The best e-signature app for accountants and tax firms, Form 8879 included

Start with the Form 8879 rule

The IRS's e-file signature FAQ says the e-signature option for Forms 8878 and 8879 is only available when the ERO uses software that provides identity verification and e-signature. For remote signers that usually means knowledge-based questions drawn from credit history, and after three failed attempts the ERO must get a handwritten signature. The software must also keep the signed form, the date and time, the verification result and, for remote signers, the IP address and user name.

The exceptions cover a taxpayer who signs in the ERO's physical presence and has a multi-year relationship with that ERO. Everything else on this page, from engagement letters to bookkeeping agreements, has no such rule and works in any e-signature tool.

Five tools compared

Tool by tool

TaxDome: built around tax season

TaxDome is practice management for tax and accounting firms: client portal, organizers, workflows, billing and e-signatures. Its pages say e-signatures are unlimited on every plan, and that 8879s needing KBA cost $1 per signer, charged for each attempt from a prepaid balance. KBA needs a Social Security number, so a client with only an ITIN can't use it. Pricing is per active client rather than per user, starting at 150 active clients for $1,500 a year with unlimited seats. For a firm built around filing season, it's the most complete package here.

Canopy: modular practice management

Canopy's Standard plan, $74 per user a month billed annually, includes document management and e-sign plus a branded client portal, and its pricing page lists proposals and engagement letters with e-signatures. KBA costs $1.25 per credit on Standard, Plus and Premium; Canopy describes it as verifying identity before clients can open and sign documents. Card payments run 3.30% plus 20 cents. It suits a firm that wants tax resolution and month-end close modules on the same bill.

SmartVault: a portal that talks to tax software

SmartVault is a document portal with direct integrations for Lacerte, ProConnect and ProSeries and configurable ones for UltraTax CS, Drake and CCH on its Accounting plans. E-signatures and KBA are add-ons on Business Pro and Accounting Pro ($65 per user a month billed annually, two-user minimum) and unlimited on Accounting Unlimited ($85 billed annually, $110 monthly). It can use an existing DocuSign account or set one up for you. A good fit when the file cabinet matters as much as the signature.

DocuSign: general purpose, priced per sender

Some firms already use DocuSign with business clients. Standard is $30 per user a month on an annual plan billed monthly, with 100 envelopes per user a year, an allowance that January engagement letters can eat quickly. Bulk send needs Business Pro at $45. ID verification is an add-on from $2.40 an attempt, and knowledge-based authentication is quoted on the Enhanced plan, so confirm with DocuSign which option meets the IRS rules before you use it for 8879s.

SignMaster: engagement letters, not 8879s

SignMaster handles the ordinary contracts and leaves 8879s to tools with KBA. Engagement letters go out through bulk send: one spreadsheet row per client with their own fee and services filled in, up to 1000 rows a send on Company. Automatic reminders chase the stragglers, and the Responses table gathers every client's answers with CSV export. A file upload field can collect a W-2 or 1099 with the signature. It has no KBA, tax software integration, client portal or billing.

Which one fits your firm

• A tax practice that wants portal, organizers, KBA and signing in one place: TaxDome.
• Practice management with tax resolution and close modules, priced per user: Canopy.
• Your work centers on Lacerte, UltraTax or Drake and a document portal: SmartVault.
• Business clients already sign through DocuSign: DocuSign, with an identity add-on confirmed for 8879s.
• A bookkeeping or advisory firm, or a tax firm whose software already handles 8879s, that needs engagement letters in bulk: SignMaster.