Sign faster.
  
• Stay compliant.
  
• Keep everything organized in one hub.
  
• Save hours every month.
  

The Bottom line

Stop mailing, faxing, and juggling third-party apps. With built-in eSign powered by CountingWorks PRO, your firm looks modern, your clients sign faster, and your workflow finally makes sense.