TL;DR
- Prepare the approved employment contract or offer letter, verify names and terms, assign signer fields, and send it through electronic signature software.
- Set the signing order and expiration date before sending. Schedule reminders, collect the employer’s countersignature, and confirm that every required party has signed.
- Preserve the executed document and its audit trail in secure, searchable storage. Basic e-signature software collects signatures, while contract workflow software also manages reusable documents, approvals, status tracking, structured data, and ongoing records.
- Ask employment counsel to review terms that require legal judgment, including equity, restrictive covenants, worker classification, jurisdiction-specific requirements, executive agreements, negotiated changes, or post-execution corrections. Software does not replace legal advice.
What counts as an employment contract or offer letter online
An offer letter states the proposed role and core employment terms, such as compensation, start date, and any conditions of employment. Some offer letters also contain provisions with legal effect. You should use an approved template and seek legal review when terms depart from it or local law affects the document.
An employment contract sets out a more detailed agreement between the employer and employee. It may cover termination rights, intellectual property, confidentiality, restrictive covenants, or other continuing obligations. Because those provisions can require legal judgment, employment contract software can manage the document process but cannot determine whether the terms are appropriate.
Sending and signing either document online means uploading or generating the correct version, assigning fields to identified signers, and delivering a secure link through electronic signature software. Each signer applies an electronic signature, usually by typing, drawing, or selecting a saved signature. The software then records signer actions and produces a completed copy.
The document type determines the preparation and routing steps. A standard offer letter may require one internal approval and a candidate signature. A detailed employment contract may require legal approval, sequential signatures, and an authorized employer countersignature. Basic e-signature software handles signature collection, while broader contract workflow software can manage the surrounding approvals, routing, tracking, and storage.
Preparing the document before it goes out
Use the latest approved template as the source document. Confirm that the file matches the intended document type, jurisdiction, and worker category. Record a version date or template identifier so you can trace the issued agreement to its approved source. Avoid copying a previous employee’s document, since hidden fields and outdated terms can carry forward.
Verify every variable field against the recruiting and payroll records. Use the employer’s correct legal entity name and the candidate’s legal name, address, and email. Check the job title, start date, work location, compensation, payment schedule, and any referenced bonus or equity terms. Confirm that exhibits and incorporated policies match the main document.
Complete internal approvals before sending the document. The hiring manager should approve the role, title, and start date. Finance or an authorized compensation owner should confirm salary, bonus, and equity details. Counsel should review nonstandard terms, restrictive covenants, intellectual property provisions, classification questions, negotiated edits, and jurisdiction-specific requirements.
Basic electronic signature software can collect signatures after you upload a finished document, but you may need to manage templates, approvals, and version control elsewhere. Contract workflow software can connect an approved template with required fields, internal approval steps, and a record of which version was sent. Common Paper, for example, connects electronic signatures with reusable agreements, internal approvals, structured contract data, and ongoing contract management. Software can control the workflow, but it cannot determine whether the employment terms are legally appropriate.
Setting expiration, signing order, and reminders
Set the expiration date to match the offer’s stated acceptance deadline. Offer letters usually need shorter windows than vendor contracts because hiring plans, start dates, and other candidates may depend on a timely response. Give the candidate enough business days to review the terms and seek advice. Account for weekends, holidays, and any planned discussions before choosing the deadline.
Choose signing order based on who must act and when.
- Single signing works when only the candidate must sign and the employer has already completed its approval process.
- Sequential signing routes the document to one person at a time. You might send it to the candidate first, then route the accepted offer to an authorized company signer.
- Parallel signing lets both parties sign independently. Use it when order does not affect approval or authority.
Automated reminders should support the deadline without overwhelming the candidate. A common schedule sends one reminder midway through the review window and another one business day before expiration. Pause reminders when the candidate asks a substantive question, since the document may require clarification or revision.
Assign someone to monitor viewed, unsigned, and expired offers. If the deadline passes, confirm that the role and terms remain available before extending the signing window or issuing a replacement. Contract workflow software can track deadlines and route reminders automatically. Basic electronic signature software may require more manual monitoring and follow-up.
Correcting unsigned documents and handling declines
Correct simple errors before sending whenever possible. You can fix a typo, signer email, or misplaced signature field while the document remains a draft. If the document is correct but the recipient lost the email or link, resend the same signing request rather than creating a duplicate.
