E-signatures · Glossary
What does pp mean in a signature?
PP stands for per procurationem, Latin for through the agency of. Written beside a signature, it shows that the person signing is doing so on behalf of someone else, usually a manager or colleague named on the letter. The signer writes their own signature, then pp and the name of the person they sign for.
A pp on a letter is a small piece of agency law in two letters. It works for everyday correspondence, and it is the wrong tool for anything that needs a formal signing authority.
Indunil Asanka · Co-founder
4 min read · Published
| Form | What it signals | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| pp (per pro) | I sign on behalf of the named person, with their authority | Routine letters and correspondence |
| For and on behalf of | I sign as agent or officer of an organisation | Company contracts and orders |
| As attorney for | I sign under a power of attorney | Documents the donor would sign personally |
| Signed by two directors | The company itself executes the document | Contracts under section 127 of the Corporations Act |
What pp means
Per procurationem comes from procuration, the old word for acting as someone's agent. Cambridge Dictionary describes pp as being written before a name at the end of a letter to show that someone else signed it for them. In practice an assistant or colleague signs their own name and writes pp beside the name of the person the letter comes from. The reader is told two things at once: who the letter speaks for, and who physically signed it.
Where the pp goes
The traditional form puts pp before the name of the person being signed for, with the actual signature beside or above it, for example the colleague's signature followed by pp Dana Okafor, Finance Manager. Usage has drifted, and many offices now write the signer's name after the pp. Either way the aim is the same: the page must show both names so nobody can mistake the signature for the principal's own. A pp with only one legible name defeats its purpose.
What pp does not do
A pp does not create authority; it only claims it. If the colleague had no authority to send that letter, writing pp does not supply it. For a contract, a deed, a guarantee or anything a company must execute formally, a pp is weak evidence and often the wrong form entirely. Companies sign contracts through directors or authorised officers, and documents signed under a power of attorney use wording that names the attorney and the donor. Some documents, such as statutory declarations and affidavits, must be signed by the person making them and cannot be signed for them at all.
Common mistakes
Using pp on a contract because the manager is away. Signing pp with an illegible scrawl and no printed names. Treating pp as interchangeable with a power of attorney. And putting pp on an email footer, where it adds nothing: an email sent from a colleague's account already shows who sent it, and the authority question is the same.
Signing on behalf of someone in the product
In the e-sign module there is no pp signature: each recipient signs as themselves after opening their own link, and a signature block shows the signer's Name, Title and Company with a Date line stamped at the moment of signing. If a manager is unavailable, the right fix is to send the envelope to the person who is authorised to sign, so the certificate of completion records who actually signed.
Questions people ask
Is a pp signature legally valid?
It can be, when the person signing had authority to sign for the named person and the document does not need to be signed personally. Validity comes from that authority, not from the letters pp. If authority is disputed, the person relying on the letter has to show it existed, which is why pp suits correspondence better than contracts.
Should I write pp before my name or theirs?
The traditional form writes pp before the name of the person you sign for, beside your own signature, so it reads as signed by you on their behalf. Many workplaces reverse it. Whichever form your organisation uses, print both names and the principal's title so the reader cannot misread whose signature it is.
Can I pp a cheque or a bank form?
Banks follow their own mandates, and only the people named as signatories on the account can sign for it. A pp from someone outside the mandate will normally be refused. Ask the bank to add the person as an authorised signatory if they need to sign regularly.
Is pp the same as cc on a letter?
No. Cc lists people who receive a copy of the letter. Pp tells the reader that the signature was written by someone acting for the named sender. A letter can carry both, and they answer different questions: who else saw it, and who signed it.
Does pp work in an email or an electronic signature?
The idea carries over, but rarely helps. An electronic signature records the identity of the person who signed, so writing pp beside a typed name only restates that someone signed for another. For anything binding, send the document to the person with authority so the electronic record shows them as the signer.
Make one with e-signatures
The button opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own.
Send a document for signingRelated questions
- What is a signatory?What is a signatory: the person who signs a document and is bound by it, how an authorised signatory differs, and how companies, witnesses and recipients fit.
- How to sign on behalf of a companyHow to sign on behalf of a company: confirm your authority, name the company, sign in your capacity with your title, and use two officers for formal execution.
- Drawn vs typed electronic signatureA drawn electronic signature and a typed one are both valid. What each produces, what is recorded about the choice, and why the evidence comes from elsewhere.
Step by step in the builder: Send a PDF for e-signature.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .