Electronic signatures allow you to sign documents faster and more efficiently – that much is clear. However, speeding up processes is just one of the many benefits you will get from implementing e-signature into your business. It is also worth knowing that the use of e-signature will be even easier and more efficient thanks to additional integrated solutions.What solutions are we talking about? A good e-signature platform and an electronic workflow system will allow you to be 100% in control of documents signed electronically. Will these tools actually be useful to you now that you have a qualified signature and can approve documents electronically? We invite you to read on! We will give you some arguments, and you can decide for yourself which solution will be the most beneficial for your company.

Electronic signature more secure than a traditional one

Have you ever wondered what kind of fraud you are exposed to, working only with paper documents and signing them manually? Every company cares about the security of its documentation. Despite this, it is often difficult to fully control the hundreds or even thousands of sheets of paper processed each month, especially since work is often accompanied by haste, through which documents can be left in disarray.

Paper documents – the most common frauds

Replacing one page in a multi-page contract is a matter of minutes. Such a contract, going through the entire process of creation, opinion, approval and signatures goes to a minimum of several pairs of hands in the company. What happens if an opinionated and approved agreement finds its way to the CEO’s desk, the CEO initials each page and signs it at the end, and after time it turns out that someone has substituted a page with important details of the transaction, which in its current form can bring huge financial losses to the company? How do you get to who changed the form of the contract and when?

A very popular and often streamlining solution for the company are facsimiles, or simply a stamp with a signature. Such a tool certainly speeds up many processes in the company, but it can also become a source of abuse if it gets into the wrong hands.

Security of electronic documents

For electronically signed documents, the above aspects do not pose a threat. There is no possibility of someone swapping the page, and additional security, encryption and identity confirmations mean that the risk of a third party signing the document is minimized almost to zero.

Electronically signed contracts are encrypted using RSA algorithms. In a nutshell: the RSA algorithm assumes that encryption is done with a private key and decryption with a public key. What does this mean in practice? When you sign a document, you encrypt it with your electronic signature and add a key to read the document. When someone opens the file, they will see the document and the signatures on it, but there is no way to forge such a document. Why? He would have to replace the page and encrypt the document again, and since he doesn’t know the encryption key, only the decryption key, there is no way to generate a forged document.

In addition, any company that wants to provide electronic signatures must pass the appropriate certifications and security tests in accordance with the eIDAS regulation.

Is it worth investing in an electronic signature platform?

Let’s assume that you already have a qualified signature. You can sign company documents, contracts, official letters and tender bids. Are you wondering whether you will need an electronic signature platform at all?

Our recommendation is simple: if you sign min. 10 documents per month, you should implement such an electronic signature platform. Without an additional tool, you will be able to sign documents electronically, but it will take you more time, and the signed documents will be scattered around your email inbox and disk.

If you decide to implement an electronic signature platform for your business, it is worth choosing one that will support any qualified signature recognized by Polish law. Decide on a platform where all signed documents are encrypted and it has passed certification in accordance with the eIDAS regulation. These conditions are met by the universal and intuitive DocuSign® electronic signature platform.

4 reasons to combine a qualified signature with the DocuSign® platform

1. Electronically signed documents can come in two forms – PAdES (PDF) and XAdES (XML). PAdES is a format that can easily be read on any computer or mobile device. It is simply a PDF document with an electronic signature. XAdES, on the other hand, is a typical digital document that can look like a string of unintelligible characters. To read an encrypted document from an XAdES file, you need to use the right tools to decrypt the document and save it as a copy. Such a tool is usually provided by a qualified signature provider. The DocuSign® electronic signature platform has a built-in document converter that will convert any of your Word or Excel files to PDF format. Once the document in question is signed, you will receive PAdES, a file that is readable as soon as you open it.

2. Within DocuSign®, all documents are in one place – at any time you have access to a complete repository of signed files. If you only use a qualified signature, the documents are scattered across drives and email inboxes.

3. DocuSign® provides a summary confirming the correct collection of signatures. If you need to take evidence, you can print each electronically signed document together with the relevant certificates of consistency. A document prepared in this way constitutes a full-fledged proof, equivalent to manually signed contracts.

4. If you’ve signed financial statements with a qualified signature in the past, you know how cumbersome it can be to collect the signatures of all board members. One by one, each person must download the file and affix their signature to it. In addition, those authorized to sign don’t immediately see what they’re approving, and after they sign, they have to coordinate the next step themselves. The DocuSign® platform allows you to fully coordinate the process of uploading documents for signature. All you have to do is upload the documents to the system, identify the people, and DocuSign® will make sure that each person signs in the correct order. It is also possible to collect signatures simultaneously, which speeds up the process considerably.

How quickly can you find a document when you need it?

Paper documents get lost and it’s hard to argue with that. Contracts are scattered around office binders, external archives, and not infrequently, drawers in the desks of employees who, in their haste, have not clipped the document into the correct binder.

This is not a problem as long as the documents are not needed. However, when a contract needs to be verified (for example, because of an audit or for the purposes of a lawsuit), you usually need to find the necessary papers as quickly as possible. How much time will you allocate to finding the contract? We’ll give you 4 scenarios – each using different tools and technologies.

Hand-signed paper documents

If all of your company’s documents are processed in traditional paper form, you’ll need to find those few pieces of paper in the thicket of dozens or even hundreds of binders and boxes. If it’s a document from a few months ago, it should still be in the office. However, if it was signed several years ago, it is very possible that it is in the depths of an external archive. It will most likely take you a few days to find such a contract, and it is still not certain that you will find it and that it has not misplaced itself somewhere along the way.

Qualified signature and emailed documents

If you use an electronic qualified signature, fortunately, you don’t have to search through office and external archives. However, you still have to spend a lot of time to find the contract you need, which may be in your email inbox, on your desktop or shared drive. If the documents on your drive are in perfect order, you will most likely find the contract in 5-10 minutes. But what if you don’t? Think how time-consuming and frustrating it can be to click through dozens of folders and files.

An electronic signature platform, such as DocuSign®

If you use an e-signature platform and submit both qualified and non-qualified signatures through it, the matter is simple. You have access to a full repository of signed files and can find the document you need in a matter of moments. However, you don’t have easy access to the repository of draft versions of documents, and it will be difficult to find related documents, such as addenda, purchase orders and bids.

Hatiroo® electronic workflow integrated with DocuSign®.

Your company already uses a good electronic workflow system that is integrated not only with an electronic signature platform, but also with a tool for collaborative work on documents (such as Office 365®)? In this case, you will not only quickly find the document you need with the help of a search engine, but you will also have access to all the draft versions that were created in the process of creating a given agreement. In addition, you will easily find all related documents, such as addenda, orders or offers. You will also have insight into the intentions that the parties had when signing the contract.

As you can see, in practice, an electronic signature means much more than just signing a document quickly without having to leave home. If your company processes at least 10 documents per month, it’s worth investing in a comprehensive solution that will streamline the creation, review, approval, collection of signatures and archiving of documents. Such a tool is Hatiroo™ – a system that will give you the confidence that you have full control over all company documents.