Signing example
Invoice approval e-signature, manager then finance
An approved invoice has to show two different people checked two different things, in an order nobody can shuffle afterwards. This envelope carries Lantern Creative's two page tax invoice INV-2026-0217 to Meridian Property Partners, with a one page approval sheet appended as page 3. Meridian's department manager signs, dates and types a cost centre first, then its finance officer does the same and names the payment run.
The document itself is written out in full on its own page: read the wording there. This page is only about signing it.
Who signs what
- Ruth Calderwood, Meridian department manager, first
- Signature and stamped date on the page 3 approval sheet · Typed cost centre code · Email link, no code · Confirms the work on the invoice was ordered and delivered
- Hamish Doull, Meridian finance officer, second
- Signature and stamped date on the page 3 approval sheet · Typed payment run date · Email link, no code · Confirms the tax invoice details and the bank details before payment
The signing journey
Step 1
Invoice plus an approval page, six fields
The supplier's invoice is two pages and has no approval area of its own, so a one page sheet with a Department manager column and a Finance officer column is appended as page 3 before upload. Both approvers are added and each gets a signature, a date and one text box on that page. The editor colours each recipient's fields so the two columns never blur together, and the two invoice pages carry no fields.
Step 2
Sign in order goes on
Only the manager is invited when Send is pressed. The finance officer has no link at all until the manager's signature is stamped into the file.
Step 3
The manager signs and names the cost centre
One drawing fills the signature, the date stamps itself, and the cost centre is typed by the manager. Nothing in the editor lets the sender pre-fill that box.
Step 4
Finance is invited automatically
The listener stamps the manager's fields, then invites the next order. Finance opens a copy that already carries the first signature and the cost centre.
Step 5
One certified file, one event log
When the second signature lands the file is certified and emailed to both approvers and the sender, and the certificate shows the invitation to finance sitting between the two signatures.
Every field, and who fills it
Six fields on page 3, three each. The manager's column carries a signature above the rule the approval sheet prints, a date under it, and a box for the cost centre the spend is charged to. The finance column mirrors it, with a box for the payment run date instead. Pages 1 and 2 are the invoice exactly as Lantern Creative issued it: both ABNs, purchase order PO-8842, six lines totalling $17,670.00, GST of $1,767.00, $19,437.00 due on 1 September 2026, and the bank details, none of it signable. Because the invoice and the approval sheet are one PDF, the certificate's document hash covers both, so nobody can later swap the invoice the approvals sit behind.
How to adapt this envelope
A third approver above a threshold joins as a second signer ahead of finance, and the order runs manager, head of department, finance. An invoice that needs a delivery docket reference rather than a cost centre is the same envelope with a different caption and a different field label. And where both approvals can happen in parallel, turning the order switch off invites both at once, which is faster and loses exactly the control that made this envelope worth sending in order.
What makes this valid in Australia
The Electronic Transactions Act 1999 lets a signature be given electronically where the method identifies the person, shows their intention and is as reliable as the circumstances require, and an internal approval is comfortably inside that. The invoice being approved is a tax invoice in its own right: the supplier's identity and ABN, the date, the GST amount and the words tax invoice all have to be on it before a credit is claimed, and that is the finance officer's check rather than anything the signing adds. The certificate keeps the evidence side: two IP addresses, two consent timestamps, and the document hash at each signing.
What makes this signing flow work
The order is the control
Sign in order is what turns two signatures into an approval chain. Finance has no link and no sight of the document until the manager's block is stamped, so a finance approval out of this envelope was always given over a completed manager approval rather than beside one.
Two typed boxes carry the accounting
A cost centre and a payment run are the two facts a signature cannot carry. Each is a text field owned by the person who knows it, typed in their own session, and printed above a caption on the approval sheet that says which is which, so the finished file is readable without the ledger open beside it.
The dates are stamped, not claimed
Both dates come from the moment each submission landed, in the same Sep 20, 2026 form, and neither approver can type into them. On a document whose whole purpose is to show who approved what and when, the two times on the page match the two times on the certificate exactly.
Questions people ask
Is an invoice approved with an e-signature valid in Australia?
For an internal approval, yes. The Electronic Transactions Act 1999 accepts an electronic signature where the method identifies the signer and shows intention. What the tax office cares about is the invoice itself carrying the supplier, the ABN, the date and the GST, which the finance officer checks before approving.
Can the finance officer sign before the manager?
No. Sign in order is on, so only the lowest outstanding order is invited and the server blocks every signer route out of turn. Finance has no link until the manager's signature is stamped into the working copy, and the certificate's event log shows the invitation going out after that.
Can both approvers sign from home?
Yes. Each gets their own link to their own email, and the portal works on a phone: below 560 pixels the document goes read only and the typed box moves into a panel above it. The certificate records the IP address each signature came from.
Why append an approval page instead of signing on the invoice itself?
Because the invoice belongs to the supplier. Lantern Creative's two pages end at the payment details and notes, with no space set aside for the buyer's checks, and writing across them would make the supplier's document look altered. A separate last page gives each approver a labelled column, keeps the invoice untouched, and still travels inside the same certified PDF, so the approvals and the invoice they approve cannot be separated.
What if an approver declines?
The envelope moves to declined, nothing further is stamped and the sender is emailed with the reason typed into the decline box. If the manager declines, finance is never invited at all. A declined envelope can still be withdrawn, and a corrected sheet goes out as a new envelope.
Can the sender type the cost centre in advance?
No. The selected field panel in the editor offers a field label and a Required switch and nothing else, so every text value on this sheet was typed by the person it was assigned to, in their own signing session. That is the point of putting the box on the document at all.
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Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .