Digital Signature (DocuSign)

Introduction

DocuSign is an application that allows users to sign a document via a digital signature. SynerTrade is embedding this functionality into the relevant steps of the "Contract Management" app.

The purpose of a digital signature is to sign documents digitally, using a neutral (3rd party) provider. Documents that have been digitally signed carry more credibility compared to scanned versions of manually signed ones, since a digital signature cannot be faked. As an example, signatures using black ink are considered easier to falsify. Each time that a digitally signed document is opened, the document is validated against the digital signature in the database of the 3rd party provider (as long as that there is network access). The 3rd party provider acts as an authority to confirm and accredit the identity of the signer.
Based on the language set in the Accelerate, DocuSign would recognise and adopt the language automatically whenever a Digital Signature needs to be applied.

Version Support

DocuSign-powered digital signature functionality will be supported starting with Core 3.10. Dealforce implementation of digital signature, available in earlier releases, will cease to be supported from Core 3.10. DocuSign will therefore be the only provider for digital signature services starting from release Core 3.10 [1].

Onboarding

DocuSign is the exclusive vendor in XLR8 for digital signature services Customers need to upgrade their system to at least Core 3.10 in order to use it. The DocuSign functionality is not offered free of charge and customers will therefore be charged per each transaction. A transaction is defined as an envelope. The on-boarding process refers to the first and one-time implementation of digital signature functionality for customers.

Main onboarding steps in a production system are:

Licensing

The client needs to sign a licensing contract with SynerTrade. Upgrade to release 3.10 or higher is required in order to use this functionality.

Master Account

A client ID/integrator key, client master user credentials and one end-point URL (DocuSign) must be stored in the Electronic Signature backoffice settings in XLR8. With this defined master user(email address) a direct activation of all other users is possible. For setting up the Master Account, a PRO-ticket must be opened for the System / Master Admin. Only client SuperAdmin or SystemAdmin role can edit the backoffice page Electronic Signature, no access by consultant (integrator key is billing-relevant info). The consultant is needed to guide the client through the process.
Master account settings are manageable through:

• Backoffice> Customizing> Settings> Contract Management (App drop-down)> General>> Enable electronic signature

After this option is checked, a new tab "Electronic signature" appears on:

• Backoffice> Customizing> Settings> General (App drop-down)>> Electronic signature

Here, the Master account can be configured, so that Digital Signature process would be enabled inside a contract.

Phone Number Authentication

It is possible to use the user's phone number, in order to ensure, only authenticated users can have access to the document. The setting is available at:

• Backoffice> Customizing> Settings> General (App drop-down)> Electronic signature>> Signer Authentication type

By choosing SMS Authentication, the user will get a SMS with a code and then should enter that code into to the system, in order to go further with the process of digital signing.
Only Super Admin can access this setting. In order for users to be authenticated, it is necessary to for them to enter their phone number inside their personal profile. The number will be transferred to DocuSign. In case of number update, the new data will be propagated to DocuSign.
In case, SMS authentication is chosen, it is valid for both internal and external users.

Certificate

Another prerequisite to have Digital Signature inside a contract is to use "SSL certificate" (a trust service provider as Certificate Authority) from https://demo.docusign.net. Whenever a new platform starts using DocuSign, a SNA ticket in Jira must be opened, asking for this certificate to be installed.

First-time user activation

Users will click on „Sign“ after the notification to sign a document, the DocuSign user dialogue opens, One-time agreement to DocuSign terms and conditions, One-time configuration of signature, which is by default the users profile name. The client master account info (as defined in backoffice) will still show in the UD (User Dialogue), but this has no effect on the individual user‘s signature!

Test system

Set up of a second Docusign account, which can be added in the settings menu. This will be limited to a few transactions for testing, however the integrator key remains.

Backoffice Settings

Workflow

General process overview and summary:

1. Signing workflows have to be defined in the backoffice. A workflow contains three main configuration settings. They are logical role, signing order, action (digital signature or approval). Approval is no digital signature is done outside the 3rd party provider's app. The setting "Process Type" is set as default to "ALL" and should currently not be changed.

2. The workflow will be attached to a contract template.

3. A contract template (including the attached workflow) will be selected to create a contract.

4. A workflow can be changed for a specific contract, if the contract is in status "Offline", "Exchange" or "Rework". Create the new workflow (e.g. with additional role and /or changed action) and add it to the template used to create the contract. If contract (team) conditions fulfill the workflow conditions, the new workflow will be taken into account. This means after an approval process has been declined and changes in the workflow are necessary, they can be done under above conditions.

