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Document Management Software

PostPosted: 27-Sep-2019 2:44pm
by actionbsns
I'm looking into using a document management software as we get ready to move. Smart Fault has been suggested to me. I need to signup for a 15 minute demo, there doesn't seem to be any other way to do a demo. What do I need to be looking for with this type of software? What should I be prepared to ask the person doing the demo? I checked their reviews and mostly they are good, some people mentioned that the cost is high, but $12 a month doesn't seem prohibitive to me. Some of the reviews complain about speed and needing to log in and use passwords for clients to access their data. Anyone else using this software? Can you tell me your experience?

I also Googled document management software and found there are a ton of different products out there, I really don't want to go through all of them, I don't have that kind of patience. Most of the reviews I saw were pretty good, so it looks like either only people who like the product are reviewing or once someone gets used to their software, they just don't change.

I won't be continuing with a large clientele, but the distance from my clients will make this an appealing way to send and save files. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

PS Does any of this software have a demo without needing to sign up for it? I really don't want to be inundated with e-mails and phone calls from vendors especially when I don't really know what the processes look like at all.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 28-Sep-2019 3:22am
by wel
There are several good DMS products available today. The ideal DMS solution for you depends on a few factors - here are a few of these factors, I'm sure others will chime in with additional factors:

- What is the expected size of your firm?
- What software products do you use? (There may be significant efficiency gains with using a DMS from the same company that makes your tax software, for example. This is particularly important if you have little / no admin help.)
- Do you have an existing client portal that you intend to keep, or do you want a DMS that has portal functionality / integration capabilities?

I suspect that you will have to sign up for any demo versions. It would probably be a good idea to develop your "short list" and only sign up to demo a small number. FWIW, my experience has been that the calls/emails stop when you politely tell the rep that you "appreciate their help, but have decided on another product and to please remove you from the call/email list." Most of these reps understand that they're more likely to get another shot later if they don't pester you incessantly.

Good luck!

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 28-Sep-2019 1:00pm
by actionbsns
Thanks for the comments WEL, It helps since i'm venturing into an area I know next to nothing about. I was hoping for a few more responses regarding software being used by others so I could whittle down my choices. There must have been fifty different programs on the Google list and none of the ones I checked have demos available, you have to sign up for them. I don't want to spend that much time on this.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 28-Sep-2019 4:19pm
by Wiles
What do you want your DMS to do?
Are you talking about a place to save internal documents, e.g. scanned workpapers and pdf copies of tax returns?

Or are you talking about a client portal for delivery of tax returns? And also a place for clients to upload their documents?

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 28-Sep-2019 4:19pm
by Wiles
And did you mean Smart Vault in the OP?

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 28-Sep-2019 8:09pm
by actionbsns
Yes, Smart Vault. Since I'm moving out of the area, I want to have a place where clients can scan and send documents that I can retrieve to prepare a tax return; then I can securely send them the completed return and have them sign whatever would need to be signed. Then in the end it is stored and available to a client for future reference. If someone mails their documents to me, then I would want to scan them into the same software and keep them for future reference, which a client could also access if necessary. Drake has a built in document management system that people seem to love or hate, I have not yet tried it. I've just started looking into this so I'm wondering about the experience of others with other software and help in narrowing the field in scheduling demos for software.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 29-Sep-2019 11:36am
by CornerstoneCPA
I switched to SmartVault from ShareFile. It is infinitely better for DMS and exchanging documents. I modified the Tax Template folders and for each tax year, it makes it very easy to determine files I delivered to them, files they delivered to me, organizers, and Client Copy tax returns (I disabled the other options, such as Government Copy, since my Client copies contain EVERYTHING).

So far, I really like it. I love its integration with DocoSign and the Desktop and Outlook utilities where I can do almost everything I typically want to do without having to log in at the SmartVault website. Like ShareFile, I can send documents or links and request information by inserting links into an e-mail, and remains secure since they have to have a SmartVault account to access their portal.

