Signing example
Sign a salary review letter online
A salary review letter carries one number that matters and it has to be the number both sides signed. This one page envelope puts a six digit emailed code in front of the letter, takes the employee's signature, then lets HR countersign in a block, and the certificate records the hash of the file as sent so the rate on the signed page can be checked against the rate that was offered.
Who signs what
- Marguerite Ozols, the employee, signs first
- Signature and stamped date · Verified by emailed one-time code
- Wren Halliday, for Ledgerly, countersigns
- Signature block: Name, Title, Date · Email link
The signing journey
Step 1
One page, three fields, order on
The employee gets a signature and a date under the acceptance heading; HR gets a block beside them. Nothing can be countersigned before it is accepted.
Step 2
The code comes before the number
Set to the emailed one-time code, her link opens a verification card rather than the letter. The six digit code lasts ten minutes and is redeemable once.
Step 3
She signs and the date stamps itself
One drawn signature, the consent statement accepted, and a date printed as Sep 12, 2026 from the moment she submitted. There is no date box to type into, so the acceptance date on the letter and the timestamp in the record cannot drift apart.
Step 4
HR countersigns and payroll is released
Wren's invitation was generated only when the signature landed. Her block printed FOR LEDGERLY over three lines: her name from the recipient record, the title she typed, and a stamped date. The letter itself says the countersignature is what releases the change to payroll.
Step 5
The hash is the guarantee
The certificate prints the hash as sent, the hash of the fully signed file, and each signer's hash at signing. The rate cannot have been altered between the offer and either signature.
Every field, and who fills it
Three fields, on a page that is mostly a table of two numbers. The employee signs under the acceptance heading and a date lands beside her; the employer's block sits opposite with Name, Title and Date. That thinness is deliberate. A pay letter that asks for initials on every paragraph reads as though the employer is expecting an argument, so the weight here sits behind the page instead: in the six digit code set against the recipient, the address the signature came from, and the hash of the file as it was sent. The only keystrokes on the finished letter are a job title.
How to adapt this envelope
First, a promotion letter that changes the role as well as the rate runs the same way with a longer document and the same three fields. Second, where a manager approves before HR, add a third recipient in the middle of the order. Third, where the employee should acknowledge a specific condition, such as an on call roster change, add a checkbox beside that line and mark it required so the letter cannot be submitted without it.
Why a signed pay letter is worth the two minutes
Pay disputes are usually about what was agreed and when, not about arithmetic. A certified PDF holding the old rate, the new rate, the effective date, two signatures, two IP addresses and two consent timestamps answers both questions at once.
What makes this signing flow work
The number is hashed, not trusted
A pay letter is exactly the document somebody would want to edit after the fact. The certificate records the sha256 of the file as sent and the hash each signer saw, so the base salary on the signed page is provably the base salary that was offered.
The code keeps a pay letter private
With the one time code set, a forwarded link shows nothing but the envelope title and the fact that a code is needed. The letter, the current salary and the new salary are served only after the code is redeemed, which matters for a document that names somebody's pay.
Countersigning is the release, not a formality
Sign in order means HR signs last, and the letter says the countersignature releases the change to payroll. The envelope therefore models the actual approval step rather than leaving the pay change sitting in an inbox waiting for an email reply.
Questions people ask
Can the employee reply by email instead of signing?
An email reply proves that somebody with access to a mailbox said yes. A signature behind a six digit code, with a consent timestamp and the hash of the exact file, proves which document was accepted and when. On a figure that flows into payroll for the rest of the year, the difference is worth two minutes.
Could the employer countersign a letter nobody accepted?
Not through this envelope. The order puts the employee first, so the second invitation does not exist until her signature has landed. Turning the switch off would send both at once, and the letter could then be countersigned by payroll before anybody had read the new rate.
What if the employee does not accept the increase?
She can press Decline with a reason, which moves the envelope to declined, stops any further stamping and emails the sender the reason she typed. HR is never invited. The sender can void the declined envelope with a note and send a revised letter as a fresh envelope.
What is the deadline for accepting?
The envelope stops working thirty days after it was created, and nothing in the app moves that date. Past it the link reports that the signing request has expired. The effective date of the increase is a separate thing, printed in the letter as the first full pay period on or after 1 October 2026.
Can the rate be changed after sending?
No, and that is the point of the hashes. A sent envelope is locked and the editor redirects to the status page. A wrong figure means withdrawing, which voids the link and tells the employee it was withdrawn by the sender, then sending a corrected letter.
Does the employee need an account?
No. The emailed link and the six digit code are the whole login. Accounts exist only on the sending side, where the envelope is prepared and tracked. On a phone the letter renders in the portal and the signature is drawn with a finger.
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Sign a written warning acknowledgement online
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Want the steps in the builder? Read Send a PDF for e-signature, then Send a document for signature. For everything this generator can do, see the signing flow maker.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .