What does the ‘signing sequence’ mean?
This guide will explain the two different signing sequences on Signable; One-at-a-time signing and All-at-once signing. We’ll go through examples of when one might be more useful than the other, and where to find them on your envelope.
What is One-at-a-time signing?
This signing sequence can be used if you’d like your envelope to be signed in a particular order. Whoever is listed as Party 1 will receive the envelope to sign first. Once signed, it will then be sent automatically to Party 2, and so on.
All parties will receive a signed copy of the envelope once all signers have completed it.
This option is useful if you, as the sender, would like to sign the envelope first before it goes to your signers. Or alternatively, if you needed someone to be the last to sign off on the envelope.
What is All-at-once-signing?
This signing sequence can be used if your envelope does not require signing in a particular order.
Whoever is listed as Party 1 or 2 will have no effect on the signing process – each party will receive it at the same time to sign. Similar to One-at-a-time signing, everyone will receive their signed copy after all parties have completed it.
This option would be very useful for envelopes containing tenancy agreements, where there can be quite a few parties on it needing to sign.
If one person was delayed and could not sign immediately, it wouldn’t prevent the envelope from being signed by everyone else, as it does with One-at-a-time signing. However, the envelope will not be complete until all parties have signed.
Where do I choose my signing sequence?
Once you have selected your template or uploaded your document, click ‘Next Step’ and you’ll be presented with the screen below.
Here you can find the option to choose your signing sequence, just above where you would add your party details.
If you accidentally choose the incorrect sequence, don’t worry – you’ll have a chance to change your selection just before you send your envelope!
Please note: for any customers who have created an account after June 2023, All-at-once signing will be selected by default. This can be amended in Company Settings. For our existing customers, All-at-once signing will have to be selected to set it as default in Company Settings.
Remember that the signing sequence can be changed when creating your envelope too!
Setting the signing sequence via the public API
Both signing sequences are available to users of our API as well. For more information and to view our API documentation click here.
And there you have it, that’s all you need to know about Signing Sequences!