Quote e-signature built into the quote, with a full audit trail

What built-in e-signature covers

Signing is part of the quote, not a hand-off to another product. You do not export a PDF, upload it elsewhere and place fields by hand. The signature layout is defined once on the form and reused on every quote that form produces.

The signing feature includes:

• Drawn or typed signatures. Signers draw on a canvas with a mouse, trackpad or finger, or type their name and pick a handwriting-style font.
• Multiple signers with a signing order. Customer-side and optional vendor-side signers, each notified when it is their turn.
• Five field types: signature, initials, date (filled automatically with the signing date), text and checkbox.
• CC recipients who receive the signed copy without signing.
• Reminders for signers who have not finished, and a decline option that captures a reason.
• An audit trail and a compiled signed PDF.

How it fits after a live call

Signing is done by emailed link. The flow after you present the quote live is short:

1. Open the saved quote and click Send for Signing.
2. The request builder opens with the form's signature template already loaded. Confirm each signer's name and email, and add or remove signers if this deal needs it.
3. Add CC recipients, a document title, an optional cover message (snippets work here) and an optional signing deadline.
4. Send. Each signer receives an email with a unique secure link, and the quote status changes to Sent.

The quote detail page then shows who has signed, who is pending and the completion percentage. You get an in-app notification and an email when the last signature is in.

Sample walkthrough: two signers and a counter-signature

An example with made-up companies: Kestrel Cloud (fictional) has just agreed terms with Marlow Freight (fictional). Marlow requires both a VP of Operations and a CFO to sign, and Kestrel counter-signs every agreement.

1. Kestrel's form template already has one customer signer with Print Name, Title, Signature and Date. The rep adds a second customer signer for the CFO and a vendor signer for her own sales director.
2. She CCs Marlow's legal contact and sends the request.
3. The VP opens the link, sees Kestrel's branding, the document title and a summary of the quote, fills in the fields from top to bottom, types his name, picks a font and clicks Complete Signature.
4. The CFO is notified that it is her turn. She draws her signature on her phone.
5. The sales director counter-signs last.

When the last signer finishes, forquotez compiles one PDF with every signature placed at its field position, sends it to all signers and the CC recipient, and changes the quote status to Signed. If you are deciding who should go first, see the signing order glossary entry.

The audit trail and signed document

Every action in the signing process is recorded: when a link was opened, when each field was completed and when the signature was finalized. Each entry is logged with a timestamp, IP address and user agent.

The compiled signed PDF ends with an audit certificate page that summarizes those events. forquotez computes a SHA-256 hash of the final document and shows it on the certificate. A public verification page lets anyone holding the document check it against that record.

Signers cannot change their responses after they click Complete Signature. Because the underlying quote is a frozen snapshot, later edits to the form do not alter what was signed. This page describes how the record is kept. It is not legal advice, and you should ask your own counsel what your agreements require.

What it replaces and what it pairs with

Built-in signing replaces a separate e-signature subscription for quotes and order forms, along with the export, upload and field-placement steps that come with one. There is one fewer tool for the rep to switch to and one fewer place for a deal to stall.

It pairs with a few other parts of the product:

• Legal documents. Attach terms to a form, and buyers must accept them by checkbox, inline display or initials before they can download the PDF or sign.
• The CRM. Signing started, signed and declined events are added to the activity timeline automatically.
• HubSpot. If HubSpot is connected, a note is added to the deal when the request is sent and the signed PDF is attached when it completes.