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Document management

eSigning documents

Once a document is in
Ready
 status, you may use the eSignature feature in Contract Express from the document details page. You need an eSignature account, DocuSign or Adobe Sign depending on your selection (see Enabling eSignature), to sign documents with it.
To eSign a document:
  1. Select the required document on the
    Documents
     tab.
  2. When using DocuSign, click
    Start DocuSign
    . When using Adobe Sign, click Start
    Adobe Sign.
     Both are found in the header below the contract name.
    Starting DocuSign from the document details page.
  3. Enter your eSignature (DocuSign or Adobe Sign as appropriate) credentials, if prompted.
note
If you have previously uploaded any supporting documents (see Creating and managing additional documents), these documents are included in the eSignature envelope by default; you can edit the list of documents you are signing during the eSignature process.
Once signed, and the eSignature process has been completed, the document status will change to Executed, and all eSignature details are added to the document History.
Two versions of the document are then available for download: both the signed version, and the unsigned version.
For documents signed via DocuSign, DocuSign Certificate pdf will be retrieved from DocuSign and made available for download from the Documents section.
note
Once the eSignature request has started, the permissions on the entire Document including all the generated and uploaded documents within it will be reduced to Read for all users with access to the Document. The permissions will be reinstated once the associated eSignature envelope has reached its final state or the association between the Document and the eSignature envelope has been removed by using the “Cancel” button.

Completing your eSignature

After starting the eSignature request you may save it as a draft and either follow up by completing or cancelling the request. For DocuSign, clicking
Complete DocuSign
 will reopen the DocuSign window and allow you to continue the request. For Adobe Sign, clicking
Complete Adobe Sign
 has the same affect.

Checking DocuSign status

To ensure that eSignature status of the documents is in sync between Contract Express and Docusign, click Check DocuSign status button on the document details for any document in the Sent for signature status. This check can only be completed successfully if you have access to the corresponding envelope in DocuSign.
This action is also available in the document list view if at least one of the selected documents is in Sent for signature status. Once the checks are completed, the results will be presented on the screen confirming if the status has been updated for any documents. It will also confirm if the status check failed due to the user having no access or because of another issue.

Voiding your eSignature

Once the request has been sent, you have the option of cancelling the request; for DocuSign, click
Void DocuSign
; for Adobe Sign, click
Void Adobe Sign
.

Automated eSignature

Automated eSignature allows automated sending of documents for eSignature, once they reach Ready status. To enable this, eSignature must be enabled in your license space (see Enabling eSignature), eSignature recipient information must be available for the document, and the person who creates the document needs an active Docusign or Adobe Sign token. Such a token is saved to a user’s profile when the user sends documents for eSignature and is prompted to authenticate with the eSignature provider.
note
If the document is created by a Guest user or a Contract Express user who does not have an active Docusign or Adobe Sign authorisation, the eSignature process will not start automatically and will need to be started manually. A users’ authorisation token will expire 30 days after their last Docusign action. Starting the eSignature process manually will refresh the token for these users.
To enable automated eSignature feature for a template:
  1. Select the required template on the
    Templates
     tab.
  2. Select
    eSignature
     tab in the menu from the left
  3. Tick
    Automatically send to <eSignature provider>
     .
  4. Press
    Save
     to apply the setting.
note
Documents that need to be negotiated cannot be sent for signature automatically when the document reaches the status “Ready”. Therefore automated signature is not available when the Negotiation is enabled for documents.
Starting DocuSign from the document details page.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Contract Express