Business First Family Business, Accounting, Finance, Investing, Marketing And Management
Businesses have moved their entire data and infrastructure to the cloud. Databases run on highly efficient database structures. Even cars are about to be completely driver-less. However, the way we sign documents has slowly changed in our every day company operations. The average manager signs several business contracts in a given week. Up until recent years, e-signatures were not widely used. Mostly, companies were concerned if electronic signatures would be held up in a court of law. With more and more cases involving signed contracts online, more managers are signing documents online. You can even sign your SBD certification online. Here’s how to sign documents online to help ensure legal protection.
Sign Up With Electronic Signature Services
Firstly, you have to sign up with a provider to sign documents online. The online signing industry has exploded in the past 15 years. With dozens of signing providers to choose from, you can get free electronic signatures to enterprise document signing solutions. Depending on your needs, some middle market e-sign companies offer introductory promotions. Upon creating an account, you receive 2-5 free electronic signed documents per month. For example, a real property management company might only bring on a few new clients per month. If you require more signatures per month, they offer bulk pricing options as well. Once you have an e-signature platform, signing documents online is pretty simple.
Upload Your Documents For Signing
Next, log into your newly created account. You should ensure that the uploaded documents have full security and encryption. A proper electronic document signing platform will be tracking your actions online and time of upload. Then, the platform allows you to make changes to your document. Enter dates, signature boxes and required information. Finally, your document is ready to be signed online.
Send Documents For Electronic Signing
Subsequently, you can send the document out for signing online. Typically, the e-signing service will email the document to the other party. During this time, the document has a “pending” or “out-for-signature” status. In other cases, providers have integration with Gmail or other business email services. If that is the case, send the documents directly from your email. They are delivered to the signing party online instantly.
Wait For Documents To Be Signed Online
Most electronic signature companies offer status updates. After sending your documents for an online signature, the service notifies you at each step. When received, opened and signed, the platform sends out a notification for each document. Ideally, you could include a personalized message to call you if they other party has any trouble. Otherwise, you simply have to wait to for the other party to review and sign the business documents. If you’re like most managers, a follow up email or two can speed up the process for certain signings.
Complete Electronic Signature Online
Moving forward, you can either sign the document or confirm receipt. After signing, the platform allows you to download the documents for your record keeping. In addition to the documents, you receive a transcript of all the timestamps and approvals of who signed. It is this information that separates electronics signature services from regular signature images. The service tracks every action including the signer’s IP address. As long as the service meets ESIGN and UETA requirements, the signatures have a higher chance of being upheld in court. This way, you have completed an electronic signature online.
The ability to sign documents online saves managers time and effort. Furthermore, legislation upholds electronic signatures in court. Safely, you can mitigate legal risks by using an established online document signing company. They are much more likely to work in law because of tracking and verification. However, the industry is not 100% yet. Similar to signing pardons, there might be cases where signing documents online isn’t permitted. Consult an attorney before proceeding and then follow these steps on how to sign documents online.
Image from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt8WDsQ0Rz0