Details:

In order to use the signature process, first we have to define a workflow. The workflow settings are managed in the Backoffice through:

• Backoffice> Customizing> Settings> General ("App" drop-down)>> Workflows

In this page, workflows can be created. By clicking on the “Assign user role” on the action bar, the admin user can define logical user roles. The column “Step” shows the order of the workflow. As an example, a role with step 1, has to perform the first action for the digital signature, while the role assigned to step 2, does the second action.

The column “Process” defines the user action available to each role regarding the contract. The role assigned to the “Sign” process is the one responsible to sign the contract using the digital signature functionality. The roles with “Action” in their “Process” column, can only approve the contract. Approving a contract does not equate to adding the digital signature. Contract approval is not sent to the DocuSign application but is a function done within XLR8. It is essential to assign roles to the workflow while it just created and does not have any status yet. After the workflow is activated, there is no way to add roles to it, even when it becomes disabled.

Once a workflow has been defined, it needs to be assigned to a contract template. Contract template can be managed in:

• Backoffice> Customizing> Settings> Contract Management (app drop-down)>> Contract templates

The user can create a new template and assign the workflow and then enable the template. If the user assigns the workflow to an existing template which already has a workflow assigned to it, then when contract is created, both workflows are taken into consideration. In case the user wants to select an existing template and delete the already assigned workflow to it, he/she should manage it by deactivating the template and clicking on the template and selecting the "Setting" tab. Inside "General settings", the user can select the workflows in "Approval template". Then the template should be activated.

Once the contract template is ready to be used, the contract creator is able to select it in the Contract Management app and start the contract.

Roles

Roles for all users can be configured manually through the workflow. For instance, the user can define here that “Contract substitute” role is able to sign the contract and “Contract assistant” approve it. In the digital signature process the following roles are available:

• Signer: can sign the contract.
• Approver: can accept the contract.
• Viewer: can only view the contract.
• Notified: is notified about the contract.

Contract Management

Contract Administration

“Contract administration” is the first step in the Frontoffice regarding digital signature settings. The important pages here are:

Contract team

This page consists of the internal users, who will participate in the establishment of the contract. Roles also can be referred to each user of the contract in this page. “Signer” column however, is manageable only through Backoffice, based on each role (as discussed in the “Roles” section). This means, “Signer” tick-box is frozen here and not editable. The contract responsible can manually check the tick box in “Receive emails” column and the users will get notified by an email. Sent emails are visible under the “Emails & reminders” page. Numbers of users, who can be added in order to sign a document, are unlimited.

Supplier circle

Supplier users, as external participants, can be added here, in order to take some actions. “Signer” tick-box here however, must be set manually, (even if supplier roles are not defined in the workflow - this needs to be verified...supplier signer role is checked in the contract Supplier Circle!). If the workflow requires a supplier role and NO "signer" tick-box has been checked, the system will automatically check all tick-boxes for supplier participants containing this role. This will happen when the signing process is started.

Documents

Contract creator can upload the documents that need to be signed or approved, here. The column “Signature status” shows the required actions, that need to be done by the participants. If it is set as “To be signed” on the action bar, then all the users, who are signers, must sign the documents that are marked as "To be signed". Through “Buyer access” and “Supplier access” columns, the contract creator can set the selected document as “Blocked” by ticking them off. Should this be done, the relevant users will not be able to obtain access to the document (they will not see it anymore). Supplier access however, cannot be checked, as long as there is no buyer access defined. Important rule/functionality: The original version of the document is accessible by contract team members, even after it is signed. The copy of the document is created upon the start of Digital Signature. The status of the copied document is "Not Required". In case, the whole contract is copied, the copy of the document will not be transferred. Also, suppliers would not have access to the copied document.
It is also possible to filter the document list, in order to have access to some specific statuses. It is manageable by clicking on the "Filter" button and select the statuses on Signature Status section. This functionality is helpful, when there are several versions of the same contract and we want to have quick access to the very last signed version. Also, there are two filter buttons "All Documents" and "Signed Document" available above the list to filter the documents quickly.

Approval

Approval

It's at this point of the process that DocuSign functionality come into play. All users invited to the contract, their required actions, steps and approval statuses are visible here. The approval process begin by clicking on the “Start approval process” button above the list. In the “Approval status” column, the statuses of the users’ actions, are listed. The statuses are:

• Pending
• Signed
• Approved

The column “Status” shows however ony the general status of the contract.

