Signature Documents can be created as a draft first, reviewed, and then approved before going out for signature rather than being sent immediately to matters.
Approval Permissions
Approving documents requires a permission on the user's role.
Go to Settings > User Management > Manage Roles.
Select the role.
Under Feature Access, toggle on Document Approvals.
Without this permission:
The Send button is grayed out on a draft pending approval.
Editing an already-approved draft and saving will automatically remove the approval, with no option to re-approve.
Creating a draft
From a Document Template
Go to Documents > Templates.
On a Custom template, click the Create Draft icon.
Fill out the form — Document Display Name, Merge Fields From (the matter), Requester, Deadline, and Roles/signers. This is the same form used to send a document.
Click Save as Draft.
From a Matter
On a matter, click Send Doc.
Choose Send Immediately or Create Draft.
From an Automation
The Request Signature action includes a Create as Draft toggle, so an automated signature request can be generated as a draft awaiting approval instead of sending immediately.
Reviewing Drafts
Drafts appear in the same tables as all other e-signature documents:
E-Signatures Table
All document drafts can be found in Docs & Forms > E-Signatures
E-Signatures Tab on the Matter Page
Any document drafts related to the matter can be found in the E-Signatures tab on the matter's profile
On these tables:
Draft is a status for documents that haven't been sent.
The Approved column shows a checkmark once a draft has been approved. It's blank for documents that were never created as a draft.
Approving and Sending Drafts
The action icons on a draft row depend on its approval status:
Draft status | Actions Available |
Not yet approved | Preview, Edit, Approve, Download, Delete |
Approved, not yet sent | Preview, Edit, Unapprove, Send, Download, Delete |
Preview
Click the eye icon to open the Preview Draft Document panel — template, merge fields, signers, and full document preview. Approve/Unapprove is available directly from here:
Edit
Use the pencil icon to open the Edit Draft Document panel. On an unapproved draft, this shows a Pending Approval tag and three buttons:
Approve — approves without sending
Approve and Send — approves and opens the send flow
Save Draft — saves edits without changing approval status
Editing an approved draft
Editing an approved draft's content in the full document editor and making changes triggers this prompt on save:
"Saving will unapprove this document. Would you like to also re-approve after saving?"
With Document Approvals role permission, Save offers a choice:
Save (Will Unapprove)
Save and Re-Approve
Without that permission, saving unapproves the document with no re-approve option.
Approve
Approving (or saving) a draft keeps the document in a draft status, but allows it to be sent at any time.
Unapprove
Unapproving a draft that was previous approved allows you to prevent drafts from being mistakenly sent when it needs more edits.
Send
Sending an approved draft opens the email template interface and allows you to send the document out for signature.
FAQs
Can I draft DocX and PDF templates?
No, drafting is only available for Custom document templates.
Are there notifications for draft documents?
Yes, roles with the Document Approvals will also have a notification option for "Draft Document Approval Needed" that they can enable for email or in-app notifications.