↗ · How-to guide
How to set up sequential signing (and when parallel is better).
Route a document through signers in order, with each one unlocked only after the previous finishes, with reminders and a unified audit trail doing the chasing for you.
Free forever · 2 forms · No credit card
Last updated
↗ · Step by step
Multi-party signing has exactly two shapes. Parallel: everyone gets the document at once, fastest when order doesn't matter. Sequential: signer 2 can't even open it until signer 1 finishes, which is what you want when a manager approves before HR executes, or when you countersign only after the client commits. Sign Sail's Business plan does both, up to 10 recipients per envelope.
01 ·Prepare the document with per-signer fields
Upload the PDF (or pick a form) and assign every field to a numbered signer slot: signature for signer 1, signature for signer 2, and so on. Tags speed this up in source documents, where {{sig:s1}} and {{sig:s2}} resolve to the right slots automatically on upload.
02 ·Add recipients in signing order
List the recipients in the order they should sign, with the roster order becoming the routing order. Each recipient gets their own private, token-gated link; nobody sees anyone else's signing session.
03 ·Choose ordered, not parallel
Flip the envelope to ordered routing. Sign Sail now releases the document one wave at a time: recipient 2's link stays locked, showing a 'waiting on an earlier signer' notice, until recipient 1 completes.
04 ·Set reminders and an expiry
Configure automatic reminder emails for whoever currently holds the pen and an expiry date for the whole envelope. This is the step that replaces you chasing people, since the system nags so you don't have to.
05 ·Track the chain and handle declines
The envelope view shows exactly where things sit: who's signed, who's viewed, who's next. If someone declines, they give a reason, the chain stops, the audit trail records it, and you can void and resend a corrected version.
06 ·Collect the unified audit trail
When the last signer finishes, every party receives the completed PDF with all signatures and one envelope-level audit trail covering the entire chain, including who signed when, from which IP, in which order, with the SHA-256 hash and PAdES seal on top.
↗ · Questions
Before you start.
When should I use sequential instead of parallel?
Use sequential when a later signature depends on an earlier one: approvals before execution, client commitment before your countersignature, or any chain where someone shouldn't sign a document the previous person might still change by declining. Use parallel everywhere else, because it's faster and nobody waits.
What happens if someone in the middle of the chain declines?
The envelope stops advancing, the decline and its reason land in the audit trail, and later signers never receive an active link. You can void the envelope and send a corrected version, with the voided envelope keeping its history for your records.
What plan do I need, and what are the limits?
Multi-party envelopes with ordered or parallel routing, reminders, decline, and expiry are on the Business plan ($39/mo billed annually), up to 10 recipients per envelope for forms. Document-first signing supports up to 20 signers per document on Business and 100 on Enterprise.
Stop being the routing engine yourself.
Ordered signing with automatic reminders and one audit trail across the chain, on the Business plan.