IMO, based on what you have said, SmartVault will do precisely what you want. I pay $35 for the tax preparer version (didn't care about the accounting crap) and it is worth every penny. Their support has also been stellar.

Another nice feature is it has a public documents folder. If you need to distribute something to all clients (not confidential), this is how you can easily send it and they'll be alerted to the upload per whatever their upload notifications are (each client can set their own notification schedule). There is also another folder strictly for internal use, not visible by any client., if you wish to retain them in the DMS instead of your other file storage system. I do not like keeping tax documents other than prepared forms/completed returns in the DMS, so I offload what clients provide to OneDrive by tax client and maintain folders by year--effectively working papers. I do not want my systems to become their dependency for when they cannot keep track of their own documents, though I'll happily keep tax returns available for download.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 3-Oct-2019 12:08pm
by Taxman40
Smart Vault is great. We have been using it for 3 or 4 years now. They just bumped our fee for 4 users from $1,000/yr to about $1,500/yr. Big increase, but overall, the product is more than worth it.

A lot of my clients don't email or drop off the documents anymore. They upload the scanned documents to SmartVault. We then get an email notification. It's great when the client scans the documents and puts them in the file for you.

The only downside is the upload speed. I have clients uploading large QuickBooks files. It is not the best software for that. We typically have them send large files through DropBox. SmartVault takes forever to upload large files to, and I've had clients get errors saying the files were too big.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 3-Oct-2019 12:19pm
by CornerstoneCPA
Taxman40 wrote:
The only downside is the upload speed. I have clients uploading large QuickBooks files. It is not the best software for that. We typically have them send large files through DropBox. SmartVault takes forever to upload large files to, and I've had clients get errors saying the files were too big.


I hate exchanging Quickbooks files, whether complete backups or accountant copies; instead, I just install remote connection software on their PCs and I'll do it after hours or when it is not being used. Simply easier, unless they then do not realize I logged in as an accountant user to unlock accountant's toolbox, and then they wonder why they cannot log in. :roll:

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 3-Oct-2019 7:08pm
by actionbsns
I've watched a couple of demos now and have Secure File Pro for Drake on my computer. How are you using the data from the clients? It looks to me that W-2's, 1099's, K-1's etc are going to need to be printed out in order to prepare a tax return, which defeats the purpose of going paperless. I see where it will work to receive the documents over a secure connection and how I can send a return the same way and store it without printing, but utilizing the information seems to be eluding me if the goal is to be paperless.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 4-Oct-2019 2:50am
by wel
I've never used Secure File Pro. From what I understand, it's basically a client portal - and I've used a few different types of those.

Quick question - are you using multiple monitors? It's pretty much impossible to be productive with going paperless if you are only using one monitor. In a paperless environment, screen space is much more valuable than desk space. A preparer would typically have their workpapers on one screen and the tax software on another screen, side by side. Sorry for that sidebar, you may already know this, but I didn't want to make any assumptions.

Back to your particular question - you may need to export/"print" the documents from the client to PDFs that you use as workpaper(s) for supporting documentation. You can annotate the PDF with references, tickmarks, etc. -depending on your process. (You may need a PDF editor, if you don't have one.)

I hope this helps.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 4-Oct-2019 8:44am
by CornerstoneCPA
actionbsns wrote: It looks to me that W-2's, 1099's, K-1's etc are going to need to be printed out in order to prepare a tax return, which defeats the purpose of going paperless...but utilizing the information seems to be eluding me if the goal is to be paperless.


