SafeSend One APIs Use Case

Honkamp, P.C. is a Top 10 Midwest CPA and business advisory group (Accounting Today, 2025). Founded in 1947 and serving client organizations from coast to coast, Honkamp’s clients range from privately held organizations to individuals and nonprofits. With 11 offices and more than 330 employees, they process upwards of 13,000 tax returns per year while providing comprehensive tax, assurance, business advisory, and wealth management services.

Honkamp needed to eliminate a hidden bottleneck in their workflow: The manual tasks required after clients signed their tax documents. Here’s how integrating with SafeSend One™ APIs transformed their post-signature process from hours of manual work to seconds of automated precision.

"We talked with SafeSend about how we can automate our post-signature process and learned that APIs with webhooks were becoming available. SafeSend One could tell us when the client signed returns and what information we would need to take that return to the next steps. That was very exciting."

Bob Fink
Chief Information Officer
Honkamp, P.C.

Years ago, Honkamp was drowning in a paper-based tax return process. They solved this problem by diving headfirst into SafeSend One. Even though the client-facing process was seamless, their internal workflow post-signature left much to be desired. After clients signed their tax forms, Honkamp staff faced a series of time-consuming manual tasks during the busiest time of year, leading to:

Process bottlenecks: Manually releasing returns and updating workflow statuses created delays in completing returns.
Staff overload: Late nights spent on administrative tasks like document management reduced work-life balance and increased the risk of burnout.
Quality concerns: Manual handling of documents and status updates increased the potential for human error and outdated reporting dashboards.

As early adopters of SafeSend One, Honkamp again turned to SafeSend to collaborate on implementing an API integration that would eliminate four major manual tasks after receiving client signatures. The solution established a seamless integration between systems, reducing days of labor to just seconds through:

Instant notification: Webhooks alert systems the moment a client signs, triggering automated workflows.
Automated processing: Tax software automatically releases returns with no manual intervention.
Seamless documentation: Signed forms automatically save to their data management system.
Workflow intelligence: Status updates and dashboard cleanup happen without staff involvement.

Technical Lingo

APIs (application programming interfaces): Software mechanisms that allow different applications to communicate and exchange data, creating or improving efficiencies.

Webhook: Another means by which software applications communicate. Webhooks are event-driven, an automated way of sending data when a specific event happens; whereas APIs are request-driven, automatically requesting data.

"Two days before the deadline, we were asked to shut off the API so that the team could manually ensure all the i's were dotted and t's were crossed. They made it about half a day before they told us to turn it back on."

Bob Fink
Chief Information Officer
Honkamp, P.C.

While most firms wouldn’t even consider making huge workflow changes during busy season, Honkamp met the challenge head-on. They implemented SafeSend APIs in February 2023, right as tax deadlines were approaching. The outcome of a mid-busy season implementation?

Process bottlenecks: Staff embraced the change when they saw how much time it saved.
Proven under pressure: The automation performed flawlessly, even during peak periods.
Leadership validated: A brief attempt to revert to manual processes during a deadline confirmed the value of the API.

"I could not imagine staff picking up these manual tasks and having to click through these screens ever again. We're not going back.”

Bob Fink
Chief Information Officer
Honkamp, P.C.

90 seconds

Time saved per return

Every time a client signs a tax form, SafeSend APIs eliminate up to 90 seconds of manual processing that would otherwise be required. This automation, coupled with more than 8,000 annual returns? Welcome back, work-life balance.

4 tasks

Manual processes eliminated

Through SafeSend One APIs, Honkamp completely removed four separate human touchpoints that slowed down every tax return. Now, staff no longer need to manually release returns, update workflow statuses, save signed forms to the DMS, or archive complete jobs. Hello, fully automated end-to-end tax return workflow process.

300 hours

Total labor saved during busy season

Honkamp reclaimed over 300 critical hours during tax season—equivalent to nearly two months of full-time work for one employee! The time recovered during the most deadline-driven time of the year? Priceless.

$96k

Total labor costs saved

By implementing SafeSend One APIs for the post-signature process, Honkamp achieved cost savings equivalent to a full-time employee without reducing their team size. These savings came through pure efficiency rather than staff cuts, allowing the firm to grow without the usual cost increase. That’s what we call smart money.

1 minute

Time taken from delivery to signature

Many clients complete the signature process within 60 seconds of receiving their tax documents—a manual process that could take weeks before SafeSend One. Speed that both clients and staff appreciate? Now that’s good business.

Honkamp’s automation strategy hasn’t just made the tax return workflow more efficient—it’s also been a strong driver in successful mergers and acquisitions. They’ve been able to leverage SafeSend One APIs to integrate new practices and scale their firm.

Merger accelerator: New teams on acquired firms quickly recognize and embrace the value of the automation process.
Capacity minus the overhead: Processing thousands more returns each year has become possible without the need to increase staff.
Rapid onboarding: Acquired firms can traditionally take years to fully adopt standardized processes, but automation creates immediate buy-in.

"This is one of those the staff have really loved to be able to jump on right away. Once we talk about, 'Hey, we're going to automate the stuff, and you literally don't do it anymore,' it's a pretty quick win."

Bob Fink
Chief Information Officer
Honkamp, P.C.

"I think our tax staff thought we were a little bit crazy to pull the trigger as we're already flowing into tax season. But we picked one step at a time, worked through it, and were able to pull those tasks off our team."

Bob Fink
Chief Information Officer
Honkamp, P.C.

Honkamp’s relationship with SafeSend portrays the power of a truly collaborative partnership, especially considering an API integration going live during busy season. What began as early adoption has evolved into an exchange of ideas that benefits both organizations and the accounting profession as a whole.

First-generation believers: Honkamp was among the first firms to embrace SafeSend’s vision, latching on from day one. This early commitment established a foundation of mutual respect that continues today.
Valued feedback loop: SafeSend actively seeks and implements Honkamp’s input on features and improvements. They collaborate with product managers and development teams to ensure that real-world experiences shape future enhancements for the profession.
Agents for change: Honkamp has become an advocate within the accounting profession, actively sharing their automation successes with their peers. They’ve helped other firms with similar automation, demonstrating their commitment to improving the entire profession.