Templates for documents to sign

A template keeps a PDF with its fields already in place. A document you send again and again, such as a power of attorney or an engagement letter, is prepared once. For each client you choose the template and the document opens ready: the client’s name and tax ID are filled in, and all that is left is to send it.

Create a template

1. Open Documents to sign, switch to Templates and click New template.
2. Upload the PDF and name the template.
3. Place fields as in a regular document.

You can also turn an existing document into a template: on the document’s page open More actions and choose Save as a template. The file, the fields and the message are kept. The signers themselves are not, and neither is what you typed into the office’s fields for that client. Before saving, check that the message and the file itself carry nothing about one particular client.

Signers in a template are places, not people

A template does not name a person. Under Signers you write who signs: Client, Spouse, Partner. You place fields for each such place, and choose the person per document. Add a signer adds another place.

Fields that fill themselves

This is what makes a template useful. Select a field that belongs to The office, and under Value choose where it is filled from:

Value	What is written in the field
Typed by the office	What you type. In a template it is fixed text, the same every time.
Client name	The client’s name as it appears in the system.
Client legal name	The legal name. If none was entered, the client’s name.
Client tax ID	The ID number or company number.
Client email, Client phone	Contact details from the client’s record.
Name of one of the signers	The name of whoever is chosen to sign in that place. Likewise email and phone.
Office name	Your office’s name.
Name of whoever sends	Who sends the document for signing.
Date of sending	The day the document is sent.

The values are read at the moment of sending and written as they were that day. A later change to the client’s record does not change a document that was already sent.

Fields that fill themselves work in a regular document too, not only in a template.

Send a document from a template

1. Click New document, from the list or from a client’s page.
2. Under Start from choose A template, then choose the template and the client.
3. Click Create the document.

From the template’s page you can click New document from it.

The document opens as a draft with all its fields. The client’s main contact is already chosen for the first place. If there are more places, choose who signs in each. You can change anything in the draft without affecting the template.

If the client’s record lacks a value a field needs, such as a tax ID, the Before sending list says what is missing. Fill it in on the client, or change the field to Typed by the office and write the value.

When everything is in place, send it for signing.

Send to several clients at once

The same document for dozens of clients, such as a power of attorney at the start of a year, goes out in one move:

1. Click New document and under For choose Several clients.
2. Under Clients add the clients, up to 50 at a time.
3. Upload the PDF and click Next: place the fields. The file is kept as a template and opens for editing, with the clients you chose. Place the fields. If the template already exists, choose A template under Start from and pick it.
4. Click Send to N clients. Before you confirm, you see the list of clients: who signs for each and which address the link goes to, and which of them Stays a draft and why. Check it and confirm.

Each client gets a document of their own, filled from their record. The client’s main contact signs, and their own link is emailed to them from the office’s mailbox, worded by the Document to sign email template. From then on they also get automatic reminders until they sign.

Save as drafts creates the documents without sending, so you can go over each one first.

A document that cannot go out whole stays a draft, and at the end you get a list of those clients with the reason: the client has no main contact, the contact has no email address, the client’s record lacks a value a field needs, or the template has more than one place for a signer. Open the draft takes you to the document, where you complete it and send as usual.

Sending to several clients always starts from a template, because the fields are placed once. If you only have a PDF, make a template from it first.

An access code in a template

Lock with an access code, turned on in a template, applies to every document started from it, and can be turned off in one document’s draft. When sending to several clients the emails go out as usual, and you hand each signer their code from their own document. It does not apply to an open link: anyone holding it can sign, and you can ask them to confirm their email address.

Change or delete a template

A change to a template applies to new documents only. A document already started from it keeps what it took.

Delete the template is in the More actions menu. Documents already started from it are not affected.

Every member of the office can use and edit templates, so a template should hold only what suits any client.