Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
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January/February 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 21 FEATURE A s par t of the new norma l, the ex pectation is that ever y thing be d ig ita l . W it h mobi le tech nolog y permeating every aspect of life, the speed of business has increased to a level where patience for delays gen- erated by faxing, printing and ship- ping packages is next to none. For ta x a nd account ing professiona ls and their clients, the same holds true – relying on pen and paper simply does not add up when it comes to completing documents quickly and ef f icient ly. I nter na l a nd ex ter na l clients are increasingly demanding a simple and secure way to complete paperwork and signatures any where and anytime on a PC, smart phone or tablet. Electronic signatures are proving to be a technolog y that is secure, easy to use, and efcient for all par- ties. Once available to only those with the deepest pockets and biggest IT departments, now even the lone tax and accounting professionals can easily get started on any size project w it h t he sa me sec u r it y a nd rel i- ability as an on-premise enterprise solution siting behind a company f i r e w a l l . A c c ord i n g t o G a r t ne r analyst Gregg K reizman, "Te ease of implementation of the Sof ware a s a Ser v ice del iver y model w i l l c o n t i n u e t o d r i v e a d o p t i o n o f e-signatures and will establish SaaS as the predominant global e-signa- ture delivery model." Maybe you have already realized e-signatures are a must. But how do you go about choosing a solution t h at w i l l s e c u re l y aut he nt ic at e , capture intent and gather, document and process evidence to keep your transactions safe, secure and com- pliant? Here are some tips: • Emails should only be used as a means to take the signer to a secure site for signing. • Online documents should be pre- sented as they would be on paper, all in the correct order on any web browser, smart phone or tablet. • Documents and data relevant to the signing process should be securely captured and stored. • Signature audit trail information should be embedded in the e-signed document. • Electronic evidence should be easily retrievable and presentable in an easy-to-view format. Here is t he t h i ng – i n order to choose the right e-signature solu- tion, you need to k now the difer- ence between electronic signatures and digital signatures. A n electronic signature, like a wet ink signature, is a le g a l c onc e p t , w h i le t he t e r m " d ig it a l sig n at u re" refer s to t he encr y ption technolog y. Within an electronic signing application, dig- ital signature encryption secures the e - s i g ne d d at a . I f a do c u me nt i s modifed or tampered w ith in any way, the digital signature technology w i l l detect it and, as a resu lt, t he document will be invalidated. But a digital signature on its own doesn't capture a person's intent to sign. For an e-signature to stand up in court, the solution must capture i nt e nt a nd c o n s e nt a nd d e l i v e r secure, tamper-evident proof for the signature. Tat's something you c a n on l y get w it h a n e-signature solution built on d i g i t a l s i g n a t u r e t e c h - nology. Just as with a traditional p e n a n d p a p e r , t h e r e needs to be proof that the signer clearly understood and accepted the condi- t ion s of t he cont rac t . T he e-sig nat u re solu- tion needs a thorough and reliable system for r e c o r d i n g t h e d a t a relevant to the signing pro c e s s , i nc lu d i n g how much time was spent on each sec- t ion before it w a s signed. If the docu- mentation is ever ca l led i nto ques- t i o n , i t w i l l b e impor tant to be a ble t o q u ic k l y retrieve this data and present it in an easy-to-view format. Now, what about geting clients to use the sofware? A nything short of t he easiest sig n i ng ex per ience may cause signers to abandon the process. It is also important to allow s i g ne r s t o c omple t e pa p e r wor k without having to install additional sofware or apps or having to change browsers. For ta x and accounting profes- sionals, an e-signature solution also s t re a m l i ne s t he doc u ment f low process. It takes va luable time to prepare documents for signing. A good e-signature solution simplifes the process by creating easy-to-use t e m p l a t e s t h a t are accessible in just a few clicks and requires that the signer's information is keyed in just once. With the pervasiveness of mobile dev ices in our societ y, traditional ba r r iers to e-sig nat u re adopt ion have vanished. E-sig nat ure tech- nology bridges the gap at the point where documents are traditionally printed out for signatures and proof of deliver y. With e-signatures, all materials can be properly signed and securely handed back for processing a n d a r c h i v i n g i n a c o m p l e t e l y paperless work fow. B usiness as usual, well, just is not usual anymore. With mobility at our fnger- tips, we are no longer tethered to a hard w i red env i ron ment and t he now-standard workplace stretches beyond an ofce or cubical. Let us not forget that you can forget working 9 to 5. Mary Ellen Power is vice president of marketing at Silanis Technology, a provider of electronic signature solutions. Over the years, Power has acquired in-depth knowledge of the electronic signature market and its impact in real-world customer deployments within companies of all sizes. To learn more about e-signatures, down- load the fee white paper Beginners Guide to Electronic Signatures . E-Signatures - The New Normal By Mary Ellen Power cpa_21_ESignFeature.indd 21 2/5/14 2:12 PM