E-signatures · Glossary
What is signing order?
Signing order means the document goes to recipients in a sequence you set rather than to everybody at once. Each position is only invited once everyone in the positions before it has signed, and two people given the same position sign in parallel. 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
5 min read · Published · Updated
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, a manager who signs only once the schedules have been completed by the other side, a second party whose signature is conditional on the first. 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. Countersigning is the most common reason: the party that drafted the agreement wants the other side bound before it binds itself, so it takes the last position.
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, especially across time zones where each hand off can cost a night. Parallel signing is the better default when nobody's decision depends on anybody else's, and the finished document is identical either way. The order changes when people are invited, not what the signed file looks like.
How it works in this product
The envelope has one Sign in order switch, and every recipient has a position number starting at 1. With the switch on, only the lowest outstanding position is invited when you send, and every signing route checks that it is that recipient's turn before it will do anything, so a recipient who somehow has a link cannot sign ahead of time. People who share a position are invited together and sign in parallel, and the next position is only reached when every one of them has signed. With the switch off, everybody is invited on send. A new envelope starts with the switch on, and the send confirmation reflects its current state, so turn it off before sending if nobody needs to wait.
A worked sequence
A three party lease: the tenant at position 1, the guarantor also at position 1, and the landlord at position 2. On send, the tenant and the guarantor both receive their links at once and sign in whichever order suits them. When the second of the two finishes, the landlord is invited and countersigns last, seeing a document already carrying both signatures. If the guarantor declines instead, the envelope moves to declined, the sender is emailed with the reason, and the landlord is never invited. Every step lands in the audit trail with its timestamp, so the sequence can be shown later.
Common mistakes
Numbering everybody 1, 2, 3 out of habit when two of them could sign in parallel, which stretches a one day signing into three. Leaving the switch on by default for two parties who could sign at once. Putting the sender first when the sender is countersigning, which commits them before the other side has agreed. And trying to fix a wrong order after sending: nothing about an envelope can be edited once it leaves draft, so the fix is to void it and send a corrected one.
Questions people ask
Can two people sign at the same step?
Yes. Give them the same position number and, with signing order on, they are invited together and can sign in either order. The next position is only invited once every recipient at the current one has signed. This is how a sequence and parallel signing are combined in one envelope without splitting the document in two.
What happens if the first signer declines?
The sequence stops, because nobody after them is ever invited. The envelope moves to declined and the sender is emailed with the reason, if one was given. That is the behaviour you want: later signers never see a document that has already been rejected, and you can fix whatever caused the decline before sending a new envelope.
Does the order affect the legal effect?
Not usually. What matters is that everybody who needed to sign did, with intent to sign. 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, and the audit trail records the sequence so it can be shown.
Is a routing order fixed once the envelope is sent?
Yes. Once an envelope leaves draft the editor redirects to the status page, so neither recipients nor positions can change. A document whose routing could shift after somebody has signed would be weak evidence. If the order is wrong, void the envelope, which emails everyone still holding a live link, and send a corrected one.
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 shows you were willing on those terms. The exception is where your signature is what makes the offer real, such as a formal offer letter that the recipient accepts by signing second.
How long does each signer have in a sequence?
Every envelope expires 30 days after it is created, and that date cannot be changed in the app, so a long chain shares one clock. A signer invited on day 25 has five days left, not thirty. For a sequence of several busy people, send promptly and follow up, because an expired envelope has to be sent again from the start.
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Send a document for signingRelated questions
- What does countersign mean?To countersign is to sign after another party has signed, completing the document. How it differs from signing and initialling, and who should go last.
- 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.
- What is a certificate of completion?An e-signature certificate of completion is the PDF record of a finished signing: each signer's identity check, IP and consent, plus the full event log.
- 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.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .