Approving a document before sending it to signers

Overview

Stiply’s “Approve Before Signing” feature allows a document to be formally approved before it is sent out for digital signatures. If the document isn’t approved, the signing workflow will not proceed, ensuring proper oversight and control.

1. What is document approval?

Document approval is a step in the signing process where a designated person reviews and confirms a document before any signing begins. The process ensures that all documents meet internal standards before being sent to signers.

2. How approval works

1. Start a new sign request and upload your document as usual.
2. Enable the option "Sign in order" for signer sequencing.
3. Add the approver as the first recipient and assign them the role "Approver".
4. Add the actual signers in subsequent steps.
5. Send the request, Stiply will first wait for approval before notifying the signers.
6. If the approver rejects the document, the process stops and no signatures are collected.

3. Typical use cases

• A sales representative seeks manager approval on a quote before sending it to a client.
• Contracts or proposals must be reviewed by compliance, legal, or finance teams first.
• Any internal approval requirement before external sign-off is feasible with this workflow.

4. Benefits of approval-first workflows

• Quality control: Prevents errors or unapproved documents from reaching signers.
• Clear accountability: Tracks who approved and when, before any signatures.
• Customizable flow: Easily configure multi-step signing processes (approve then sign).

Important Notes

• You must enable "Sign in order" to use approval steps.
• There must always be at least one signer assigned after the approver.
• If the approver declines, the signing request is cancelled and no notifications are sent to other signers.