Void and reissue a sent document when its substantive content must change, even if nobody has signed it. Changes to compensation, equity, start date, job title, employment status, restrictive covenants, or intellectual property terms require a new version and a fresh signing request. Mark the earlier version as void, record why you replaced it, and tell every signer which version controls. A clean replacement prevents someone from signing an outdated copy.
Treat a decline as a request for follow-up rather than a completed rejection unless the candidate clearly withdrew. Record the stated reason, confirm any requested change with the appropriate internal approver, and send a revised document only after approval. Do not reactivate the declined version if any term changed.
Legal review becomes appropriate when a correction requires judgment about rights, obligations, compliance, or enforceability. Ask counsel to review negotiated terms, classification questions, jurisdiction-specific provisions, restrictive covenants, executive arrangements, or unusual compensation and equity. Operational tools can preserve versions and routing, but they cannot determine whether revised language protects the company or complies with applicable law.
Collecting countersignatures and completing execution
Set the employer countersignatory and signing sequence before sending the document. The authorized employer representative may sign first, or the candidate may sign first and trigger countersignature routing. Follow the sequence required by the document and your internal approval policy.
Signing status should distinguish a candidate-signed document from a fully executed agreement. An agreement reaches executed status after every signature required by its terms and your approval process has been collected. Confirm that the final copy contains all signatures, dates, and unchanged terms, then provide the completed document to the candidate.
Accurate tracking helps you identify who signed, when each action occurred, and whether the employer countersignature remains outstanding. Basic electronic signature software can collect both signatures, but you may need to notify the employer signer and monitor completion manually.
Contract workflow software can route the document automatically after the candidate signs, alert the countersignatory, and update the agreement’s status after completion. For example, Common Paper connects electronic signatures with internal approvals, status tracking, structured contract data, and ongoing contract management. Whatever tool you use, assign someone to investigate stalled countersignatures and confirm mutual execution.
Signing status reference table
| Status | Meaning | Required action |
| Draft | The document has not been sent. | Verify terms, fields, recipients, and approvals. |
| Sent | The signing request reached the recipient. | Monitor delivery and wait for action. |
| Viewed | A recipient opened the document. | Send a reminder if the deadline approaches. |
| Expired | The signing deadline passed. | Review the terms, then extend or reissue. |
| Declined | A recipient refused to sign. | Ask why and determine whether changes need legal review. |
| Signed | The employee completed their signature. | Route the document for the employer’s signature. |
| Countersigned | The employer completed its signature. | Confirm that every required signer has finished. |
| Executed | All signatures are complete. | Save the agreement and its audit trail securely. |
| Voided | The sender canceled the signing request. | Correct the document and issue a new version if needed. |
Preserving audit trails and storing executed agreements
A complete audit trail records who acted, what they did, and when they did it. Retain timestamped events for sending, viewing, signing, declining, voiding, and countersigning. The record should also include signer email addresses, authentication steps, IP addresses, and available device metadata. IP and device data support attribution, but they do not prove identity by themselves.
Keep the final signed document and its certificate of completion together. The certificate should identify each signer, record signature timestamps, and connect those events to the completed file. Many electronic signature tools generate this certificate after all required parties sign. Restrict administrator access so users cannot quietly replace the executed file or alter its event history.
Store executed agreements in a secure, searchable repository with role-based access and a documented retention policy. Index each record by employee name, employing entity, document type, execution date, and current status. You should also follow applicable privacy, employment, and record-retention requirements when deciding who can access a file and how long to keep it.
Structured contract data makes employment records easier to use than a PDF archive alone. Fields for start date, compensation, equity references, renewal terms, and restrictive covenants let people operations staff find relevant obligations without opening every file. A contract workflow system such as Common Paper can connect the signed document, audit history, structured data, and ongoing contract management in one record. Legal counsel should set retention rules or interpret contract terms when jurisdiction-specific requirements apply.
Basic e-signature tools versus contract workflow software
A standalone e-signature tool usually covers occasional offer letters when you already have an approved document and a simple signing path. You upload the final file, place signature fields, send it, and download the completed copy and audit record. A small startup can manage approvals, reminders, countersignatures, and storage manually when hiring volume remains low.
Contract workflow software becomes useful when repeated manual steps create errors or delays. It can connect reusable documents with internal approvals, signing order, automated reminders, status tracking, countersignatures, and post-signature storage. Structured contract data also lets you search for terms such as start dates or compensation review dates without opening each PDF.