“Approval report” button above the list, takes the user to a separate page in which the contract signing process status is displayed. The report shows the “Approval status” and “Last change” of each document and also the whole contract. “Approval workflow” shows steps of users as flowchart, in which the orders of the users who are taking actions regarding the documents, are stated.
Contract creator/responsible/assistant can stop the Approval process by clicking on “Stop Approval Process”, in order to make changes and avoid the wrong contract information to be approved. The button is only visible in “Awaiting approval” status and upon clicking no signer has access to the document and the document’s signature status will be changed to “Expired” in XLR8 if signature has already been started and the contract status will be changed to “Rework”. The current participant approval/signature step will be informed by an Email that the contract has been declined.

Contract creator can add a Signature step in to the contract workflow from internal team in the status “Awaiting approval”. It is possible by clicking on “Invite person” button and also the step must be bigger than the current step. The added step can only be deleted as long as the process is in one of the previous steps. A manually added step can be deleted in “Awaiting approval” status by contract creator, as long as no email has been sent to the manually added user. In that case, an error message will be displayed.
Contract creator can also add a Signature step to a contract workflow for both supplier and internal team in statuses “Offline”, “Exchange” and “Rework”. This management is done by clicking on “New supplier approver” and “New” depending on supplier and internal team selection. It is important to know the checkbox of the Signer for supplier is not checked automatically. So, the contract creator/responsible will have to select the supplier as signer from “Supplier circle”. The manually added steps are deletable in statuses “Offline”, “Exchange” and “Rework”.

Contract creator/responsible can choose whether the buyer or supplier will also be Signer, even if the roles are defined as a Signer in the workflow. This is done by unchecking the Signer box from Contract Team or Supplier Circle tab. By unchecking the box, the action will be changed from “Signer” to “No Action” inside Approval list.

Approval documents

Sign/approve a document

All documents that require a signature or and approval are listed here. All internal users can see other users on this page.

However, each user can only see the “Sign” button beside his/her name under “Action record” column. By clicking on the “Sign” button, the “Electronic signature” page pops up and the user can digitally sign the document and at the end by clicking on “Finish” on the bottom right of the document. Once the signature has been submitted via the “Call back” feature (in which SynerTrade internal system obtains a feedback from DocuSign), its status will automatically change from “Pending” to “Signed”. As every single required action is listed here, user names can appear multiple times, if multiple documents are available.

Declining a document

Users can also decline a document. Once a document is declined, the complete contract approval or signing process goes into rework. The overall contract status will change to "Rework". This means, all previously signed documents, are expired and need to be uploaded and signed again. During this "Rework" status, also workflow changes can be made.

Envelope

The "Envelope" is the unit of measure for transactions. Each transaction, hence each envelope is billable. Documents that need to be signed are placed into an envelope. There are two alternative set-ups of envelopes:
Single document envelope: The envelope that is signed on DocuSign application is defined as a combination of the contract ID + document ID. That means each document that needs to be signed is one envelope.
Multiple document envelope: All documents that need to be signed (for one contract) are in one envelope. The combination is contract ID + multiple documents. The documents are automatically concatenated by DocuSign. The signature can be placed on one or more documents (of the concatenated doc). The user is not forced to sign more than one document because the documents are concatenated. Once the user signs one document, all other docs are set as „signed“. The multiple documents envelope functionality does NOT offer the possibility to create multiple envelopes for one contract: E.g. 4 documents need to be signed, I select 3 out of 4 for one envelope and the fourth document for a separate second envelope.

The mentioned settings is manageable through:

• Backoffice> Customization> Settings> General (App drop-down)> Electronic signature>> Signature level

Here, user can choose if the signature is needed for each document by selecting "At document level" or for multiple documents inside one envelope by selecting "At parent level", from the drop-down. This backoffice setting can only be selected on a client level, not on a contract/ contract template level.
For both alternatives apply: there is no marker, indicating where to sign the document. It is worth mentioning that, empty documents cannot be opened by DocuSign.

Rules

Workflow Changes

• Create a new workflow to change/add/remove the signing orders, roles, actions (= new contract template).
  

• User names/ recipients can be changed in the tab "Contract Team", but only for a role that is fixed to a step. User names can be changed within the fixed roles, steps and actions.
  

• A new workflow (change of role, signing order, action) can be attached to existing contract in statuses "Offline", "Exchange" and "Rework". If the new workflow is added to the template used to create the contract and the contract fulfills the workflow conditions, it is taken into account.
  

• New signer can be exchanged (e.g. for the signer who rejected/declined) after rejection of signature. After rejection, contract is in "Rework" status.
  

