E-signatures · Glossary
What is signing order?
Signing order means the document goes to recipients one at a time, in a sequence you set, rather than to everybody at once. Each person is only invited once the person before them has signed. Turn it off and everybody receives their link immediately and can sign in any order.
Sequential signing is the right default for about a fifth of documents and a needless delay for the rest. The question is whether anybody's decision depends on somebody else's.
Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder
2 min read · Published
When the order genuinely matters
When a later signer needs to see what an earlier one did. A director countersigning after a supplier has committed, an approver who signs only once the schedules are filled in, a witness who has to see the signature they are witnessing. In each case sending everybody at once would let somebody sign a document that is not yet in its final state, which is the situation sequential signing exists to prevent.
When it just adds days
Two parties signing the same agreement, where neither is waiting on the other. Turning on the order there means the second person cannot start until the first has finished, which routinely adds days for no benefit. Parallel signing is the better default, and the finished document is identical either way.
How it is enforced
With the setting on, only the lowest outstanding position is invited, and every signing route checks that it is that person's turn before it will do anything. That is a server side check rather than a hidden button, so a recipient who somehow has a link cannot sign ahead of their turn. Off, everybody is invited on send.
Questions people ask
Can I mix sequential and parallel?
The setting is per envelope rather than per recipient, so a document is either sequential or not. Where you need two people at the same stage, give them the same position in the order; where you need a genuine mixture of workflows, that is usually two documents.
What happens if the first signer declines?
The sequence stops, because nobody after them is invited. That is the behaviour you want: the later signers never see a document that has already been rejected, and you can fix whatever caused the decline before restarting.
Does the order affect the legal effect?
Not usually. What matters is that everybody who needed to sign did, with intent. The order matters practically rather than legally: it controls what each person could see when they signed, which is occasionally the thing a dispute turns on.
Can I change the order after sending?
Sending is generally a one way door, because a document whose contents or routing can change after somebody has signed is not worth much as evidence. If the order is wrong, void the envelope and send a corrected one rather than trying to edit in flight.
Should the person who sent it sign first or last?
Last, usually, if you are countersigning. Signing first commits you before you know whether the other side will accept, and it gives away that you were willing. The exception is where your signature is what makes the offer real, such as a formal offer letter.
Make one with e-signatures
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Send a document for signingRelated questions
- Initials against a signatureA signature signs the agreement. Initials mark that a specific page or clause was seen. When to ask for each, and when initials are theatre.
- What is an audit trail?An audit trail is the ordered, tamper evident record of everything that happened to a document: who opened it, who was challenged, who signed and when.
- Access code against one time codeAn access code is a shared secret you send the signer yourself. A one time code is emailed at signing time and expires. When each is the right check.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .