One document, every signer
A partnership agreement needs both partners. A lease needs the tenants and the landlord. An employment contract needs the candidate, then the hiring manager, then HR. Sending separate copies to each person means stitching signatures together afterwards and never being quite sure which version is final.
In SignPe, everyone signs the same document. You add each person once, assign them their fields, and the finished PDF carries every signature with one audit trail recording who was emailed, who viewed and who signed — with the date and time of each. There is no limit on the number of signers per document.
For a step-by-step walkthrough of a first multi-signer send, read our guide to collecting signatures from multiple people. This page covers the controls you have once there is more than one person involved.
Choose how the document gets signed
When you set up a document, SignPe asks who is signing. The choice shapes everything that follows.
| Web app | Mobile app | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| I’m the only signer | Self-Signed Document | You sign it yourself and download the signed copy |
| Set signer order | Request Signatures | Send it to other people to sign, optionally in a set order |
| In person Signing | In-Person Signing | Hand your phone or tablet to the signer in front of you |
When others are signing, add each person’s name and email address and give them a role: signer or observer. Then place fields — Signature, Initials, Date, Full Name, Company and the rest — and assign each field to a signer, so every person sees only what they need to complete.
Setting the signing order
Some documents need to be signed in sequence. A manager approves before the director countersigns; a client signs before your company does; a guarantor signs only after the borrower. With a signing order, SignPe enforces that sequence for you.
- Signers sign in the order you set. Arrange the list so the first person to sign is at the top.
- Out-of-turn signers wait. Anyone who opens the document before their turn sees “Waiting for <name> to sign”, so they know exactly who it is with.
- The hand-off is automatic. As each person signs, the next signer receives an email telling them it is their turn. You do not forward anything.
- You see where it is. The document shows as Waiting for Others until the last signature is in, then Signed.
When to use an order — and when not to
Use a signing order when one signature depends on another, such as approvals or countersignatures. When every party has equal standing — two co-founders, several tenants — leaving the order open lets everyone sign as soon as they can, which is usually faster.
Observers: people who follow along but don’t sign
Not everyone involved in an agreement needs to sign it. A lawyer reviewing on a client’s behalf, an assistant who files contracts, a finance team that needs to know when a deal closes — these are observers, the e-signature equivalent of CC.
Observers receive updates on the document’s progress but have no fields and never block completion. They are informed when reminders go out and when a document is voided, and the completed copy reaches everyone when all signers have signed. It keeps stakeholders informed without anyone having to forward emails.
In-person signing on your phone or tablet
Sometimes the signer is standing in front of you: a customer at a showroom counter, a patient at reception, a client at the end of a site visit. Choose In person Signing on the web or In-Person Signing in the app, and hand them your phone or tablet to sign there and then.
There is no email to wait for and nothing for them to set up. The signature is captured on your device, recorded with its date and time like any other, and the document carries on to any remaining signers. A tablet makes a particularly good counter-top signing pad; see iOS, Android and web.
Delegation: when a colleague signs on your behalf
Signers go on leave, travel and get busy. Rather than have documents stall while they are away, a SignPe user can delegate their signing to a colleague in the same organisation. The delegate is notified and can then sign on their behalf.
- Within your organisation. Delegation is to a colleague in the same organisation, not to someone outside it.
- The delegate is told. They receive a notification, so they know documents may arrive for them.
- Signatures stay traceable. Each signing is recorded in the document’s history with its date and time.
It suits roles where documents arrive continuously — an operations lead approving supplier agreements, or a partner whose engagement letters cannot wait a fortnight.
Best practices for multi-signer documents
- Assign every field. An unassigned signature box is the most common reason a multi-signer document comes back. Check each signer has every field they need.
- Order only where it matters. A signing order adds a wait between each person, so use it for genuine approval chains.
- Put the person most likely to delay first in an ordered flow, so the document is not stuck at the last step.
- Use observers instead of forwarding. Anyone who just needs to know the outcome should be an observer, not a signer and not a CC on your own email.
- Prepare it as a draft. Set the signers and fields up at your own pace and send when everything is right. See saving drafts.
Tracking a document with several signers
With several people involved, the question is always “who are we waiting for?” SignPe answers it per signer. Each one moves through Sent, Received, Opened, Saved and Signed — or Declined — and every step is timestamped in the document’s Activity timeline on the web, or its Document History on mobile.
- Waiting for Others — you have done your part and others have not.
- Action Required — it is your turn to sign.
- Signed — every signer has signed and the document is complete.
If someone is holding things up, the Remind button emails every signer who has not yet signed. If a signer declines, you are notified straight away. When the last signature arrives, everyone receives the signed copy, and the downloadable audit trail lists each signer’s emailed, viewed and signed times. More in document status tracking.
How to send a document to multiple signers in order
Upload the document
Add a PDF, Word document or images on the web or in the mobile app.
Choose Set signer order
On the web choose Set signer order; on mobile choose Request Signatures.
Add signers and observers
Enter each person’s name and email, mark them as a signer or an observer, and arrange signers in the order they should sign.
Place and assign fields
Drag Signature, Initials, Date and other fields onto the pages and assign each one to the right signer.
Send and follow progress
The first signer is emailed, and each next signer is emailed automatically when it is their turn. Track each signature until the document shows Signed.
