What is Drake Portals and How it Works

Do website security issues give you sleepless nights? Are you looking for a secure website? Try Drake Portals, a web-based platform with most browsers and computers. It allows tax preparers and their clients to exchange sensitive tax documents securely.

It is also faster and more convenient; it runs on the SecureFileProTM domain, offering a time-saving, paperless solution to traditional methods like printing, faxing, emailing, or mailing documents.

Furthermore, Drake Portals works with Drake Tax and Documents, making it easier to back up returns and other documents to the cloud.

However, its features vary depending on how you access it—through the website or the Drake Tax integration in Drake Documents. Drake Tax and non-Drake customers can use Drake Portals, but some features only work for Drake Tax users. Users outside the United States also face some restrictions.

The following features are included in Every Drake Portals Plan:

• Branding: Put your company’s logo and name on the site.
• Customize Your Web Address: Get a unique URL for your website. Remember to save it for later.
• Unlimited Clients: Add as many clients and staff accounts as you need.
• Security as per Industry norms: The client website and client files are protected using industry measures. 256-bit SSL encryption is used for all data transfers, and files are encrypted on our servers.
• Clients can see and use only their documents.

Features of Drake Portals

From teamwork to easy and secure data sharing, Drake Portals features eliminate unnecessary tasks, making it easier to work.

1. Smooth Document Sharing

Receive Files from Clients: Clients can upload tax documents like W-2s to your Drake Portals site.

Send Files to Clients: You can upload finished tax returns and other documents for clients to download when they are ready from any computer with internet access.

2. Teamwork and Ease of Use

Teams Up with Drake Documents: Create client folders and upload documents with a single click.

Your Brand: Add your company logo and subdomain to your portal, like

3. Safety and Data Safeguarding

Built-In Security: It has industry-standard security measures to protect your site and files. These include secure transmissions and encrypted files at rest on the server. Clients can see their documents, which ensures confidentiality.

Safeguard Sensitive Documents: Drake Portals helps you avoid the risks of sending confidential documents through fax or email.

4. User-Friendly Interface

Easy to Use: Drake Portals works on the web, fits with most browsers and computers, and has a simple interface. This makes it quick and easy to upload, download, rename, and delete files.

5. Drake Tax Cloud Backup and Flexible Storage

Drake Portals enables you to back up your Drake Tax files. You can do this through the Drake Tax Backup and Restore dialog box.

Every plan gives you 5 GB of file transfer space. You can buy more storage if you need it.

6. Better Ways to Work with Clients

• Mobile-Friendly Interface: Clients can snap pictures of tax documents and upload them to your Drake Portals website.
• Instant Messaging: Talk to clients in real-time within the portal.
• Prior-Year Summary: Helps clients gather needed documents for this year’s taxes.
• Online Organizers: Clients can input tax info through web forms.
• Electronic Signatures: Clients can sign papers on their phones or computers (an extra fee applies).
• Online Payments: Take payments with EPS E-Pay Merchant Services.

7. Efficient File Management

• File Transfer Compatibility: Some image files work with GruntWorx to process further.
• Client Profile Updates: Clients can change their details, which you can add to their tax return.
• Send Questionnaires: Hand out different questionnaires, like those for Health Care Coverage, Due Diligence, Education Credits, and others.
• Client Progress Tracking: Monitor your clients’ performance and identify tasks that must be completed.
• E-Pay Invoicing: Email invoices to clients so they can pay online.
• Remote e-Signatures: Get electronic signatures from far away using Drake e-Sign Online (extra fees apply).

8. Optimized Access

Mobile Optimization: Give your clients a website that works well on mobile devices. They can access it through a regular web browser on their iOS or Android device or computer.

Conclusion

Drake Portals offers a complete, easy-to-use solution for safe, paperless document sharing between tax preparers and their clients. Its robust features, such as smooth file transfers and top-notch security steps, influence how people handle sensitive tax papers.

Regarding flexibility, the system connects with Drake Documents and works well on mobile devices. Extra features like quick messaging and digital signatures help to simplify communication with clients.

The flexible pricing plans fit different budgeting needs. You can choose the monthly plan if you want to use it for a short time or go for the yearly plan to save money in the long run. You can try all these perks with a 14-day free trial before buying.

Overall, Drake Portals proves to be a trustworthy and flexible tool. Its helpful features and prices compete well with others, making handling your tax prep tasks easy.