Ask the Accounting Community

All of the monthly account recs, reviews, etc that we keep for internal control purposes are printed, signed, and stored in a file cabinet. I'd like to get away from paper based record retention and incorporate digital signatures into the workflow.  Simply scanning the physically signed document at isn't enough because it adds a step to the process instead of making it easier.  I also don't want to copy/paste an image of my signatures because I think that defeats the purpose of a signature.

We are a private company and I have a small team - what's a good solution for say 5 users? 

TIA

------------------------------
Ryan Kuhn
[Job Title]
Amerequip
Kohler WI
------------------------------

Adobe pdf has digital certificate which time/date stamps your digital signature. It's easy to save excel files as pdf, then you open the pdf for signature(s). You're also able to restrict updates but the people who sign after the first. Very easy. 

------------------------------
Kristin McIntire
Vice President Finance
ABC Technologies
Grand Rapids, MI
USA
------------------------------

I am not sure if it was a company created tool or something available from Microsoft but we utilize a plugin for manual recs called a tickmark tool which creates a comment, callout, or signoff with the user credentials and date based on buttons in the Excel ribbon.  For automated recs we utilize an Oracle based solution that captures workflows for approval.  If I had a small team and was part of a smaller company, I might consider keeping them Excel based and adding additional MRE throughout the rec but utilizing a text based approval with the MRE supporting your actual review

------------------------------
Thomas Dietrich CMA
Controller
Buford GA
United States
------------------------------

Tickmark is from TheSpreadsheetGuru. I use it as well. You can also use ShareFile's Feedback & Approvals workflow. A less expensive alternative to Adobe's E-sign is PDF Architect.

------------------------------
David Belnap, CMA, CPA
Belnap Accounting
Hollywood FL
United States
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-05-2023 12:43 PM
From: Thomas Dietrich
Subject: Digital signature solution?

I am not sure if it was a company created tool or something available from Microsoft but we utilize a plugin for manual recs called a tickmark tool which creates a comment, callout, or signoff with the user credentials and date based on buttons in the Excel ribbon.  For automated recs we utilize an Oracle based solution that captures workflows for approval.  If I had a small team and was part of a smaller company, I might consider keeping them Excel based and adding additional MRE throughout the rec but utilizing a text based approval with the MRE supporting your actual review

------------------------------
Thomas Dietrich CMA
Controller
Buford GA
United States
------------------------------

We are using DocuSign

------------------------------
Khalid Qarooni CMA
Director/Manager
Nuwaidrat
Bahrain
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 8/6/2023 1:44:00 AM
From: Khalid Qarooni
Subject: RE: Digital signature solution?

We are using DocuSign

------------------------------
Khalid Qarooni CMA
Director/Manager
Nuwaidrat
Bahrain
------------------------------

When we document review of internal controls or processes, we use the stamp function built into Adobe which has multiple options for placing a "stamp" showing the name of the user and the time and an indication of reviewed or approved. When we approve internal documents that require signatures, such as a wire transfer, we use Adobe Sign because it's inexpensive. For external digital signatures, the only widely accepted one we've found is DocuSign, particularly with our banks so we have two seat licenses for it for our team and route any needs through those two. We have a broader licensing agreement with DocuSign, however, as it's used in Legal and elsewhere within the company. 

------------------------------
Marcel Santiz
Analyst
Saline MI
United States
------------------------------

In addition to the more well-known Adobe functions for adding digital signatures from your own device (which could work for you as others have noted), Acrobat has a "Request e-signatures" function that routes the document to specified email addresses. It will route back to you when complete with time-stamped records of which email addresses received and signed the document. If you're already paying for Acrobat and your license includes that function, you might play with it and see if it meets the need.

------------------------------
Rob Teitelbaum CMA
Other
Falls Church VA
United States
------------------------------

We're in a similar situation.  Our solution has been to take screen shots of the key portions of the file (totals, check figures, variances, review notes, etc) and paste those into a worksheet (we will have a worksheet named Preparer another names Reviewer in the workbook being reviewed) or at the beginning or end of the Word document being reviewed.  You might be able to use the Windows Alt-PrtScn but we generally use a screen snipping utility.  The key is to get the username (upper-right corner of Excel and Word) and the date-time (lower-right corner of Windows).  Both our third-party internal audit provider and external auditors have bought off on this.  No licensing fees!

------------------------------
Scott Miller CMA
Chief Financial Officer
JAMCO AMERICA INC
Everett WA
United States
------------------------------