Document signing is typically integrated into a workflow between signing parties as part of the contract management process, as well as in some situations other than contract management. Using Adobe Sign with  allows you to send documents to different parties to sign and then track and manage those documents from within the system. The documents to be signed are either uploaded into a field in the relevant record, directly added in the Attachments table, or generated from print templates. For more information on using print templates with Adobe Sign, see Create Document Templates with Adobe Sign Tags.

The signing process can be initiated directly from within a record, and you can select one or several documents to be sent for signing at once. The documents you can select are determined by the To Be eSigned field in the Attachment record for the document. An action button with a special Adobe Sign action in the record allows you to begin the signing process.

Adobe Sign is integrated with the Contracts table by default. If you want to integrate with other tables, you must complete a setup process. For more information on configuring Adobe Sign with your system and tables of your choice, see Adobe Sign Integration.

Configure Signing Order and Signature Flow

Signing order and signature flow are two approaches for determining how Adobe processes the document for signing between recipients. Signing order allows you to determine the exact order that recipients receive the document to sign. Signature flow provides a more general approach for defining the recipient order and is only used in cases where the signing order hasn't been defined. We strongly recommend that you always use signing order because it is more reliable and offers more control over the recipient order. However, in both cases, the user can confirm the recipient order by previewing the agreement before sending it.

Signing Order

To configure the default signing order for a document:

1. Click Setup [Table] and then click the Actions tab.
2. Edit the ext: Create Adobe Sign Agreement action. Adobe Sign must be integrated into the table for this action to appear. By default, Adobe Sign is integrated in the Contracts table. For information on integrating Adobe Sign into other tables, see see Adobe Sign Integration.
3. Click the Recipients tab.

4. Define the total number of recipients, as well as each recipient's signing order, role, field in the record that defines the signer, and optional message.
   

   The maximum number of recipients is 9, and recipients can have one Adobe Sign role. Delegate roles are available for Enterprise accounts, and in order to use them, you must log in to Adobe Sign as an administrator, go to Account > Account Settings > Send Settings > Allowed Recipient Roles, and select the "Allow senders to mark some recipients as delegators" checkbox. Delegates receive the document, and can review it, but they can't interact with it otherwise; instead, they must enter the email address for the person they are delegating to, and the document is sent to that address to complete the role's responsibilities. Delegates can't enter the email address for someone who is already a party to the current agreement.

   You can also set a recipient's signing order if you add a recipient when you create an agreement. For more information on creating agreements, see Create Adobe Sign Agreements.

5. Click Save.

Signature Flow

We strongly recommend that you always use signing order because it is more reliable and offers more control over the recipient order. However, if you need to use Signature Flow, use the steps below to configure the default signature flow for a document.

You can also set the signature flow when you create an agreement. For more information on creating agreements, see Create Adobe Sign Agreements.

1. Click Setup [Table] and then click the Actions tab.
2. Edit the Create Adobe Sign Agreement action. Adobe Sign must be integrated into the table for this action to appear. By default, Adobe Sign is integrated in the Contracts table. For information on integrating Adobe Sign into other tables, see see Adobe Sign Integration.
3. On the Adobe Sign Action tab, use the Signature Flow field to choose a signature flow option. If a signing order has been defined, any choice here is ignored.
   
   These options are available:
   • Sequential: Follows the signing order defined in the recipient list.
   • Sender signs only/last/first/not required: Forces the sender to sign in a different order from the recipients. To use these options, you must add the sender as a recipient in the expected location.

   • Parallel: Sends the document for signing simultaneously to both the sender and recipients.

4. Click Save.

Create Adobe Sign Agreements

Documents used with Adobe Sign are sent using agreements. An agreement acts as a container that holds the document, recipient information, signing order, and other processing details. You can create new agreements in the Adobe Sign Agreements table or, more typically, in another table where Adobe Sign has been integrated. For instance, the Contracts table in the out-of-the-box knowledgebase has a Signature tab with a Create Adobe Sign Agreement action button.

To create an Adobe Sign agreement from a table with Adobe Sign integration:

1. Open a record and go to the Signature tab.
2. If the table has fields for selecting the documents to be signed and the recipients, populate them with the desired files and people. Select the documents in the order you want to show them, if possible.
3. Click Create Adobe Sign Agreement.
4. Edit or enter an email subject.
5. Optionally, add comma-separated email addresses to the Additional Email field to CC additional users. Any email addresses included in this way receive a copy of the document when the agreement is sent, as well as a copy of the completed document when all signatures have been received.

6. If you didn't define the documents and recipients in step 1, add them using the fields in the agreement. 

   • Attach the documents in the order you want to present them to the recipients.

   • Recipients do not have to be added as an Adobe Sign user before they can sign agreements. In the Recipient record, enter their position in the signing order, full name, email address, and role. You can also use the Authentication Method field to use a single sign-on method, a password, or have no form of authentication, if you don't want to automatically authenticate users from within the document.

7. Choose a reminder frequency. This determines how often the recipient is reminded until they sign the document.
8. Set a deadline. After the deadline is reached, the agreement expires and the documents can no longer be signed.
9. Click Preview/Send to preview the agreement and make sure everything looks right before you send it.
10. In the Preview page, confirm the email addresses and signing order. Click and drag recipients to change the order, or click the address or signing position numeral to edit them. You can also use the toggle to switch between sequential signing and simultaneous signing.
11. Review the message that will be sent along with the documents, and make any necessary adjustments.
12. Review all the attached documents, and their order. You can drag and drop to change the order of documents, and you can upload additional files if necessary. However, files added here are not tracked in the  agreement record.
13. If desired, you can use the Options section to set a password, override the reminder frequency you set in step 7, or set another language for the recipients.
14. When everything is correct, click Send.

Signing Process

The first recipient specified in the signing order or signature flow receives a notification by email that contains the document to be signed.

Adobe Sign automatically adds signature blocks to the document so that the recipient can insert their signature. Recipients do not need to have an Adobe Sign account to use their email address to sign the document. For more information, see Sign a Document with Adobe Sign on the Adobe website.

Recipients and senders are notified by email during the signing process. Recipients receive a second notification after they sign a document. The sender receives a notification when a document is sent for signing, when a recipient signs a document, and when all recipients have signed a document.

Tracking the Signing Process

To track the progress of a document and manage the audit trail, open the record in the Adobe Sign Agreements table and click the History tab. The statuses of the agreement workflow are updated automatically by Adobe and maintained in the Adobe Sign Statuses table. For more information, see Adobe Sign Tables Overview.