Products such as DocuSign, Adobe Acrobat Sign, and Eversign can support electronic signatures, though available workflow features depend on the product and plan. Compare the specific capabilities you need rather than relying on the category label.
Common Paper is a startup-focused contract system that connects electronic signatures with reusable agreements, internal approvals, structured contract data, and ongoing contract management. That broader approach fits startups that send documents regularly or need several people to approve and track them.
Neither tool category determines whether employment terms are legally appropriate. Counsel should review documents that involve nonstandard terms, negotiated changes, worker classification, or jurisdiction-specific requirements.
When to involve legal review
Legal review should run separately from document preparation and signature collection. Ask qualified employment counsel to review an agreement when its terms require legal judgment, especially in the following situations.
- Nonstandard compensation or equity terms can affect tax treatment, vesting, governance, and existing plan documents.
- Restrictive covenants such as noncompete, nonsolicitation, or confidentiality clauses may face limits that vary by jurisdiction.
- Intellectual property assignment terms require review when an employee brings prior inventions, creates work outside their role, or lives in a jurisdiction with specific protections.
- Worker classification questions require counsel when the facts do not clearly support employee or independent contractor status.
- Jurisdiction-specific requirements may control required notices, signature rules, leave terms, or enforceability.
- Executive agreements often include negotiated severance, change-of-control provisions, equity treatment, or termination rights.
- Negotiated redlines require review when a candidate requests substantive changes rather than correction of a clerical error.
- Post-execution corrections require counsel when signed terms are wrong, incomplete, or need amendment. Do not edit the executed PDF or quietly replace it with a new version.
Routine operational fixes usually do not require legal judgment. You can correct a misspelled name or wrong email before signature by voiding the incorrect document, updating the source, and reissuing it with a clean audit history.
Contract workflow software can route approvals, preserve versions, record signer actions, and store executed agreements. Tools such as Common Paper support those process and recordkeeping tasks, but they do not replace employment counsel or HR compliance advice.
Common errors and how to avoid them
- The sender enters the wrong signer email. Verify the candidate’s address before sending, and void any document sent to the wrong recipient.
- The document contains incorrect names or employment terms. Compare every variable field with the approved offer before sending.
- The signing link expires without warning. Set an expiration date and schedule reminders before the deadline.
- Signers complete the document in the wrong order. Configure sequential routing when the candidate must sign before the employer.
- The employer never countersigns the document. Assign the employer signer in advance and track the document until both parties finish.
- Someone edits an unsigned document without controlling versions. Void the incorrect copy and issue a corrected version when the terms or signature fields change.
- The sender leaves required fields optional. Mark every signature, date, initial, and acknowledgment field as required before sending.
- The company keeps the signed PDF but loses the audit trail. Store the executed agreement with its completion certificate and timestamped signer history.
- Someone changes an agreement after execution. Preserve the original, avoid altering the signed file, and ask counsel whether the correction requires an amendment or replacement agreement.
Step-by-step checklist for sending and signing
- Select the approved offer letter or employment agreement template.
- Verify the employer’s legal entity and the candidate’s full legal name.
- Confirm the role, compensation, start date, work location, and signer email.
- Obtain required approvals from the hiring manager, finance, and people operations.
- Request legal review for nonstandard terms, negotiated changes, or jurisdiction-specific requirements.
- Set a clear expiration date for the offer.
- Choose whether signatures occur sequentially or in parallel.
- Assign the candidate and employer signers in the correct order.
- Schedule reminders before the document expires.
- Send the document through secure electronic signature software.
- Monitor whether the candidate has viewed, signed, declined, or allowed the document to expire.
- Correct minor delivery errors or void and reissue documents with changed terms.
- Route the signed document to the employer’s authorized countersigner.
- Confirm that every required party has signed.
- Download and retain the completed agreement and its audit trail.
- Store the executed agreement in a secure, searchable repository.
- Record key terms as structured contract data when your workflow supports it.
Conclusion
Reliable online signing depends on a repeatable process for checking terms, routing signatures, tracking status, and storing the executed agreement. Basic electronic signature software may suit occasional offer letters with simple approvals. Higher volume, missed follow-ups, or complex approval paths may justify contract workflow software.
Choose the tool that addresses your current operational problem. Keep legal review separate. Counsel should assess nonstandard terms, negotiated changes, jurisdiction-specific requirements, and corrections after execution. No signing workflow replaces legal judgment.