How to Safely Share a Document with Your Accountant or Solicitor

Sooner or later you need to send a sensitive document to someone else. A bank statement to your mortgage adviser, a tax return to your accountant, a contract to your solicitor. The instinct is to email a PDF and be done with it. The instinct is wrong. Here is what to think about, and what your better options actually look like.

Why Plain Email Is a Bad Idea

A PDF sent over email never really comes back. It sits in your sent folder, in the recipient's inbox, and almost certainly on several mail servers along the way. Anyone who later gets access to either account, perhaps long after you have moved on from your accountant, also has access to that document. Forwarding it onwards is one click. There is no way to revoke it.

If the document contains your full address, date of birth, bank details, or a signature, that is more than enough information for identity fraud. Even a payslip is a goldmine in the wrong hands.

Password-Protected PDFs

Adding a password to a PDF before emailing it is a step up, but it does not solve everything. The password has to travel somehow, often in a second email or a text, which is awkward. Most people use weak passwords like the recipient's surname plus the year. And the file itself still lives on indefinitely once the password is shared.

Cloud Links

Sending a Google Drive or Dropbox link is faster than attaching, but the default sharing settings are often more open than you realise. Anyone with the link can sometimes view it, and the link does not expire. You also rarely get a record of who actually opened it.

Secure Client Portals

Most accountants and solicitors offer their own portals, which are the safest option from their side but often the most painful from yours. You have to sign up, set a password, find the upload button, and remember which firm uses which portal. People tend to give up and email anyway.

Read-Only Links That Expire

The middle ground is a read-only link that you generate yourself, that expires after a set time, and that you can revoke. The recipient does not need to log in or remember a password. You see how many times the link has been opened. When the work is done, you delete the link and the document is no longer accessible.

Before You Share Anything

• Open the document yourself and confirm it is the right one and the right version.
• Check that no other personal details have crept in, especially on multi-page bank statements.
• Send only what is needed. If your accountant only needs to see one section, redact the rest.
• Tell the recipient how long the link will be live.
• Set a reminder to revoke it when the job is done.

A Faster Way

Orlo creates read-only share links in two clicks. Pick a document, choose 7 days, 30 days, or never, and send the link any way you like. You can see how many times it has been opened and revoke it whenever you want. No portal sign-up, no password to send separately, no copies floating around forever.