DocuSign supports transactions with document sharing and electronic signature, as well as automated and guided data collection and entry, record updating across disparate systems and payment collection upon agreement, as well as analytics and reporting.
$15
per month
Suralink
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
CPAs can use Suralink to manage PBC request lists, securely transfer documents, and improve the client experience. The Suralink platform combines a dynamic PBC list, assignment workflow, and secure file hosting with the goal of delivering a more efficient and organized engagement.
I am going to speak of a personal experience- on multiple occasions: I need my husband to sign documents during the day and I don't need him here- physically. He sometimes works in different parts of the state as well at his own company. There is no problem at all, as long as he has access to his cell phone, email, and cell phone service- he can sign the documents I need him to. It is AMAZING- I can't speak highly enough of Docusign.
SuraLink makes perfect sense for a CPA firm that works with a number of clients. It provides easy access, and well-presented display of each client and the corresponding files provided. The security of the files is also imperative for sensitive client information. The format of the portal also allows for ease of understanding which files coordinate to what requests. This is in contrast to a something like a "drop-box" in which it is simply a list of files. This may not be the proper product for a smaller operation that only seeks secure file transfers on a non-regular basis. Additionally, for the smaller organizations, the cost may be prohibitive for little to sparing use. In those situations, a more simple secure file transfer options may be more advantageous.
You have to purchase a subscription and unless you really need to originate a lot of documents, it's not cost-effective to maintain the subscription. It would be better to have a subscription that allows you to purchase a bundle of say, ten documents and then use them as needed for the occasional user.
You'll be hard-pressed to find anything negative from users other than the price.
There seems to be a number of situation in which the site is down or experiencing difficulties. This makes it difficult to work with clients and obtain documentation.
When uploading a large volume of workpapers, there are occasions in which some or all of the files will not upload properly. This creates additional back and forth and frustration with the client for re-requests or follow-ups.
The email notification alerts could be stronger in how they are displayed and how the changes/updates are utilized.
The product is a great tool for a remote workforce. As the company gets bigger, adding users to the account can be rather expensive. We considering providing read/sign only access for certain individuals and providing full access to other users as necessary to reduce costs.
As an Administrator of the system, its ease of configuration and the guidance around doing it is second to none. The screens are broken down into manageable segments and easy to navigate to the area that needs to be looked at. Our Process Delivery teams, after initial training are using the system without any problems and find it easy to operation. We get minimal if any, requests for support.
I'd give them a 10, but there has been 1 or 2 small cases that seemed to fall to the wayside, but I was able to call them up and get them resolved. We were having a bad implementation night (after midnight) and we needed assistance from Docusign. They were able to get an engineer to help us in the early morning hours
Docusign is super easy to use, and apart from a few administration details, there was really nothing to train on. Post implementation, there were issues with configuration of auto-filled documents with the integrating 3rd party. That training required some time, because the DocuSign expert took the time to walk me through the 3rd party's configuration (how often does that happen?) so I could see how DocuSign should be best used to overcome weaknesses in the 3rd party platform. 10/10 expert care.
Until you get the hang of it, I recommend doing several internal tests before sending a document to a client. As I mentioned earlier, you have to go through a bit of trial and error at first to verify that the workflow works as expected.
Adobe Acrobat Sign is less user-friendly and more suited to small scopes, or one-off documents. It lacks the use of templates that DocuSign has, which is what ultimately streamlines and delivers the consistency and efficiencies for the business.
