Staying ahead of the electronic curve

Barely had the business world figured out whether a faxed signature is legally binding (it is) than it was faced with the same issues in a much more complex medium: the Internet. The explosive growth of e-commerce and electronic business transactions will only increase the need for a practical technological solution to the problem of identification and verification that the signature currently provides.

This month’s installment in The CPA Journal’s ongoing Millennium Series discusses the various types of technology that are available or being developed to give businesses some level of assurance about the authenticity, enforceability, and security of electronic signatures. Each technology has its strengths and weaknesses; the benefits of security each provides must be weighed and the costs of its implementation evaluated.

When President Clinton signed the E-Signature Act into law last year, he probably used the traditional presidential pen. Someday soon, that tool may be replaced with something less souvenir-worthy, but far more fitting for a technological world.

The CPA Journal is broadly recognized as an outstanding, technical-refereed publication aimed at public practitioners, management, educators, and other accounting professionals. It is edited by CPAs for CPAs. Our goal is to provide CPAs and other accounting professionals with the information and news to enable them to be successful accountants, managers, and executives in today's practice environments.