Ordered signatures are available on the Premium tier and allow you to control the order in which recipients receive an e-signature document.
Instead of sending the document to everyone at the same time, Lawmatics sends it to the first signer. Once that person signs, it is automatically sent to the next person in the order. This continues until all signatures have been collected.
Setting the signer order
When ordered signatures are available, you will see two options:
Send all at once sends the document to every signer at the same time.
Send in order sends the document to one signer at a time in the order you select.
After selecting Send in order, use the drag handle beside each signer role to arrange the roles in the correct sequence.
Setting a default order on a document template
For Start Fresh documents and uploaded PDFs, you can set the default signer order directly on the document template.
Open E-signature Settings, select Send in order, and arrange the signer roles in the order they should receive the document.
After arranging the roles, click Apply Settings and then Save Document. Clicking Apply Settings without saving the document will not preserve the signer order.
The order saved on the template will be used by default, but it can be changed when the document is sent manually or through an automation.
DOCX documents do not have a signer order saved on the template. The order is selected when the document is sent.
Sending a document manually
When manually sending an e-signature document, select Send in order under Roles. Assign each recipient and drag the roles into the sequence in which the document should be sent.
The order selected here will override any default order saved on the document template.
Sending a document through an automation
Signer order can also be configured in a Request Signature automation action.
After selecting the document, choose Send in order, assign the appropriate person to each signer role, and arrange the roles in the desired sequence.
The order selected in the automation will override the default order saved on the document template.
Using ordered signatures in an E-Signature Packet
For an E-Signature Packet, the signer order must be configured within the packet template itself. It cannot be configured from the automation action used to send the packet.
The packet recipient must sign first. Any additional signers will receive the packet in the order shown after the packet recipient has signed.
Using ordered signatures with document drafts
You can select a signer order when creating a document draft. The order can also be updated while the draft is still pending approval.
Tracking each signer’s status
The E-Signatures table shows the status of each signer.
For documents sent in order, signers who have not received the document yet will display an Awaiting Send status. Once the previous signer completes the document, it will be sent to the next person automatically.
What signers will see
Each signer can see any signatures that were added before the document reached them.
Deadlines and reminders
The deadline applies to the entire signature request and is calculated from the original date the document was sent. Each signer does not receive a separate deadline.
This means that if an earlier signer waits until close to the deadline, the remaining signers may have very little time to complete the document.
Reminders also follow the original document timeline. They are only sent to the signer whose signature is currently pending, but a later signer could receive an urgent deadline reminder shortly after receiving the document.
When using ordered signatures, select a deadline that gives every signer enough time to complete their part.
What happens if a signer declines?
If any signer declines the document, the signing process stops. The document will not be sent to anyone remaining in the signer order and is treated as canceled.