Documents & E-Signatures

E-Signatures

The full send-for-signature flow — recipients, parallel vs sequential signing, drag-and-drop field placement, the signer experience, and how a document is completed and certified.

E-Signatures

When you upload in Sign mode (see Uploading), BookYourPTO walks you through choosing signers, placing fields on the PDF, and tracking the document to completion. This page covers the whole flow end to end.

1. Choose recipients & signing mode

Add one or more recipients, then pick how they sign:

Mode	Behavior
PARALLEL	Everyone can sign at any time, in any order.
SEQUENTIAL	Signers go in order — group 1, then 2, then 3. Only the current group is active; later groups wait. When a group finishes, the next group is promoted and notified "it's your turn."

You can also set an optional signature deadline. Pending signers get reminder nudges within 48 hours of the deadline (max 3 reminders, at least 24 hours apart).

Why sequential exists. Some documents need a defined order — an employee signs, then their manager counter-signs, then HR. Sequential mode enforces that so no one signs out of turn.

2. Place fields on the PDF

Drag-and-drop (or tap to place) fields directly onto the PDF pages. Each field is assigned to a specific signer, so everyone only fills their own fields.

Resolution-independent placement. Field positions are stored as percentages of the page, not fixed pixels — so a field lands in the right spot whether the signer is on a phone, a tablet, or a 4K monitor.

Field types

Type	Purpose
SIGNATURE	The signer's drawn signature
INITIALS	Drawn initials
DATE_SIGNED	Auto-filled date of signing
TEXT	Free-text input
CHECKBOX	A tick box
DROPDOWN	Choose from options
NAME	Signer's name
EMAIL	Signer's email
COMPANY	Company name
TITLE	Job title

Each field can be marked required, and can carry a label, placeholder, default value, options (for dropdowns), and a tab order to control how the cursor moves through the form.

3. The signer experience

When it's a signer's turn, they:

Open the document and see the full PDF.
Draw their signature on a canvas. The classic flow is drawn-only — signers can save a reusable drawn signature/initials for next time.
Read the Electronic Signature notice.
Tick "I have read the document and consent to sign electronically." This checkbox is required to enable the Sign button.
Sign — or Decline with an optional reason.

During signing, the browser requests geolocation and timezone, which are recorded for the audit trail (see Audit trail).

Why the Sign button starts disabled. It needs both a drawn signature and the consent checkbox ticked. The consent tick is what makes the signature legally an electronic signature rather than just a drawing.

Declining doesn't always kill the document

If a signer declines, the document does not automatically die. It stays pending while other signers are still active. It only becomes Declined when there are no active signers remaining.

4. Completion & certification

Once all signers finish:

A verification code in the form DOC-XXXXXX is generated.
A certificate page is appended to the completed PDF, recording each signer.

If a required field hasn't been filled, signing is rejected with "Required field … has not been filled."

See Audit trail & certificate for everything captured and how to download the certified copy.

Roles & permissions

Action	Who
Send a document for signature	Dept head (scope), Administrator, Executive
Sign / decline	Any assigned recipient
View the audit trail	Administrator / Executive only

Troubleshooting

Error / symptom	Cause	Fix
"It is not yet your turn to sign"	Sequential mode — an earlier group hasn't finished	Wait for the prior group; you'll be notified when promoted
Sign button stays disabled	Missing a drawn signature and/or the consent checkbox	Draw your signature and tick the consent box
"Required field … has not been filled"	A required field is empty	Fill every required field, then sign
Document still pending after someone declined	Other signers are still active	It becomes Declined only when no active signers remain
Recipient never got notified it's their turn	Sequential — their group hasn't been promoted yet	The next group is notified automatically when the prior finishes
Geolocation prompt appears	Browser is capturing location for the audit record	Allowing it strengthens the audit trail; it's not required to sign

Uploading Documents

The two upload intents — Store a file in a folder, or Send it for signature — plus accepted file types, size limits, and how plan document limits are counted.

Audit Trail & Certificate

What BookYourPTO captures for every signature, the certificate page appended to completed documents, optional cryptographic PDF signing, and who is allowed to view the audit trail.