Register for a session now by clicking a date below. Each webinar will last approximately 30 minutes.

Wednesday, December 7th 3:00pm EST

Wednesday, December 14th 3:00pm EST

Wednesday, December 21st 3:00pm EST

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Bulk Client & Folder Setup: Your time is already stretched. So, to save a few extra steps, we can help you create your folder structure and users in bulk. With ShareFile’s Bulk Folder Upload option, you can have all of your client users and their portals setup in a single step. Read more here.

Outlook Plug-in: The Outlook Plug-In is an easy way for all of your employees to communicate directly with clients using Microsoft Outlook. With the Outlook Plug-In, you can send files from your desktop, receive files, and even send files that are already stored in your ShareFile account. Learn more about our plug-in here.

Dynamic Folder Templates: This tool allows you to create a default set of subfolders that may be added to new or existing folders on your account to allow for easy folder structure set up when the same subfolders are frequently used. Click here to read more about this new and exciting feature.

ShareFile Desktop Sync: Like most accountants, you probably have a DMS that you use on a daily basis to manage your files. Wouldn’t it be easy if you could extract that data from your DMS into ShareFile? With ShareFile Desktop Sync, you can simply “Save As”, “Print To”, or “Export” directly from your DMS into the folders on your desktop. Get ahead of the curve and learn more about Sync here.

Consolidated Notifications: We realize that keeping up with the activity on your account is a must. However, you are far too busy to sift through hundreds of emails each day. There is a feature in the ‘My Settings’ link of your navigation bar that lets you consolidate those email notifications into a more manageable format. To get more information on this feature, visit our Knowledge Base.

Passwords in emails: As a trusted professional of your clients’ personal information, it is important to provide a high level of security. This feature will send an email to your clients with the password stripped from the email and instructing the clients to contact their accountant for their password. Please contact our support team or your account manager for further details!

Reports: With plenty of items demanding your time, we want to make it as simple as possible to monitor the activity of your ShareFile account. Our reporting tools located in the ‘Admin’ section, will keep you up to date on upload, downloads, and various other activity types. To learn more about our Reporting feature, visit our Knowledge Base

As always, we encourage you to contact us with any questions. Thanks again for choosing ShareFile and good luck with the upcoming tax season.

The Sleeter Group announced today the 2012 winners, which indicates that ShareFile is among “the most productive and effective technologies designed to enhance common business management systems,” resulting in increased productivity and efficiency in the accounting industry.

As a result of the award, we’ll be flying out to Vegas next week to attend the Sleeter Group Accounting Solutions Conference. There, we’ll accept our award and will also have a booth so attendees can drop by and chat with Laura Ivey, Channel Product Sales Specialist, ShareFile for Accountants. If you’re attending the conference, stop by and see us at booth B20 in the Chelsea Exhibit Hall. You can also catch us on the Sleeter Show Walking Tour on Wednesday, November 9th at 11:05am for and educational session.

Check out a list of the 2012 winners here.

Did you know that each day some 5,760 hard drives will crash? An easy way to avoid the nightmare of lost data is to improve your practice with SaaS. Such services allow businesses to go on about their daily routine without the worry of file transfer and storage. Services that offer a portal are quickly becoming popular due to the easy to use delivery tool for clients. Accountants can easily post electronic versions of past tax returns and other relevant data so clients can access the documents 24/7 without interrupting workflow. Because that’s the goal, right?

ShareFile offers a client portal that allows firms to securely transfer files that are either too large or too confidential to send via e-mail. ShareFile for Accountants was specifically designed with Accounting Professionals to securely exchange confidential documents and large business files. Accounting firms can make documents available to clients through an encrypted, password-protected, custom-branded client portal or securely though email with a Microsoft Outlook Plug-in. The portal serves as an easy way for Accountants to create online folders which allow clients to see only those folders where specific access is granted.

Want to learn more about how we help accounting firms safely exchange their most sensitive files with state-of-the-art encryption for both file transfer and file storage? Contact us; we’d love to hear from you! Interested in trying ShareFile? Enjoy a free 30-day trial.

Some key features that are helpful to accounting firms include:

- Send and receive large QuickBooks, PDF, and Excel files
- Fast and cost-saving compared to shipping or couriers
- Ensure compliance with state/federal security regulations
- Provide clients with a 24/7 portal to access documents

Did you know that ShareFile is a Sleeter Group’s Awesome QuickBook’s Add-on Winner and is endorsed by K2 Enterprises, RootWorks, Boomer Consulting and other leading accounting and financial institutions? To learn more about how ShareFile can help streamline your business and save you money, check out ShareFile for Accountants.

With ShareFile’s new folder invitation feature, folder administrators will be able to send a link granting full folder access to as many email recipients as they would like without having to set the users up with folder access first. This feature is designed to make it easier for folder administrators to grant access to folders to a large group of users. These invitations will allow interested parties to sign up for gain access to folders within a ShareFile account. At the same time, we have also made updates to the “Remember Me” check box on the Login screen of a ShareFile account. Now, the check box reads “Keep me logged in,” as opposed to “Remember Me;” by selecting this option, the ShareFile account will save the email address and password of the user so that it will be automatically filled in whenever you login using the same browser on your computer. For any new accounts opened on the 16th of May or after, the box will read “Remember Me,” but this box will only save the user’s email address, and not their password. This update is designed to improve security within an account because the user must enter their ShareFile password each time they login. Accounts created prior to the 16th of May can also have this setting updated by contacting our Support team at support@sharefile.com. Finally, this month, our Development teams made a number of new account settings available, including the ability to limit file versions, create case-sensitive passwords and limit IP addresses. In limiting file versions, administrators can change the number of copies of a file that will be saved as separate versions on a folder. Case-sensitive passwords can also be enforced on an account-wide basis and accounts may now also limit account activity to a given number of IP addresses. This allows accounts to limit file access and to discourage distribution to external users. To change both the password settings in your account or to limit the IP addresses accessing your account, please contact ShareFile Support at support@sharefile.com.

