Here's what happened when I tried to use e-signatures for a business return.

I sent the DocuSign packet to the client, and that part was problem-free.

The client received it, and was unable to get past authentication. He said it gave his first name, "XXXX" (redacted), which he couldn't change, NOT the name of the business, and then asked for "address." It was NOT asking him to pick his address from a list of 3 or 4. He had to actually enter his address. Well, this is problematic for several reasons.

First of all, while his business is out of his home, he has both a PO Box and a Street address. So, which one was it asking for? He tried both, and it didn't work for either one.

Secondly, and more problematic, did they want the whole address including City, State, and Zip? Did it have to be correctly punctuated? For example, would it accept "123 North Main Street" as well as "123 N Main St" as well as "123 N. Main St." all as valid answers, as well as all 3 of those in all caps? 

So he tried every possible combination several times. He asked me, and of course I had no idea. I did not set the password. I asked ProSeries. They said they didn't set it, either. If you read the article on it, DocuSign sets it according to "Knowledge-Based Authentication," which means it's something that comes from his credit history. Well, in that case, it could be a PAST address, too. ALSO, they didn't tell me in that phone conversation that the authentication allows 3 tries and then locks up. So, it MIGHT have been one of the things he tried, but it was after the 3 strikes and he was out.

And I get not telling someone "You're locked out because you tried 3 times," because if it's a hacker, you don't necessarily want them to know you're onto them. But hello? Shouldn't I have been notified that he was locked out? Not impressed with DocuSign.

ProSeries said they had no control over it, it was controlled by DocuSign. Which makes me think maybe I should look into designing software that does remote signature documents and beat DocuSign at their game, since they kinda have a monopoly.

On the plus side, I was able to do my first 100% remote tax return yesterday. It was a client I knew personally, but hadn't seen personally this year. She downloaded her docs on Intuit Link, we did the interview over e-mail, she did Docu-Sign, I e-filed her return, and snail-mailed her final return. I would probably not do this with a client I had never met in person, but for PY clients, I don't see a problem with it. 

Wash your hands!