How Drake documents, checklists and E-Sign get a 1040 ready to file

Drake Portals is the client side of Drake Documents. From the Drake Portals pane you can send and receive files, push a 1040 client profile and checklist, send fillable questionnaires, collect electronic signatures, take payments and send notifications. Drake documents that this pane is available in Drake19 and later. (Drake Tax integration, Connect functionality)

• Files. You upload to the client. The client uploads in Files, To Preparer. You get a notice when a file lands. You can see the date and time they downloaded what you sent. (Send or receive files)
• Client Profile and Checklist (1040). Upload prior year data. The client verifies it. You download the changes back into Drake Tax. The same upload builds a checklist from forms completed last year. (Client Profile (1040) and Checklist)
• Questionnaires. Fillable web forms the client submits. You import the answers into the return. (Questionnaires)
• Drake E-Sign Online. You create a PDF of signature forms from View Print, upload it, and the taxpayer signs in the portal. This is a different process from a signature pad in the office. (Drake E-Sign Online)

Drake Portals is sold to Drake and non Drake customers. Drake E-Sign Online is only for active Drake users, because it is tied to Drake Tax. Adding signature fields to any document is available to all Drake Portals customers. (Connect functionality)

Do this in the off season, not in the week you want the return done. In Drake Documents, Connect tab, click Upload beside Client Profile. Enter the SSN, review the data, confirm. Status on the pane moves from Not Sent to Sent. When the client has reviewed it, status is Verified. Then Download, review the Personal Data Update window, and accept the changes. The next time you open the return, Drake fills in the downloaded profile. (Client Profile (1040) and Checklist)

That same Upload builds a checklist from last year's data entry. You cannot add or remove those form items from Drake Documents. You add extra items from the preparer portal, Checklist tab, Add Item: document name, type, optional recipient, optional year. That is how you catch the new brokerage account that did not exist last year. (Client Profile (1040) and Checklist)

If you enabled Client Profile and never uploaded data, the taxpayer can still type their own information. Nothing comes back into the return until you run Download. To turn the profile off, Drake Portals preparer portal, Menu, Account Settings, Connect Features, uncheck Client Profile. (Client Profile (1040) and Checklist)

Connect tab, Select beside Questionnaires (1040). Check the forms in the Send column. Preview if you need to. Send. The client gets an email and finds the forms under Questionnaires. They edit with the pen icon. For a second child, Drake documents Create Blank Copy on Dependent Information, then rename, and set a unique Index Number the way you would set a multi form code (1, then 2). They must click Submit or you get nothing. After Submit, open the Questionnaire tab, review, import into Drake Tax. (Questionnaires)

Import is a starting point. A CPA still reads the return. A questionnaire that says "no crypto" does not replace a look at the 1099-DA if one arrives later.

Client side, Files, Upload File in To Preparer. On a phone they can capture a photo. After upload they can use the three dot menu on the file. You get a notice and can download. When you send files the other way, they get an email with a login link and a count on Files. (Send or receive files)

On the Checklist tab, Drake Portals will try to classify IRS forms such as W-2 and 1099 and even a prior year return. The client can assign a file to an item, tie one file to several items, or upload onto a named row. If a row no longer applies they mark it Not applicable and type why (changed jobs, no W-2 from that employer). When every row is a file or a not applicable note, Drake notifies the preparer that the checklist is complete. (Taxpayer portal)

On your side, Checklist tab shows Items Completed as a count. The menu on a file is View, Assign, Download or Remove. Remove takes it off the checklist item. The file stays in Files, To Preparer. You can assign an existing file or upload a new one onto an item yourself. (Client Profile (1040) and Checklist)

A complete checklist still needs someone to open the blurry W-2 and the W-2 that belongs to a spouse's separate filing. That review is the same job as the document routing workflow: type, folder, owner, exception.

Drake E-Sign Online needs purchased E-Signature Events. If none are left, the Sign online via Drake Portals radio button is gray. Documents can be signed this way only when events are available. Drake E-Sign Online supports the current tax year and the three years prior. Only taxpayers with valid SSNs are eligible. The preparer's electronic signature is not applied here. This process gathers the taxpayers' signatures. If you change the return after you upload, you upload a new signature PDF. The signed file is not kept in sync with Drake Tax. (Drake E-Sign Online)

The clicks Drake documents:

• View the completed return.
• Select the forms for the PDF. A black pen icon in View Print mode marks a field that can be signed electronically. For business returns, date of birth must already be on the K1, K1E, PIN or OFF screen (1065, 1120-S, 1041 or 990) before you create the forms.
• Click eSign. Choose Sign online via Drake Portals.
• Choose Sign with KBA E-Signature Event or Sign with Basic E-Signature Event.
• You cannot add a password. Drake says SecureFilePro already protects the file. You can add watermarks.
• Continue. Save the unsigned PDF to Drake Documents (or browse). The File Upload Report confirms the upload. If you are not logged into Drake Portals in Drake Documents, you will be asked for credentials.
• The taxpayer gets an email with a link. If they have no portal account, the email says one was created.

After they sign, use Drake's post signature steps for downloads, notifications and reports. (Drake E-Sign Online)

Publication 1345 is the IRS handbook for authorized electronic filing providers. Form 8879 authorizes the electronic return originator to enter the taxpayer PIN. The ERO must keep Form 8879 for three years from the return due date or the IRS received date, whichever is later, and must not send it to the IRS unless asked. Remote electronic signatures need identity verification in the software. (Publication 1345)

On the taxpayer side, Home shows a Sign E-File Authorization task (the label changes if you uploaded a different document, such as Sign Engagement Letter). They pick who is signing. If knowledge based authentication (KBA) applies, they must answer 3 of 4 questions correctly. Drake says this is required the first time they sign through Drake Portals. If they miss 3 of 4, Drake will not let them electronically sign documents for the rest of the calendar year, and signature documents then do not display in the portal. Publication 1345 itself says that after three failed KBA attempts the electronic return originator must get a handwritten Form 8878 or Form 8879. They must be at least 18 to sign a federal return this way. (Drake E-Sign Online (taxpayer view), Publication 1345)

Drake says E-Signature Events are not refundable, and recommends skipping the event when the address match is doubtful. (Connect functionality)

Jordan Hale, married filing jointly, one new brokerage, last year's W-2 from a job that ended in March. Document date at your firm is 1 March.

If they fail KBA, stop buying events. Use a handwritten Form 8879. The named chase for the missing W-2 is the missing tax documents email templates. If you want that list drafted from what actually landed in the portal, see the tax season operator.