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E-Sign Requests

Send purchase requests for digital signing, track progress, and automate actions on completion or expiry.

Q1. What is E-Sign in Purchase Requests?

  • E-Sign lets you send purchase requests for digital signing by internal and external parties. It includes built-in email reminders, signing progress tracking, and automated actions when a request is signed or expires.

Q2. Where can E-Sign be used?

Q3. How do I set up and send a document for e-signing?

  • Before sending, set up an e-sign template first. See E-Sign Templates for setup details.

  • To send a request for e-signing:

  • Go to Purchases → Orders → Requests → Pending

  • Open a pending request and click the E-Sign icon

  • Complete the following steps:

Step 1: Template

  • Choose an e-sign template

  • Attach additional PDFs if needed (signing fields can be added to these in Step 3)

  • Set the default expiry date

  • Enable decline and cancel reasons if needed

  • Set the action on completion:

    • Do nothing: no automated action

    • Auto-accept request: the request is accepted

    • Auto-accept & bill: the request is accepted and an active bill is created

  • Set the action on expiry:

    • Auto-cancel: cancels the request

    • Alert, then cancel: notifies all parties, then cancels the request

    • Manual only: no automated action; request must be edited manually

Step 2: Signers

  • Add external and internal signers

  • Drag signer names to set the signing order: signing is sequential, so each signer is notified only after the previous signer completes their signature

  • Add CC observers to notify them of the outcome without requiring them to sign

  • Signers are limited to 50 total (external and internal combined)

Step 3: Fields

  • Drag and drop fields onto the request or attached PDFs, or click a field and draw it directly on the document

  • Resize fields by dragging the bottom-right corner

  • All signers must have at least one Signature field assigned

Step 4: Emails

  • Edit the content for invitation, reminder, and completion emails

  • Use email strings for dynamic values (e.g., {{expiryDate}})

  • Set a reminder schedule for all signers; set to 0 to send reminders until the document expires

Step 5: Review

  • Choose a delivery mode (all modes send an email to signers)

  • Review all details and send

  • Note: The Next button will remain gray if required fields in the current step are incomplete.

Q4. What is the difference between external and internal signers?

  • External signers: outside the organization; receive an email to sign the document; no account or sign-in required, they access the request directly via the emailed link

  • Internal signers: inside the organization; do not receive an email; they sign via To Do List (upper right icon, beside notification icon) → To Sign

  • Note: If you want an organization member to receive the signing email, add them as an external signer instead.

Q5. How do internal signers sign the document?

  • Internal signers go to To Do List (upper right icon, beside notification icon) → To Sign to access and sign the document.

Q6. What fields can be added to a document?

  • Signature: signer can type or draw a signature

  • Initial: signer can type or draw initials

  • Date: auto-fills with today's date when clicked

  • Text: signer can enter free-form text

  • Note:

    • Fields can be added to both the request and any attached PDFs, and resized by dragging the bottom-right corner.

    • A red signer field means that a signer hasn't been assigned a signing field yet. All signers must have at least 1 field to sign.

Q7. Can I make a field optional?

  • Yes. Click on the field and uncheck the required checkbox.

Q8. How do I delete a field?

  • Click on the field and select Remove Field.

Q9. Can I attach additional PDFs to the document?

  • Yes. Up to 10 PDF attachments are supported, with a maximum of 8MB total for all attached documents. Signing fields can also be added to attached PDFs in Step 3.

Q10. Can I customize the signing emails?

  • Yes. In Step 4: Emails, you can edit the invitation, reminder, and completion email content.

  • Use email strings for dynamic values such as {{expiryDate}}.

Q11. What notifications do CC observers receive?

  • CC observers are notified based on the template's Reminders and Sender Notification Cadence setting.

  • This can be configured to notify observers on every event, milestones only, completion only, or not at all. See [What can I set up under Reminders?] in E-Sign Templates.

Q12. Where can I view e-signing activity?

  • Go to Purchases → Orders → Requests → Pending → Open a Pending Request → E-Sign Icon

  • This shows the details and activity for that request.

Q13. What happens when a document expires?

  • The action taken depends on what is set under Action on Expiry in Step 1:

    • Auto-cancel: cancels the request

    • Alert, then cancel: notifies all parties, then cancels the request

    • Manual only: no automated action; request must be edited manually

Q14. What happens when a signer declines to sign?

  • The sender is notified of the decline. The document is not completed, even if all other signers have already signed.

  • Since signing is sequential, any signers after the declining signer are not asked to sign.

  • Once the request is edited based on the decline reason, you can resend it for e-signing.

  • Resending invalidates the previous signing link, and a new link is sent to all signers via email.

Q15. Can I edit the e-sign setup after sending?

  • No. E-sign details are final once sent.

Q16. Can I edit the purchase request while e-signing is in progress?

  • No. Attempting to edit the request while e-signing is underway will return an error.

Q17. Can I resend a document for e-signing?

  • Yes. Resending cancels the current signing request and sends all signers a new link. The previous link will stop working.

Q18. Can I cancel a pending e-sign request?

Go to Purchases → Orders → Requests → Pending → Open the Request → E-Sign Icon → 3-dot Icon → Cancel

  • This cancels the signing request for all signers.

  • After cancelling, the request remains in Pending status and can be resent for e-signing.

Q19. Can I edit the purchase request after e-signing is complete?

  • Yes, but edits will not affect the signed PDF. If changes are needed, create a new request and resend for e-signing.

Q20. How do I download a signed document?

  • Once all signers have completed signing, a copy is sent to all external signers via email.

  • Organization members with orders access can also download it directly:

  • Go to Purchases → Orders → Requests → Pending → Open the Request → E-Sign Icon → Download Icon

Q21. What happens to e-signing if the request is voided?

  • If the request has a pending e-sign request, voiding the request disables that request and it can no longer be sent for signing.

  • If the request was already successfully e-signed, voiding the request permanently removes access to download the signed document.

Q22. Is there a limit on how many documents I can send for e-signing?

  • E-Sign is part of the Orders add-on. Usage limits depend on your subscription plan.

Q23. Why can't I see the E-Sign icon on a request?

  • The E-Sign icon is only available on requests with Pending status. Draft requests cannot be sent for e-signing.

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