Advisor Bridge for Advisory Firms: What to Expect on Day One
A CPA firm has invited your firm to receive a client's tax information through Advisor Bridge. This page covers how to accept the invitation, what you will and will not be able to see, and why a client can disappear from your list without anyone telling you first. That last part is not a fault — it is the taxpayer's consent doing its job.
How this works for CPA firms → · What your shared clients are told →
Accepting your invitation
- The invitation email contains a single-use link that expires after 7 days. If yours has lapsed, ask your firm's administrator to send another.
- Open the link and choose a password — at least 8 characters, with an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter and a number.
- You have to click the button on the page. The link deliberately does nothing on its own, because mail scanners follow links automatically and would otherwise consume your invitation before you ever saw it.
- Once activated, sign in with your email and new password.
Activating an account shares nothing. An account by itself shows you no clients. You see a client only after that client's CPA explicitly grants you access to them, one client at a time.
Signing in
- Sessions last 8 hours and then need a fresh sign-in. That is shorter than most tools on purpose — you are holding someone else's tax data.
- Five failed attempts locks the account for 15 minutes.
- You can reset your own password from the sign-in page at any time.
- Never share a login. Every action is recorded against the individual who performed it, and a shared login makes that record useless to everyone, including you.
What you will see
- Only clients whose CPA has granted you access.
- Only the items that client's CPA published. A tax snapshot is a deliberate selection, not an extract of the return.
- Documents the CPA has specifically shared with you, and message threads you are part of.
- Depending on the permission level you were given, you may also be able to contribute information back to the CPA.
Why something may be missing, and why you are told
Under IRC §7216, the CPA firm may not disclose their client's tax return information to you without the taxpayer's signed written consent. That consent names your firm, lists the specific information covered, and carries an expiry date.
So an item can be absent for two quite different reasons, and the platform distinguishes them rather than leaving you to guess.
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| The item simply is not there | The CPA did not publish it. Ask them. |
| An explicit note that something is withheld pending consent | It exists, but the taxpayer's consent does not cover it — or has expired, or been withdrawn. The CPA has to obtain consent before it can reach you. |
The second case is not the CPA being difficult. Disclosing to you without that consent would expose them to a criminal provision.
Why access can disappear
Two independent things can end your view, and both take effect immediately rather than at some nightly review.
- The CPA revokes your access to a client.
- The taxpayer's consent expires or is withdrawn. Note that this also ends your view of material already published — continuing to read it is itself a continuing disclosure, so it stops when the authorization stops.
If a client vanishes from your list, that is the system working. Contact the CPA firm.
What is recorded
Every snapshot you view, every document you download and every message you send is logged and visible to the CPA firm, with your name against it.
This is not surveillance of you. It is the record the CPA needs in order to show what was disclosed, to whom, and under whose authorization. It protects you as much as them: it evidences that everything you received, you were entitled to receive.
Managing your own firm
If you are an administrator at your firm you can invite colleagues, set their role, withdraw an invitation that has not yet been accepted, and see who at your firm holds an account. Only administrators can do this, and every invitation is recorded.
Client access is not yours to grant. That stays with each client's CPA, for every client, individually.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an Advisor Bridge invitation last?
Seven days, and the link can be used once. If it has expired, your firm's administrator can send a new one. You must click the button on the page — the link does nothing on load, so that a mail scanner cannot consume it before you do.
Does having an Advisor Bridge account mean I can see a client?
No. An account by itself shows you nothing. You see a client only after that client's CPA explicitly grants you access to them, one client at a time, and only the items that CPA has published.
Why did a client disappear from my list?
Either the CPA revoked your access, or the taxpayer's consent expired or was withdrawn. Both take effect immediately, including for material already published, because continuing to read a disclosure is itself a continuing disclosure. Contact the CPA firm.
Can the CPA see what I have looked at?
Yes. Every snapshot view, document download and message is logged with your name against it. That record is what lets the CPA show what was disclosed and under whose authorization, which protects you as much as them.