# Know who is signing, and keep the signed copy

Every signature on the platform rests on a verified identity. Clients prove who they are once, sign in without a password after that, and sign agreements, authorizations and consents electronically, with the signed copy and its certificate filed in the archive.

## Verified with a photo ID, a selfie and a liveness check
Before sensitive work begins, a client verifies their identity by photographing a government ID and taking a selfie, with a liveness check that proves a person is present. The result records the decision, how well the ID and the selfie matched, and any risk flags, and keeps only the last four digits of the document number. The verification report and images are filed in the archive as evidence. The same check is used before a client authorizes the firm with the IRS and before an outside professional is admitted.

## Sign in without a password
After verification, sign-in uses a passkey on the client's phone or computer, the same one across the portal, the phone app and every firm the client works with. A passkey sign-in counts as a higher level of assurance; a one-time code by email is the fallback and counts as a lower one. Signing a consent needs the higher level, so a step-up is asked for at that moment. Staff sign in once, without a password, across every tool.

## Outside professionals, verified before they join
A client's existing accountant or attorney can be admitted to the client's record as a guest. The guest verifies their identity the same way a client does, sets up a passkey or an authenticator, and signs the consent instruments the law requires. Their access is limited to the categories the client chose, such as tax documents, the financial plan or the estate picture, and it is time-boxed. The client sees the whole team on one screen and can remove anyone in one action.

## E-signature through BoldSign
Agreements, authorizations and consents sign through BoldSign from a template or a document the firm supplies. Recipients can be signers, in-person signers or copied parties, and a recipient can be required to pass an access code, a text, a phone call or an identity check before signing. Signing can be embedded in the portal, so the client never leaves. Envelopes can be sent in bulk, resent, corrected or voided, and sending the same envelope twice does nothing.

## Or the firm's own DocuSign
A firm that already uses DocuSign connects its own account in a few steps and keeps its own terms with the provider. Envelopes go out from the firm's account, the firm's templates are used, and the signed documents come back into the archive like any other, so the firm's record is complete whichever service it chose.

## The signed copy, kept
Every signed document comes back with its certificate of completion and is stored encrypted in the archive, under the retention rule for its kind; legal engagement letters keep their own longer rule. Fee agreements gate billing until they are signed, the e-file authorization gates filing, and consent instruments gate access. The archive shows who signed what, when, and with which level of identity. Read [Security & Control](/trust), see how the [client side](/clients) works, or [talk with us](/contact).