Partially signed documents

There may be situations and scenarios where Signi does not handle all the signatures on a document.

Let's look at the most common situations when this happens:

1. The document is signed by the counterparty in another service
2. The document is signed in an integrated application
3. The document is partially signed in Signi and the counterparty signs it in a different way.

Document signed by the counterparty in another service

What to do when someone sends you a document that is already electronically signed?

For a partially signed document received from a counterparty, Signi can handle the signature(s) on your side and send it back to the counterparty. Both parties then obtain a fully signed document.

What a partially signed document from a counterparty may look like — a signature with a qualified certificate in Adobe Reader

The simplest procedure for completing a partially signed document

The signer on behalf of your organization uploads such a document to Signi themselves, signs it with a simple signature, via BankID or with a qualified certificate, and the counterparty then receives a fully signed document. Just list the counterparty in the signing scenario with the For information role.

Advanced procedure for completing a partially signed document

1. The person who received the document uploads it to Signi and enters or selects the appropriate signing scenario
2. They first enter the approver, then the signers and their order, and the required types of electronic signatures.
3. They then place the signatures in the document and send it into the approval and signing round.
4. The fully signed document is then sent to the counterparty:
   1. for “Approval”, which is recorded in the audit trail, or
   2. “For information”, where they can download the signed document right away.
5. Both parties receive a mutually signed, closed document.

An advanced signing scenario set up for a received document.

What to do when the document is locked against changes?

The supplied PDF files must not be locked against changes so that additional information, such as signatures, seals, or timestamps, can be added to the document. Note that the content of the document itself is never changed. An attempt to upload a locked document to Signi will result in an error.

If the document is locked, you need to request an unlocked version of the document from the counterparty. Do you need to advise the counterparty's representative on how to lock/unlock a document? For example, in Adobe Reader, when signing with a certificate, check/uncheck “Lock document after signing”.

Partially signed document from an integrated application

Some applications, e.g. ERP systems, can insert a user's signature into generated print reports or templates. So when integrating with Signi, the integrated application handles the proposers' signatures.

Signi then handles the counterparties' signatures - e.g. customers, suppliers, employees, etc. How to build the integration is described in the Signi API documentation — for proposer signatures see Automatic proposer signature.

The advantages are:

• Signi mediates signatures of various technical designs and legal levels for counterparties — from a text signature through BankID SIGN to a qualified certificate, including a verified one.
• Advanced remote identification up to the level of the AML Act before concluding an agreement can also be performed.
• This makes it easy to carry out bulk mailings for signing directly from the integrated application.
• From an IT security perspective, it is sometimes crucial that you do not need to expose your internal application to the internet. Signi handles communication with counterparties, and Signi is, on the contrary, accessible to anyone on the internet. The connection between Signi and your application then takes place securely.
• Signi is not licensed by the number of users, i.e. mediating signing for thousands of customers or employees does not have to mean high costs.

Creating partially signed documents

How to create a document in Signi that can be completed in another system?

This is useful, for example, in situations where the counterparty has their own method or system for signing. In that case:

• Signi is used only to handle signatures within your organization, i.e. only the proposers will sign.
• The document author then downloads the signed document from Signi and sends it another way to be completed — e.g. by emailing it to a public administration body, where they complete signing in their own system.

However, this requires that Signi does not lock the document against changes when signing, so that additional signatures can be added. This is ensured by the appropriate signing scenario setting.

The simplest scenario — The signer uploads an unsigned document, sets it not to lock after signing, signs it, and obtains a partially signed document. They then handle it entirely outside of Signi.

How to avoid completing signatures outside of Signi?

The most common situation where a requirement arises to create only a partially signed document in Signi is when the counterparty, typically the public administration, has its own system for signing with certificates.

However, if the document is completed outside of Signi, Signi cannot handle certain steps in the signing process, the process is not fully automated, and the advantage of digitalization is largely lost.

Partial signing can be avoided if you agree with the signers that they will indeed sign in their own signing system (most often with a qualified certificate), but:

• instead of sending documents as email attachments back and forth
• the counterparty downloads the document for signing from Signi
• and uploads the document they signed back to Signi.

A detailed procedure for the signer: Signing with a certificate in Adobe Reader.

Thanks to this, Signi can then handle:

• closing the document, including inserting a timestamp and electronic seal,
• sending the closed document with all signatures to all counterparties,
• archiving the document,
• passing the closed document to the integrated application,
• etc.

A counterparty signing with a certificate has the option to download the partially signed document and complete signing in their own system. By uploading the completed document back to Signi, Signi can handle the subsequent necessary steps