Create a single PDF file from all received documents and then use the Adobe Acrobat Tic-Tac-Calc plug-in. No paper involved, has calculator function that can be pasted to any page, bunch of other features. I have had issues with bookmarks/templates, but suspect that will change if I switch tax software and can use template bookmarks that already exists, rather than creating one from scratch. The plug-in is imperfect, but beats the heck out of dealing with paper and then scanning copies.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 4-Oct-2019 11:11am
by actionbsns
Thanks for the help and taking the time again to answer questions. The idea of dual monitors came to me last night as I was thinking it through more. Are they hard to set up? I was wondering if I would be able to use my IPad, or my Chromebook alongside the computer. I pulled up some samples last night on my Chromebook and theoretically it could work. In reality the dual screens might be better. I'll take a look at the Adobe Tic Tac Calc plug in. One of the softwares I looked at yesterday has that capability, but I think it was expensive. This is going to be quite a learning experience. I worked out a problem I was having with e-mails yesterday after an intense period of time working with it, ended up to be a user error. Most likely not the first one. I will appreciate any help and suggestions anyone has to make this easier or just think about something that hasn't yet occurred to me.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 4-Oct-2019 11:29am
by CornerstoneCPA
Setting up dual/multiple monitors is simple. At one point in my life, I had six 24" monitors (2x3 arrangement, and used every single one. That PC had three graphics cards. Now I am down to two 32" and one 24", though thinking the 24" will become a 17" laptop that powers the two 32" screens. Current PC and future laptop outputs are/will be powered by a single graphics card.

To set up monitors depends on your PC...laptop or desktop? And then what video outputs does it have available to connect monitors? For laptops, it is easiest to acquire a dock you connect everything to, though some laptops simply require it for multiple monitors. Desktop depends on existing graphics, whether on the motherboard or a separate graphics card, and available outputs. Sounds complicated, but it is actually very simple.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 4-Oct-2019 12:28pm
by SumwunLost
I am no computer expert, but I hooked up a 15" laptop to a 24" monitor and I cannot imagine I would wish to go any smaller. The laptop size is barely enough.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 5-Oct-2019 4:21pm
by actionbsns
I have a question for those of you using Smart Vault. Are you using La Certe or Pro Series as your tax software? I'm using Drake and so far this morning, I'm not able to export my tax files to SV. I can download a PDF of the return and store it there, but I'm not getting the program to send my client an e-mail with an access code that works (I'll try that again), but even if I get that to work, it doesn't look like the feature that only allows the client to see the "Client" part of the stored documents is working. Tech support is closed today.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 7-Oct-2019 10:44am
by CornerstoneCPA
You have to use the SmartVault printer and the autofile function. Select client, tax engagement tax year, and then print to the client copy folder after naming the file. It will then show up in SmartVault as a tax return to be sent to the client (under Send Tax Returns). I have been doing this with UltraTax as I evaluate transitioning to LaCerte (90% certain I I will prior to 2020). It is far more automated when using LaCerte, there are literally checkbox buttons for clients in the print dialog screen.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 7-Oct-2019 2:44pm
by actionbsns
I've been on the phone most of the morning with the Smart Vault tech support There is a problem installing the SV PDF printer. Without that I can't really do what I want to do most of all which is to download, store and send tax returns for clients. I've installed and uninstalled the program several times, followed some instructions sent by tech support to create a clean uninstall to facilitate a clean install. Nothing makes a difference. The program isn't downloading the "tree" correctly either. There should be three files that are for clients and they start with that word, that's not there. It's fast approaching the point where I just say never mind I'll use the another program, which is a shame because this one comes highly recommended.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 7-Oct-2019 4:08pm
by actionbsns
Woo Hoo! I think I've worked this problem through. My computer doesn't show SV PDF printer, but it does show Micosoft Print to PDF which functions exactly like you say Cornerstone and as the articles that I've read say. With the auto filer function working, the client tree is set up the way I was expecting to see. I sent a TR to my own e-mail address and that worked, too. So now I'm going to send one to a client who has agreed to test the client side of the software. I'm really happy now, this software has attributes I like better than Drake's portal so it should make for better decision making.

Re: Document Management Software

PostPosted: 8-Oct-2019 5:51am
by kamalv2612
Great discussion so far on DMS. We are a small firm with 5 users and are using intuit DMS. We are thinking to switch to efilecabinet. Can anyone please share the experience with efilecabinet. Thanks