SignAndGoSigning order, approvers and witnesses: what to look for.
A single signer is easy for any tool. The differences show up when a document passes through several hands: a client, then a director; a manager who must approve before it goes out; an office that only needs a copy. Here is what to check, and the questions to keep separate.
Sequential or all at once
Some paperwork has a natural order. A lease is signed by the tenant before the landlord's agent countersigns; an agreement goes to the employee before the manager. Other documents, such as a board resolution, can go to everyone at once. Check that a tool lets you choose per envelope, and that in an ordered envelope the next person is only notified when the previous one finishes.
SignAndGo supports both: choose signers in order or all at once when you set up the envelope.
Approvers are not signers
An approver reviews a document but places no signature. Look for a tool that treats the role separately, so an approval cannot be mistaken for a signature in the record. Also check whether the approval can sit before signing (a manager checks the contract before the client sees it) or after (a final sign-off once everyone has signed).
In SignAndGo an approver can be placed either before anyone signs or after everyone has.
People who only need a copy
Payroll, a property manager's trust accounting inbox, or a client's adviser often just need the finished document. A good tool lets you copy them in without giving them a field to fill, and sends them the completed set automatically. Review-only sending, where a person confirms receipt without signing, covers notices and policy updates.
Where witnessing fits
Whether a particular document needs a witness, and how that witness must take part, depends on the document and its purpose. That is a question for your solicitor or adviser, not something a signing tool should answer for you, and this guide does not.
What you can test in any tool is the mechanics: that you can add every person your adviser says is needed, in the sequence they say, and that each person's actions appear separately in the audit trail.
Read the record, not the brochure
Run a three-person envelope with an approver, then open the audit trail. Every view, approval and signature should be listed with a name, email address, time and IP address. If you cannot tell from the record who did what and in which order, the workflow settings are only half the story.
Common questions
- Can I mix ordered signing with an approver?
- Yes. In SignAndGo you set the signing order and place an approver before or after the signers.
- Does SignAndGo tell me if a document needs a witness?
- No. Ask your solicitor or adviser which documents need one and how.
- Can someone get the finished document without signing?
- Yes. Copy them in, or send it for review only so they confirm receipt.