Signing documents with HR SignPoint

Documents specified in the form are then signed by users on the so-called signature path. We use the word participant for the users who are included in this signature path.

The author is the participant who fills in the form and creates the signature path. When the documents are signed (and approved), the process is finished (archived) by a participant in the HR manager role.

The Author section gives the details of the author (current Sofa user) – their name and surname, personal number and organizational unit. These details cannot be edited.

Using one of the following methods, insert the documents to sign in the form in the Documents to sign section:

If the process has been run from the DMS on a specific file, the file is attached to the form automatically and you can see it immediately in the Documents to sign section. You can add more files here.

The form can contain up to twenty files – see the Inserted files indicator. The total file size is limited to roughly 105 MB.

You can add a short description of each file to be signed in the File description field. The file name of the attached document (without the extension) is used by default, but you can edit it to any text. The field is optional.

To better categorize the document, select one of the preset attributes in File category. The field is mandatory.

You can optionally add a note or comment in the File comment field.

A document validity needs to be set. The validity start date – Valid from – is mandatory. If no Valid until is set, the document validity will be unlimited.

If you enable the Available in the personal file switch, the signed document will be placed in the personal files of all participants when the process is finished.

If you enable To be processed by payroll, the metadata item Processed by payroll will be set to No. This metadata is used by the payroll accountant to filter out documents waiting to be processed. After processing, the payroll accountant changes this metadata to yes. If the switch stays off (greyed out), the not relevant value is written in the metadata.

More notes for working with documents:

Enter the general information related to all the documents to sign in the Document details section.

The Document name field is prefilled by the name of the first attached document without the extension. You can edit it to any text. The field is mandatory.

In Document description, enter the description (explanation, comment…) for this transaction. The field is optional.

Using the mandatory fields Class and Rank, enter the class and rank for the document; they will be used to create document metadata when saving them to the DMS.

The read-only field Counterparty (employee) is filled when the employee to sign the document is specified in the Approval and signing section. Then this field contains the employee’s name (and cannot be edited).

The Comments section of the form is typically displayed collapsed. After expanding it with the Comments switch, you can enter any text note in it, which will be accompanied by your name and the date and time of submitting.

The signature path is the list of users who will sign and/or approve the document(s). Users on the signature path are called participants.

Add the individual signing (approving) participants in the Approval and signing section.

We will describe how to create a signature path using an example in the next chapter.

The first participant on our example signature path will be a signing employer representative.

The*1. participant – employer* section, in the User name field lists the process author – the HR worker. You can delete the name from the field, click in the field to open a list and select another participant, who will represent the employer on this signature path (for example the department manager, company director, etc.).

The participant role is set to Signer by default; you can change it to Approver (only approves and does not sign).

Then select in Signature validation, which signing method the employer representative will use – whether a signature certificate, SMS or Bank ID. If you select signing using SMS, enter the phone number where to send the verification message in the Telephone field.

The next section is 2. participant – employee. In this section, select the employee for whom this process is intended (for example who is asked to sign a new compensation agreement) and select their signing method.

The signing employee may be an internal user (is created by an administrator in the organization in Sofa) or external (outside the organization).

The third signature path participant is an employer’s representative who archives the process when it’s finished.

The name is listed in User name in section 3. participant – HR manager. The participant must be assigned (within the process) the role of HR manager.

The process author is prefilled by default; you can delete the name and select another user from the list.

Click Add employer to insert more employer representatives to sign or approve. You can adjust their order on the signature path using the arrow buttons.

The last section of the form – Notification settings – contains three checkboxes with which you can adjust how to submit the form.

The parameters in this section are optional. The section is collapsed by default; use the switch next to the section name to expand it.

To send email notifications on the progress of signing to other users who are not the signature path participants, check Add users to inform about the signing progress.

Select the users the same way as you selected the signature path participants; the options again include adding an external follower who will receive the information on process completion at a specified email address.

To start the process and send the form to the signature path, click Sign and start.

The first signer (the first signature path participant) here will be an employer’s representative. The representative receives an email notification of the signature. They can access the documents using a link in the notification or (if logged in to Sofa) from the Processes – To process view.

The signing itself proceeds in the same way as any other signing in v Sofa. If signing using a certificate is set, the signer selects the certificate from the list and verifies the transaction by entering its PIN.

Then the signer specifies where to place the signature in the documents, confirms the selection and the documents are signed. The first participant’s signature is now complete. The form display changes to "read only" and the first participant can close it.

The next person on the signature path is the 2. participant – employee. The employee receives an email notification with a request to process the document. The notification includes a link (Request access to documents) to the document in Sofa. The employee can click the link to log in to Sofa and continue to the form with documents.

If the employee is logged in, they can find a link to the form in the Processes – To process view.

The signature path can continue with other signers or approvers on behalf of the employer. But the process always ends with a participant in the HR manager role, who archives the process.

The HR manager receives an email notification on successful completion of the signature cycle with a link to the process form.

A link to the form is also available in the Processes – To process view.

The HR manager can also add their comment to the form. A comment is mandatory if the HR manager is going to cancel the process.

The Signed by users section lists the users who signed the document(s) and the signing methods they used.

The next two sections contain links to documents. The first one lists the signed documents and the second one the signature clauses.

You can preview the individual documents here or download them on your computer drive.

Now we are leaving our example. The three signature path participant represented the basic participant configuration needed to run the process. You can add more participant to the signature path; they will all be considered to be the employer’s representatives.

Click Add participant to open another section (such as 3. participant – employer) and add another participant; based on the Participant role switch, they can be either a signer or an approver. For example, the company may have two executive directors who are both needed to sign the process, or an accountant needs to approve (just approve or add the data from the form to another system – not sign) a compensation agreement.

The previously last participant – the HR manager – now moves to the last position again (this role always needs to be the last on the signature path).

These participants can also either approve or reject the process.

The Approval and signing section contains buttons to change the order of participants and to delete selected participants from the signature path.

An employee who is not (yet) an internal Sofa user in the company can take part in the HR SignPoint process as well. If that is the case, switch the Internal option off.

Instead of selecting the employee from the list of internal Sofa users, the section displays the Name and surname field, where you enter the employee’s name and surname.

The Participant role still can be either Signer or Approver. An approver may be useful if a document needs to be evaluated by someone outside the organization.

Select the signing method in Signature verification.

In E-mail address, enter the email address for communication with the external user. The files will be delivered to the same address.

Filling in the Personal number, Department, Section and Job is optional.

Once it’s the external signer’s turn on the signature path, a notification is sent to their email address. The message includes a link to request access to the documents. The link generates a one-off access to the documents to sign.

Clicking Request access to documents displays a dialog with a Verify button.

Click the button to open the HR SignPoint form where you can sign the document(s) (or reject the signature) the same way as an internal user can.

A message about the successful signature is displayed in the form. You can close the form now

The author receives an email notification about the process completion.

The external user receives a message about the request completion.