How to use DocuSign for your accounting: Tax forms, invoicing, Xero and more

Kaci Carson March 19, 2024

Accounting Article

DocuSign is a trusted eSignature service used by accounting professionals and businesses for various purposes. DocuSign enables you to request signatures for documents directly within accounting software such as Xero. This way you can seamlessly manage billing, receive legally-compliant tax form signatures, and more.

For accountants, DocuSign saves time by optimizing paperwork and manual operations while offering a secure and convenient signing experience for clients. In this article, we’ll go through how to use Docusign for accountants and business owners alike, and the DocuSign + Xero integration.

Signing tax forms

DocuSign is able to simplify obtaining legally-compliant signatures for tax forms from clients and customers. You can easily send tax forms for signature approval directly through DocuSign, and the completed forms are automatically archived making it accessible to access at any time for auditing purposes.

As a secure service, DocuSign helps ensure tax forms are signed confidentially and your clients’ sensitive data remains protected. Through this function, you or your firm can save upwards of hours or even days each tax season by reducing the time required to print, sign, mail, collect and manually file tax paperwork.

With automated signature request reminders and status updates, you’ll always know where your clients are in completing and approving their tax forms through DocuSign. For accountants and tax professionals handling high volumes of tax compliance paperwork each season, DocuSign is a key solution to incorporate.

Automating document execution

For those utilizing Xero for accounting, DocuSign provides eSignature functions within the Xero app through integration. Once integrated through Amaka, you’re able to effortlessly send documents for legally-valid eSigning through DocuSign. Once a document is eSigned, all materials are promptly filed back to the original record in Xero for easy online access. You can attach eSigned paperwork, annotate items, and utilize Xero for all other accounting purposes.

The DocuSign + Xero integration streamlines many of the accounting and eSignature processes necessary for businesses to maintain both accurate and efficient practices. The Docusign + Xero integration is free to use through an official partnership with Amaka, this way you can take charge of your Docusign accounting.

How to set up the DocuSign + Xero integration

Before enacting the Docusign + Xero integration you will need to ensure that you have created an account and signed in to both platforms. If you wish to include recipients from Xero or DocuSign in the integration, you will need to establish appropriate users and/or signing groups within these platforms.Here are the steps to setting up the integration:

1. Log in or sign up for the Amaka dashboard to access the DocuSign + Xero integration.
2. Click the “New integration” button and select “DocuSign + Xero” from the integrations list to commence the setup.
3. Sign in to your Xero account by clicking the “Connect new account” button underneath the Xero logo. Follow the guided authentication process to grant all relevant permissions.
4. Authenticate your DocuSign account following the same procedure, then click “Save + Continue“. Note that you will need to select whether you would like the integration to run on Docusign’s Demo or Production API during the authentication process.
5. Select the Xero document types that you would like to integrate and then click “Save + Continue“.
6. Customize the integration for your Xero documents by choosing from a range of signers, envelope-specific settings, and notifications.
7. Activate the integration, and the sync will start running after 15 minutes.

With these steps, you can streamline your accounting process and take advantage of the free DocuSign + Xero integration exclusively through Amaka’s partnership with DocuSign.

Digital invoicing

With Xero’s invoicing feature, you can simply generate digital invoices to send directly to clients for eSignature approval and payment. In the case of invoices, there are only certain statuses that trigger the sync within the DocuSign + Xero integration. Once an invoice is sent and accepted by the client the status changes to ‘Awaiting Approval’, this then triggers the sync so that this document can then be signed within the DocuSign platform. Once a signature is received in DocuSign the status in Xero then changes to awaiting payment. If for any reason a document is declined or deleted, the invoice will revert back to ‘Draft’ status.

This feature is time saving, reduces errors, and facilitates both eSignatures as well as payments in a trusted, integrated environment.

Digital quotes

Within the DocuSign + Xero integration, both accounting professionals and business owners are able to send quotes to potential clients. With this feature, the time typically used to create quotes is streamlined, making this task simpler than ever to achieve. Within the integration, the information between both platforms only sync in particular circumstances. Once the quote is created and sent over, the quote moves from a ‘Draft’ status to ‘Awaiting Approval’ status.

When the client opens the document the status changes to ‘Accepted’. Quotes in this case are only synced once the status ‘Accepted’ has been triggered. For documents within the integration, there is also a change status that switches based on if the quote has been accepted, signed, or deleted. In the case of quotes, once it is accepted, the status does not change.

Key takeaways on Docusign accounting

Through integrating DocuSign and Xero accounting software, you’re able to improve the overall experience for their client by offering efficient and effective eSignatures for important documents. With the increasing demands on accounting professionals’ time and resources, leveraging a tool like DocuSign is a worthwhile system to use in managing a higher volume of financial paperwork.