Engagement letters at scale: an e-signing playbook for practices

Every practice knows the engagement-letter grind: hundreds of near-identical letters, a mail-merge, then weeks of chasing signatures into tax season. The letters that come back late (or never) are the same files that cause trouble in a TPB review. Here's the workflow that removes the chase. (An engagement letter is an ordinary agreement — no witness needed; if you're executing deeds, the witnessing rules differ by State.)

Template once, send many

Set your engagement letter up as a template: standard text, signature and date fields already placed, your practice branding on the email. Each send then takes seconds — pick the client, confirm the details, go. Bulk sending from a client list takes it further for the annual run.

Get the signing order right

For individual clients, a single signer is simple. For couples and partnerships, decide whether both must sign in sequence (use sequential routing, so the second signer only receives it after the first has finished) or independently (parallel — fastest). Add your practice principal as the final sequential signer if your letters are counter-signed, or as a copy recipient if not.

Let the reminders do the chasing

Set the reminder cadence once — every three days or weekly — and unsigned letters re-email themselves. The reminder reuses the client's original secure link, so there's no confusion about which email is current. Your team's follow-up list shrinks to the genuine stragglers.

The audit-ready file

Each completed letter comes back sealed, with a Certificate of Completion recording delivery, consent, viewing and signing events. File the certificate with the letter and your engagement records are review-ready by default — no reconstructing email chains eighteen months later.

Identity verification is now part of Siggy, so the same moment can also verify who your new client is — one flow, engagement and verification together.

One distinction worth keeping straight: an engagement letter is not a lodgment declaration. The declaration under s 388-65 has to be given for each approved form you lodge — a signed engagement letter does not substitute for it.

If you run the annual letter season through DocuSign today, Siggy compared with DocuSign sets out what the same volume costs on each, with both products' published prices and the date we checked them.

Running a practice? Here is how accountants use Siggy ›