Signing a Document that has DocuSign as the signing method.
1. Authorising your DocuSign Account:
If you have never used DocuSign before, you will need to authorise your account, you can do this through the settings menu. Remember that the integration must be set up for the Organisation. If this step has not been done, please refer to our setup guide for instructions on how to do so. If a user that is not authorised tries to initiate signature in a document that uses DocuSign as the signing method, they will be automatically redirected to this page so they can authorise their account. Ensure that the account being authorised has permission to "Send" envelopes in DocuSign. Note: The authorised account does not have to match the email used in Avvoka.
Once you have authorised your account, you will also be able to manage it in the Settings area.
If you authorised an account with just "View" rights, you will see the message below and you will need to authorise a new account that has "Send" rights so you can also create envelopes from the Avvoka integration
Make sure you log out from the previously authorised account and log into the new account you want to authorise directly in DocuSign before trying to authorise this new account in Avvoka. You can also revoke permissions here or alternatively use incognito mode to authorise your new account.
2. Initiating signature with DocuSign in Avvoka
To sign with DocuSign, the template needs to be set up with this as the signing method. You can check how to do it here.
If the template was set up with DocuSign as the signature method, the party who has been designated with signature rights will be able to see the Accept and sign button.
Clicking this button will enable the document to move to the signature stage. If all the parties have signature rights, the Accept and sign button will be available to each of them.
Once the document has been moved to the signature stage, you can click on the sign button to begin creating your DocuSign envelope.
A window will open directly in Avvoka with the same view you will normally have in DocuSign. The first step will be to prepare the document before sending it for signature. Usually this will imply assigning signature blocks and/or other fields to the parties that will sign the final document.
3. Preparing your DocuSign envelope in Avvoka: Assigning signature blocks and other fields in a DocuSign envelope:
Follow the below steps to assign signature blocks on DocuSign:
Once the document has been moved to the signature stage, select the Signature icon
on the left sidebar to drag and drop the signature blocks on the document.
Next, open the dropdown menu located above the search bar in the top left corner of the DocuSign page and select the ‘Edit Recipients’ option.
A pop-up window will appear where you can choose to add recipients, customize rights, set signing order, etc.
Please note these recipients do not need to match the ones in the Avvoka document and they can be different (for example if they were not part of the negotiation process). Here is where you add the signatories.
Then, click on the signature block, and access the dropdown menu under Recipients on the right side of your screen and select the recipient you wish to assign the particular signature block to.
If you want more information about DocuSign fields, you can visit their support page here.
You can choose to send a message to the signatories. For doing so, when assigning signature blocks, click the ‘Customize’ button next to the relevant party you wish to send the message and choose the third option ‘Add private message’.
You can also use a DocuSign template so that your envelope is ready to go with the signature fields exactly where you want them.
4. What happens in Avvoka after a document has been sent for signature in DocuSign?
Once the document has been moved to the signature stage, it will show the status as ‘Ready to sign’. On preparing the DocuSign envelope, the status will change to ‘Pending external signature’. When the signature takes place outside of Avvoka DocuSign, if a webhook is already in place, the status of the document will automatically change to ‘completed’ and the final signed PDF will be added as an attachment (attachments can be found on the sidebar of a document in Avvoka). Instructions to set up a webhook can be found in the DocuSign setup guide. However, if there is no webhook, the document will remain in that stage indefinitely unless you force it to the completed folder. To force a document to a completed folder, tick select the desired document on Documents tab and then click this icon
which when hovered over says: Force to completed folder. Doing this will change the status of the document to ‘Completed’.
5. Signature process for signatories on DocuSign (outside of Avvoka):
Here you can check how the signing experience is with DocuSign.
Once you have assigned the signature block and/or fields to parties, you can send the document for signature, please note signature will happen outside of Avvoka.
Thereafter, the documents will be emailed to the signatories from where they can jump directly to the document by accessing the ‘Review Document’ button which will lead them directly to DocuSign.
To start signing the document in DocuSign, click the ‘Start’ button, then select your signature block. This will open a pop-up window where you will be prompted to enter your name and initials, other details may be required depending on the fields you were assigned to complete. Then, click ‘Adopt and Sign’ after entering your details to save the changes. You can choose to sign through three ways:
Draw: You can draw your signature using this method
Upload: You can upload your signature through this method.
Or Select a Signature: You will be required to add your full name and initials.
Once you have added your signature, click ‘Finish’. On accessing the ‘Finish’ button, a window will pop-up providing you with the option to save a copy of your document. It also allows you to sign up for a free DocuSign account enabling you to easily sign all of your documents electronically. On creating an account, you can track all your documents requiring signature under the ‘Manage’ tab.
After all signatories have signed the document, the signature process is completed, and the parties will receive the final copies of the agreement via email, including a button to view the completed document. By clicking this button, users will be directed to the completed document where they can choose to download it.
Users can choose to download the combined or separate PDF copies of the document. The former will include signatures of all the parties given they have affixed them, whereas the latter will include the signatory signature.
As explained above, if there is a webhook set up, the document in Avvoka will also change is status to "completed" once the document has been signed in DocuSign and the final PDF will be added as an attachment (attachments can be found on the sidebar of a document).
6. DocuSign and Mass generation in Avvoka