16764: Drake e-Sign Online - Signature Troubleshooting

• No SecureFilePro Found Message 
• SFP Sign Forms Disabled Message 
• Verify Upload
• Confirm Taxpayer Access 
• Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) Questions 

If the error message "No SecureFilePro found for account number ######" appears:

• If you do not have an active Drake Portals subscription, click the link Sign Up on the error window. An active Drake Portals subscription is required to use the Drake Portals features such as eSignatures.

• OR

• If you do have an active Drake Portals subscription:

1. Click OK on the error message.
2. Open Drake Documents.
3. Click on Setup.
4. Click on Options.
5. Verify the account number entered or enter your valid Drake Portals Account number.
6. Click Save and repeat the steps above to upload the Signature Documents.

SFP Sign Forms Disabled Message 

 The following message will display if you have not enabled e-sign for Drake Portals but you attempt to upload forms for taxpayer/spouse signatures: 

To enable, the option, go to Drake Documents > Setup > SFP Settings > Connect Features tab > check the Sign Forms option. Settings are saved automatically. 

Verify Upload

First, you should verify that the documents have been uploaded and are available in the taxpayer's portal. To do so, follow these steps: 

1. Open Drake Documents. 
2. Select your client from the listing.
3. In the Drake Portals - SFP pane, choose the Connect tab. 
4. If the Status shows "Not sent," the documents were not successfully uploaded to the taxpayer's portal. The Signatures tab will also say "No Signatures Uploaded."
   • Ensure that you have linked the Drake Documents folder with the correct Drake Portal for the taxpayer. 
   • Re-select and upload the signature documents to the taxpayer. 
5. If the Status shows "Sent," the documents were successfully uploaded, but the taxpayer has not reviewed or fully signed the documents. The Signatures tab will show the detailed upload information including the document names and a count of how many signatures are available on the PDF.

6. Continue below for additional troubleshooting. 

You can also confirm the upload status by logging into your Drake Portals website.

1. Log in to your Drake Portals website. 
2. Click on your username in the top right and select Reports. 
3. Click on the Signature Documents tab. Sorting options are available. 

A detailed display of the signature statuses for each uploaded signature document are also available on a per-client basis. Log in to your Drake Portals website, select the client's name and go to the Signatures tab.

To display the status window, click on the document name in the list of uploaded signature documents. Statuses will include, Failed KBA, Not Accessed KBA, Passed KBA, and Insufficient data for KBA.

Confirm Taxpayer Access 

Once the documents have been successfully uploaded, have the taxpayer check to see if they can log in to their portal. They should see a red exclamation point (!) next to the Sign Forms menu showing that there are forms waiting to be signed. If they see the documents available to sign, have them use the steps in KB 16647 to complete the signature process.

If they do not see any forms available, verify what type of device they are using to access their Drake Portal. Drake e-Sign Online is designed to work on iOS and Android devices, as well as Windows-based computers and Macs, but we cannot guarantee that Drake e-Sign Online will work on all configurations, browsers, devices, platforms, and operating systems. If they have a different device available, have them attempt to open their portal on that device and continue with the process. 

Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) Questions

Some taxpayers are not able to be authenticated by the Knowledge-Based Authentication process. You should consider the following items before uploading documents for Drake e-Sign Online for the following taxpayers as e-Sign Events are non-refundable. 

• The current version of Drake e-Sign Online only supports a single household address for both taxpayer and spouse. The verification software must be able to match both taxpayer and spouse to the address in order to ask the appropriate Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) questions of the taxpayer and spouse. A future release will include a “Spouse address if different” option.
• If the address on screen 1 is a foreign address, the KBA process will be unable to authenticate the identity of the taxpayer and/or spouse and they will be unable to e-sign. 
• Clients must be at least 18 years old in order to sign their federal tax return using Drake e-Sign Online.
• Taxpayers with a limited credit history may not have enough information to generate the Knowledge-Based Authentication Questions. The taxpayer is presented with questions specific to their personal history, and they must correctly answer 3 out of 4 questions in order to proceed.

  Note: If the taxpayer does not answer 3 out of 4 KBA questions correctly, they will not be able to electronically sign documents for the remainder of the calendar year. This fulfills IRS requirements related to capturing remote signatures. See Publication 1345 for details.

The item Require E-Signatures on Electronically Signable Forms (1040 Only) under Setup > Options >  EF is only used for those preparers who use a signature pad in the office to gather electronic signatures from their clients. A signature acquired through e-Sign Online via Drake Portals will not clear the Esign message in view mode in any circumstance.