For accountants, tax preparers and bookkeepers
Show that a source document or a workpaper has not changed since you sealed it.
Clients hand you statements, receipts and forms, and later someone asks what you were given and when. Phantom Receipt gives each file a signed receipt with an independent timestamp, so you can show the version you worked from. I am offering a free pilot to accountants, tax preparers and bookkeepers.
What you could seal
- Source documents as the client gave them to you: statements, receipts, forms.
- The engagement letter in the version that was signed.
- A year-end snapshot of your workpapers.
- A return or filing as it was submitted, and the acknowledgment you received.
When it helps
- A client says "I never sent you that" or "you changed it."
- A notice or an examination asks what you relied on.
- A dispute with a former client or a former colleague about what was in the file.
- You want to show that your records were not edited after the fact.
What a receipt shows, and what it does not
A receipt shows that a file existed in exactly this form at the time it was sealed, and that it has not changed since. Anyone can check that with the signer's public key and a free browser tool.
- It does not show that the figures in a document are right, or that a return is correct.
- It is not an audit, a review or any kind of attestation, and it is not tax, accounting or legal advice. Best Pay LLC is not a law firm or a CPA firm.
- It does not replace the record-retention or e-file rules that apply to you.
- It does not show who made a file, or that a signature on it is valid.
What we receive, exactly
We confirm this in writing for your pilot before any work starts.
- Option A, files. You send the files by a method we agree. We compute each file's SHA-256 fingerprint, seal the fingerprints and return your package.
- Option B, fingerprints only. You compute the fingerprints yourself, with the free fingerprint page, and send only those. We never see the files.
Client tax and financial records carry strict confidentiality duties, including rules about disclosing return information to anyone outside your firm. Option B was designed for this: only a fingerprint leaves your computer, never the document. Whether and how to send any client material to a vendor is your decision, so check your own obligations first.
How the pilot works
- We agree the scope in writing. Which client file or engagement, and what will be sealed.
- You send the files, or only their fingerprints.
- We seal and timestamp. Each item gets a signed receipt, and an outside timestamp authority signs a hash of the ledger.
- You get a package anyone can check: sealed receipts, a plain-English evidence report and a one-page checking guide.
Cost
The pilot is free. After it, a flat fee, agreed in writing before work starts. If the price is not right for you, you owe nothing for the pilot.
How to start
Email ibg@bestfortifiedpay.com. The button below opens an email with a few questions already filled in. There is no form on this site and nothing is collected here.