An open link for signing

An open link fits when you do not know yet who will sign, or when the signer is not a client of the office yet: a power of attorney you publish for people who are interested, an engagement letter you share in a group, a form on your website. You do not choose a client first. Whoever opens the link types their name, signs a copy of their own, and you assign the signing to a client afterwards.

When you already know who the client is, a regular document or sending to several clients is better: the link then goes to the contact personally, and they get reminders.

Create a link

1. Open Documents to sign, go to Open links and click New open link. You can also click New document and choose Open link under For.
2. Upload a PDF and give the document a name. Signers see this name.
3. Click Next: place the fields. The file is kept as a template with one signer and opens for editing. Place the fields as in a regular document.
4. Click Create the link, confirm, and on the link’s page click Copy the link.

If the office already has a template with one signer, choose A template under Start from and pick it instead of uploading a file. Only templates with one signer are listed, because whoever opens the link signs for themselves.

The link takes a copy of the template. A later change to the template does not change a link that was already created.

Fields that fill themselves from Client name, Client tax ID, Client email and Client phone are filled, in an open link, from what the signer says of themselves, because there is no client record to read from yet. If such a field reads a phone number or an email address, the page asks the signer for it.

What the signer is asked for

The dialog has two choices, both off to begin with. With both off, the signer types only their name and goes straight to the document.

• Confirm the signer’s email: the signer also gives an email address, gets a 6-digit code at it and types it in before signing. Turn it on when it matters that the signer holds the address they gave.
• Ask each signer for an ID number: the signer is asked for their ID or company number, and it appears on the signing certificate. A template with a field that fills itself from Client tax ID asks for the number either way.

You can change both later too, at the top of the link’s page. A change applies to whoever opens the link from then on; whoever already reached the document goes on as they started. When you turn email confirmation off, a code that was sent but not yet entered stops working, and the signer goes on straight away without one.

What the signer does

1. Opens the link and types Full name, and whatever else the link asks for: ID or company number, Email address.
2. On a link that confirms the email: gets a 6-digit code by email and types it in. The code is good for 15 minutes, and a new one can be asked for.
3. Fills in and signs, exactly as with a document sent to them personally.

The page does not tell the signer whether they are already a client of the office. Someone who started and did not finish can come back to the same page for three days, or for a day on a link without email confirmation. After that the start is removed, with the details they typed, and they begin again from the link. The same goes for someone who filled in their details and never entered the code. Someone who comes back to the link in the same browser and starts again has their earlier start removed at once. The office sees only signings that were completed.

What is recorded about the signer

Nobody sent the signer a link of their own, so the signing certificate says so plainly: the signer arrived through an open link, and the details they gave are recorded as typed. On a link that confirms the email, the certificate says the email address was confirmed with a one-time code, and when. On one that does not, it says none of the details was confirmed. A detail the link did not ask for is not recorded and has no line on the certificate. The IP address and the device are recorded as in any signing.

What that means: without email confirmation, anyone holding the link can sign, and the name is what the signer typed. With it, the system checked that the signer holds the mailbox. The ID number is never checked. For a document that needs stronger identification, turn on email confirmation, or send a regular document to a contact you know.

Assign a signing to a client

When someone signs, whoever made the link gets a notification in the bell. The link’s page has a row for each signing, and the Waiting for a client column in the list of links shows how many signings still have no client.

1. On the signing’s row click Assign to a client. You can also open the document and click it there.
2. A client we have: if the signer gave an ID number and the office has a client with the same number, it is offered first. You can also search for another client.
3. A new client: the client is created as a lead, with the name the signer gave, and the email address and ID number when they were given. When the signer gave no ID number, you can type it here. An office that keeps tax details for its clients also chooses the Kind of client here, and must type a number when the signer gave none.

After assigning, the signer is a contact of the client, the document appears on the client’s Documents to sign tab, and the signed copy is filed in the client’s files. If the client already has a contact with the same email address, or with no email given the same name, the signing is linked to that contact and no second contact is created.

If the ID number the signer gave is not valid, a new client cannot be created from it. Create the client yourself and assign the document to it.

Until it is assigned, a signing is seen only by whoever made the link and by the office’s admins.

Close a link

Close the link, in the More actions menu, stops taking new signers. Whoever already started can finish, and what was signed stays. Open again brings the link back at the same address.

Delete the link is possible only for a link nobody signed through.

On a link that confirms the email, the confirmation code is sent from the office’s mailbox, and is counted like any other email the office sends. So that a link cannot be used to send email, there is a limit on how many codes go out through it in an hour. A signer who meets it is asked to wait a little and try again. If sending email is not part of the office’s plan, or the day’s email allowance is used up, the page tells the signer the link is not available right now.

On a link without email confirmation there is a limit on how many signings can be under way through it, together with those completed in the last hour. A signer who meets it is asked to try again later or contact the office. A signing that was started and not finished is removed after a day, so the wait can last up to a day.