For CPA, tax and bookkeeping firms
LetterGuard gives every client a private room for messages, documents and signatures. W-2s, 1099s and K-1s land in one place, engagement letters get signed before work starts, and finished returns go back without a single attachment.
The problem
Every return needs the same personal financial documents, and every year they arrive the same messy way.
One W-2 by email, a 1099 as a phone photo, a K-1 weeks later through a link. Your staff rebuild each client’s file by hand and still miss the brokerage statement.
Reminder emails, voicemails and “I already sent it” replies eat the hours you need for preparation and review, right when deadlines are closest.
Social Security numbers, bank accounts and income details sit in sent folders and client inboxes, sometimes a shared family account, long after filing.
The IRS warns that data thefts at tax professionals’ offices are on the rise and that scammers impersonate the IRS, tax software and cloud storage providers by email.Source: IRS Publication 4557
How it fits your week
Keep your tax and accounting software. LetterGuard handles the documents and conversation with each client.
The outcome
Signed engagement letters before work starts, and every client knows exactly where to send documents.
The outcome
One place to see what’s in and what’s still missing for every client, with a record of when each document arrived.
The outcome
Clients review before filing, and finished returns never travel as email attachments.
The outcome
A year-round channel for sensitive documents, without building a new process every season.
By client type
Every client room works the same way. What changes is the paperwork.
W-2s, 1099s, 1098s, brokerage statements, prior-year returns
Collect a full year of forms in one room instead of a dozen emails, then deliver the return back to the same place.
Financial statements, trial balances, payroll reports, fixed-asset lists
Owners and their bookkeepers upload to the same room, so the business file arrives together.
K-1s, partnership agreements, capital account statements
Share K-1s with each partner in their own room, so no partner sees another’s figures.
Bank and card statements, receipts, invoices, payroll records
Make the room the standing place for monthly documents instead of a recurring email chase.
Agency notices, transcripts, payment plans, correspondence
Collect notices quickly and keep the whole resolution conversation in one thread.
Trust documents, fiduciary statements, beneficiary information
Keep sensitive family and fiduciary records private, with a record of who downloaded each file.
New-hire forms, W-4s, I-9 support documents, payroll registers
Collect employee documents from client businesses without them sitting in your inbox.
If your firm trades sensitive documents with clients, a room works the same way. We’ll walk through it in a demo.
Book a demoWorks with how you work
There’s nothing to migrate and nothing to connect. LetterGuard works alongside the tools your firm already uses.
Preparation, e-filing, workpapers and billing stay where they are. Final documents go into your files as they do today.
Keep email for everyday mail. Clients get an email notice when there’s something new, and the notice never contains the message or the file.
Keep the calls and meetings clients expect at tax time. The documents and written follow-up go to the room, where they won’t get lost.
Protecting taxpayer data
Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the FTC Safeguards Rule, tax and accounting professionals must keep a written information security plan, regardless of size. IRS Publication 5708 explains what that plan should cover, including safeguards, service providers and multi-factor authentication.
LetterGuard gives your firm practical protections to use for client documents, and a record of how files were shared, which you can describe in your plan.
LetterGuard doesn’t make your firm compliant with the Safeguards Rule, IRS requirements or professional standards, and nothing here is legal or tax advice. Your obligations depend on your practice.
Compare
| Question | Email attachments | Shared drive links | LetterGuard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the client conversation lives | Spread across each person’s inbox | Email, with files somewhere else | One room per client, messages and files together |
| Who can open a return | Anyone the email reaches or is forwarded to | Depends on how the link was shared | Room members who sign in with a code |
| Last year’s documents | Copies stay in every inbox | Links work until someone turns them off | Download links expire on their own |
| Who downloaded what | No record | Varies by service and settings | Recorded on every file, with the time |
| Engagement letters | Print, sign, scan, send | A separate tool | Signed in the room, with the copy kept there |
| Risky file types | Depends on your filters | Depends on the service | Executables and macro files blocked |
| What the client needs | An inbox | Often an account with the service | An email address and a one-time code |
Upload them to a place only the client and your firm can reach after signing in, rather than emailing them. In LetterGuard, documents go into the client’s room, encrypted at rest, and you can see who downloaded each file, and when.
Yes. The IRS says federal law requires tax and accounting professionals to create and maintain a written information security plan under the FTC Safeguards Rule. LetterGuard can be one of the safeguards you describe in it, but it doesn’t write or satisfy the plan for you.
No. Keep your tax and accounting software for preparation, e-filing and billing. LetterGuard works alongside the tools you already use, with nothing to migrate.
Yes. Send the engagement letter for signature in the client’s room. The client signs from a computer or phone, and the signed copy and its record stay in the room. For e-file authorizations, follow the IRS rules for the method you use.
They enter their email address and type in the one-time code LetterGuard sends them. There’s nothing to install and no password to forget. Your staff sign in with two-factor login.
Yes. Invite clients in bulk at the start of the season. Each client gets their own private room and an email from your firm explaining how to sign in.
Pricing
Per office, not per seat.
Unlimited staff on every plan, and clients never pay. Plans start at $99/mo.
Also built for
Bring one real client file to a short demo. We’ll show you how documents, engagement letters and return delivery would run in LetterGuard rooms for your firm.
Book a demo