Each one of these feature enhancements significantly increases your ability to manage your ShareFile account and each one was a result of customer feedback. If there are any new upgrades or suggestions on how we can help you to better manage your account, please contact us or email suggestions@sharefile.com.

Account Services representatives conduct daily training webinars and also one-on-one sessions for customers. The team has the opportunity to work with new our accounts and learn the reasons our customers chose ShareFile as a solution for their business. I recently asked two Account Services representatives, Alex Hofford and Amanda Rogers, about the features and benefits of a ShareFile account that are most helpful to people who are just getting started or looking to learn more. Below are some of the tips they shared.

What are the most common questions that you hear from new accounts?

Alex:
FAQ- One of the most common questions I get from clients is “What is my client going to be able to see when they log in?”

Answer- While the specific answer to this question will be different with each account, the fundamental answer lies within our Folder Access permissions. With these options, the account administrator can control not only which folders each client user can see in the system, but also any download/upload capability and email notifications. These options create a level of customization so that you and your clients can get the most appropriate use out of our system.

Amanda:
FAQ- “How is the transfer secure if we send out an email with a link to download a file? What if the email gets intercepted?”

Answer- I often get asked this question, especially when going over the ‘Require user to login’ option within ‘Send a File’. I point out that if the user isn’t already created as a user on the account, the system will assign them a password. I get a lot of concern over the password coming out in the same email as the link to the file. There are measures that the administrator(s) can put into place within their account to add additional security. Our first recommendation is to create the person as user in the system and then grant them access to a folder in the account that has the material you would be sending to them. If the user is created in this way, then they will be required to log-in each time before they can access the folder. They will be sent a temporary system-generated password in an initial email and will be prompted to change that password as soon as they log-in the first time. Email notifications can be turned on, so that notification will be provided as soon as new files have been uploaded to the folder.

I’ve also helped accounts with their email templates so that a new user’s password won’t go out in an email. Some accounts even change the passwords for all users to the last four digits of their SSN (for those in Accounting and Financial industries) and then only say in the welcome email that their password is the last four digits of their SSN. I also refer those who ask these questions to the Reporting feature in their account and let them know that they can trace downloads to an IP address and location to determine who is doing the downloading/uploading of a file.

What are the most popular features with your accounts?

Alex: Across all of our accounts, we provide access to the Desktop Widget tool in order to provide easy access to the ShareFile account without having to utilize an internet browser. The Widget allows the user to see the folders and files they have access to in the ShareFile account, while providing a way to upload documents, send files, and create new folders/subfolders.

Many people tell me they like the Widget because of the ability to Drag-and-Drop files in and out of the Widget window. This is a very easy way to move a large number of folders and/or files at once from outside the client portal.

Amanda: The Outlook Plug-in—everyone loves how easy it is to use!

The Reporting page and tracking features are also very popular. All of the users on an account may not be in close proximity with each other. Our notifications, combined with the Activity Log available in each folder, help the Administrator know if their colleagues and clients are getting their work done. Many administrators like being able to check to see how many files have been downloaded and to know right away when that happens. They also like knowing that if there is ever a question about meeting a deadline, they can use the Reporting features to get a time stamp of their work.

What are the best ways to get help when you’re getting started with a new account?

Alex: The Help link in the top right corner of the ShareFile portal menu provides a variety of options to get our clients the help they need as quickly as possible. This page contains a search field for our Knowledge Base (a collection of articles detailing various aspects of our service), a link to chat live with our Support Team, and contact information for both the support team and your account manager. Using these tools, customers can get the answer they need in a variety of different ways.

Amanda: We broadcast a daily webinar, held during the week at 2PM EDT. Each account has a dedicated account manager, who serves as a point of contact for any questions that come up as you start using the service. Customers can also contact their account manager to schedule a free training session for themselves and their colleagues if the webinars are time conflicting or if they would like the ability to ask more questions during training.

Many thanks to Alex and Amanda for the expert advice on getting started with your ShareFile account! If you have any questions or would like any help getting started with your account, please feel free to contact us at support@sharefile.com.

If you don’t have an account yet and would be interested in learning more about our service, check out our 30-day free trial at ShareFile.

ShareFile makes tax season easy for accountants. With unlimited client users, an accountant can upload clients’ tax returns, and any other information to the portal. Clients can then use their personal log-in to retrieve the information. Files are transmitted with 128-bit SSL encryption and ShareFile maintains compliance with state and federal security regulations. ShareFile is equipped with granular folder-level permissions so that clients only see folders where specific access is granted.

Barbara Wohlegmuth, a CPA with Tax Trailer, says she survived this past tax season with ShareFile.

“I can’t tell you how much using ShareFile made the season go more smoothly. I needed a secure way for clients to transmit information to me, and vice versa, and ShareFile was the perfect solution. My clients uploaded their tax information to their ShareFile folders. I then downloaded the information, prepared their tax returns, and then uploaded completed returns to their folders for them to access. I set up the client folders to notify me when clients uploaded new information for me, and to notify them when I had uploaded their tax returns. This worked great and was a tremendous time-saver for me. Best of all, ShareFile is so easy to use–there’s really no learning curve–and we all loved it. I will definitely continue using ShareFile.”