• Approval process would not be launched, if the supplier (the is defined in backoffice workflow) is missing from any step of workflow. In this case, Contract Creator/ Admin/ Responsible/ Substitute will receive an error message and changing the status to "Awaiting Approval" would not be possible.
  

• Buyer/ assistant is not able to change anything in the "Document" phase, while the contract is in "Awaiting approval".
  

• If the Mobile number of at least one signer does not respect the given format, the whole process of digital signature would be blocked.
  

• Contract Creator/ Admin/ Responsible/ Substitute cannot validate/ activate the contract, when there are no "Signer" selected.
  

• Proxy user cannot use the signature of the main user, as it is not legal to sign on a different person's name.
  

Workflow Configurations

• Multiple user roles can be defined on the same signing step.
  

• Roles, steps (signing order) and action are fixed in the workflow and cannot be changed in the contract.
  

Documents

• Once the signing/approval process has started, no document can be edited or deleted.
  

• Documents, which are dispatched to DocuSign to receive a digital signature, are being duplicated / copied beforehand and receive an extension to their original name - i.e. '_for signature'.

• It is mandatory that both internal and external users access DocuSign via XLR8. If a user signs the document directly on the DocuSign website, the report still shows the status “Pending” and the users from next steps are neither notified nor allowed to sign or approve the document.
  

• Envelope level set to multiple documents: if there are 3 signers and 3 documents, and all 3 signers have signed the 1st and 3rd documents, the documents will be downloaded with the signatures. The 2nd document will look the same as the original but it will have a status of “Signed” and it will show up as "Signed" in the report as well.
  

• Once the last signer has signed, all the documents will be replaced with the received version from DocuSign. All of them will be converted to PDF. The document will not be downloaded from DocuSign, as long as the signature is missing.
  

• The signed document will be stored in the documents page and will replace the unsigned document. The unsigned copy gets deleted.
  

• Document retrieval: documents are sent back after all signers have signed. Partially signed ones (Declined) however, stay in DocuSign. We label declined documents as "expired" in XLR8 and expired documents can no longer be sent to DocuSign. The original document stays in XLR8.
  

• In cases that multiple "To Be Signed" documents have been uploaded to the 'Documents' Tab, they will be conjoined / concatenated once they are routed to DocuSign for applying the Digital Signature.

• After the Signature process has been completed by all designated 'Signers', only ONE concatenated and signed document will be retrieved back and labelled as 'Signed' (as opposed to previously retrieving all signed documents).

Signature/Status

• Recall functionality exists by clicking on "Stop Approval Process" in "Awaiting Approval" status. Only contract creator can recall the workflow. In case of a recall, the status of the contract will be changed to "Rework". The document will be voided if the signature process has already been started and have "Expired" status and if not, there would be no impact on the process. All the users for approving or signing the document, will be informed about that the contract has been declined.

• No tags or markers are placed on the documents pages that indicate where to put the signature. Signature can be made anywhere in documents.
  

• Access to DocuSign: All internal and external users must use DocuSign via XLR8. If a user signs directly in DocuSign, the report still shows “pending” and the users from next steps are neither notified nor allowed to sign/approve.
  

• Client set-up: only Super Admin and System Admin have access to "Electronic Signature" page. No SynerTrade consultant can access this page.
  

• Status tracking: webhook method is used, which means, DocuSign calls XLR8 in case of pre-defined event changes.

Manual / Digital Signature

• Internal Users (Buyers / or Signers in general) may choose to divert from the standard digital signature process and have the respective document(s) signed offline and manually. In case, the contract will not be signed digitally, but manually instead, the manually signed document should be uploaded to the Documents page and a new status "Signed manually" can be selected / set.
• If "Signed manually" status has been selected, all previously uploaded documents are to be switched from "To be Signed" to "Declined" or "Expired". Also, all signer actions inside the "Approval" Tab will be automatically switched to "No action".
• No contract can become active on a project level without:
  • Manually signed document
  • Digitally signed document
  • Documents no longer can be set as "To be signed".
    

If at least one person has already signed digitally, the status "Manually signed" cannot be set. This means the only option is to Recall the workflow. In such case the contract goes into status "Rework" , it will revert to Digital Signature and the Manually signed document is expired.

Outlook

• Contract Extension

No implementation yet

• Contract Cancellation

No implementation yet

• Contract Expiry

No implementation yet

Tender/ Awarding

• No yet implemented

Companies Using Digital Signature Functionality

• Carrefour

DocuSign Demo

You can take a look at the video in which the procedures for using DocuSign are precisely shown DocuSign Demo