Parallel, joint and, hierarchical signing

In most cases, documents require multiple signatures. When the order of signatures is important, we use the term hierarchical signing until X signs and Y cannot sign; if the order is not important, we call it parallel signing. There are also situations where three people can sign a document, but only the signatures of two individuals are required. This is known as joint signature. It is quite common for these scenarios to be combined, resulting in a combination of hierarchical, parallel, and joint signing.

The following examples detail how to organise signatories with Click & Sign according to these scenarios.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

• Parallel signature 
• Joint signature 
• Hierarchical signature 

Parallel signature 

In parallel signature, the documents are sent to all signatories simultaneously, and the signing order is unimportant.

Click & Sign organises the signatories into different groups, enabling parallel signing within each group. In the example below, signatory 1 and 2 will receive the documents simultaneously; it doesn't matter who signs first or second.

Joint signature 

In joint signature, all document recipients do not need to sign.

Click & Sign implements joint signing for all signatories within each group. For instance, Group 1 consists of 3 signatories, but only 2 signatures are needed. Signatory 1, Signatory 2, and Signatory 3 will receive the documents simultaneously, and the order in which they sign is irrelevant.

Hierarchical signature 

In hierarchical signature, the signing process occurs sequentially, and the document is forwarded to the next party only after the previous party has completed their signing. You can add as many signatories as necessary for each signature level to ensure the desired sequential signing order is followed. 

These examples illustrate how to organise signatories using Click & Sign based on the specific signing scenarios mentioned.