Drake Documents: 5 Features You Should Know

Drake Software has made its mark in the market with its tax and accounting solutions. According to the survey by the Journal of Accountancy, Drake Software has gained the highest overall rating (4.6/ 5) compared to other popular professional tax applications.

Drake Software suite consists of three entities to ease financial and tax-related tasks, namely – Drake Tax Software, Drake Accounting, and Drake Documents.

Here we will discuss Drake Documents, which is introduced as a part of Drake Tax Software.

Drake Documents is an electronic filing cabinet that can help you free up physical space by storing PDFs of records, files, forms, and other such documents on the virtual platform.

Let’s discuss some of the most prominent features of the application:

Customizable Cabinets

The amount of tax data you receive, especially during tax season, can occupy most of your office space if stored in physical folders and cabinets. Furthermore, it becomes a tedious task to find and sort through the information when you need it.

Drake Documents saves your client data in customizable virtual cabinets and access the data directly through the application. There are two storage types offered – Working Cabinet and Archive Cabinet. These two cabinets work in a similar way, except the way they store information.

• Working Cabinet: It is the default option in the system that stores information in the documents as per the tax year. It further lists out clients in the folder in alphabetical order. The data is backed-up or restored, along with Drake client files.
• Archive Cabinet: Contrary to the working cabinet, it stores the data in documents with multiple tax years. The information is collected independently from Drake Software in the cabinet. All the documents for clients are stored alphabetically in cabinets, drawers, and folders. You can select the Archive Cabinet option by going to Setup > Printing > Drake Documents.

All the documents are automatically stored in PDF format in both of these cabinets.

Document Sharing

It is essential to gather data from clients and exchange it between teammates to accomplish the accounting and tax-related tasks. However, sending emails to and fro can create clutter that is difficult to manage.

Drake Documents offers seamless integration with Drake Portal (SecureFilePro). It is used for sharing documents securely over a virtual platform. You can simply upload the documents and files that can be accessed by clients and colleagues. It also enables you to collect crucial information and documents from clients securely and conveniently.

Secure Environment

Security is one of the biggest concerns when it comes to storing clients’ tax and financial data. Such data is prone to various cyber-attacks, accidents, or natural disasters.

Drake Documents uses several security measures to safeguard the information in cabinets. You can grant specific levels of permissions to each individual and implement password-protected files that can be accessed only by legitimate users.

It also provides a history of system access to track down details about its access. Moreover, all files and documents are encrypted and are secured with multiple firewalls and an anti-virus system. The network is also monitored 24/7, and data is backed-up regularly to ensure confidentiality as well as the availability of information whenever required.

Email Documents

Once the task is accomplished, you might need to email the final documents and files to your clients.

Drake Documents can ease this task as it offers integrated email launcher in the Working Cabinet and Archive Cabinet to send in files to clients instantly. It uses the default MAPI-Compliant Windows email program like Outlook that can be set up in Drake Tax Software.

You can add, remove, or modify email contacts in the system by going to Setup > Accounts. On the screen, you can add, edit, set active contacts, or remove them.

Import/Export Data

While filing tax returns, you might need to import financial data into accounting software like QuickBooks application.

Drake Documents enables you to sync your data with various accounting software like Drake Accounting and QuickBooks to conveniently import and export the data. It automates most of the data entry work and saves the time required to do most such tedious tasks. As Drake Documents is a part of the Drake Tax Software application, you can easily print and store returns in the system.

Other Features

In addition to the features mentioned above, Drake Documents also do the following:

• Watermark files and documents
• Integrate with GruntWorx, Drake E-Sign, and TicTie Calculate applications
• Offer tutorials for self-paced training
• Link stored documents or files to external files
• Provide product support via email, chat, or call.

In A Nutshell

Drake Documents is a powerful tool for small to mid-sized businesses that reduce the tasks, including paper handling, by virtualizing the process. You will not only get a cost-effective solution but also get a secure environment to store the business information.

To know more about Drake Software Suite, chat with our Solutions Consultant.