Hundreds of thousands of people in Poland now find themselves in a completely new situation. All those who used to get up every morning, get dressed, leave the house and drive to the office have to switch to working remotely. Allowing people to work from home (in industries where this is possible, of course) is the best thing companies can do at this point – both for their employees and for the situation across the country. We stay at home not out of laziness or convenience, but for safety – our own, our co-workers’ and anyone we might meet on the way to work.

Most likely, the current situation will last much longer than the announced two weeks. Most likely, most of us will get used to working from home and perhaps find it more convenient. One thing is certain – in order to be able to carry out their duties efficiently remotely, most companies will have to make some organizational changes. One of them is to make it possible to prepare and sign contracts online. After all, the quarantine is not that we will work from home, but we will still be forced to meet to put signatures on paper documents.

In that case, what should we do to be able to sign contracts online? Can every contract be signed this way? What solutions are worth implementing? Today we will answer each of these questions. Here we go!

When can a contract be signed online?

You’re probably wondering if every contract can be signed online? We have good news – you can sign most contracts using an electronic signature.

When approving contracts online, you can use two forms of signatures: electronic and qualified. What are the differences between the two?

Electronic non-qualified signature

This is the signature you are most likely to use most often. It is used for signing B2B contracts or company internal documents. It does not require proof of identity – the link with the document to be signed goes to the email inbox of the authorized person.

Such an electronic signature can be used by an employee when signing or amending an employment contract. A DocuSign® electronic signature can be set up the first time DocuSign® is used and is free for the signer.

Qualified signature

It is used to sign documents that require a written form and has exactly the same legal force as a manual signature applied to paper. Among other things, this secure electronic signature is used to sign: employment contracts (required only for the employer), bidding for tenders and letters to authorities.

You already know what contracts can be signed electronically. Now let’s move on to a concrete answer to the question: how to sign a contract online?

DocuSign® – a platform for collecting electronic signatures

Signing documents online should be convenient, fast and intuitive – after all, this is what the idea of electronic signatures is all about. How to make remote work easier and where to start implementing electronic signatures into your business?

One of the steps to take to make working from home more efficient is to implement an electronic signature platform. The most well-known worldwide is the DocuSign® platform (the main investor is Google Ventures, $55.7 million). This will make it possible to sign documents from anywhere in the world, anytime and from any device. The implementation of the DocuSign® platform will not only be a convenience for employees who currently work from their homes, but also for management and decision-makers. The electronic signature makes it possible to initial and sign multi-page contracts with a single click – quickly, intuitively and securely. Importantly – only the company that prepares and sends the documents needs a license to use the DocuSign® platform. The other party, e.g. the contractor, does not pay for signing the contract with an electronic signature. He only receives a link to the document at his e-mail address and signs the document with a single click, without incurring any costs.

DocuSign® provides the ability to validate the document with both a non-qualified signature and a qualified signature. A person signing with a qualified signature can use any signature issued by a certified signature issuing institution (Asseco Data Systems S.A., Enigma SOI, EuroCert Sp. z o.o., Krajowa Izba Rozliczeniowa S.A., Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych S.A.).

A signature is not everything, or the importance of electronic document circulation

The implementation of a platform for electronic signatures is really only the last link in the process of streamlining the circulation, acceptance and approval of documents in a company where most employees perform their duties remotely. Efficient, smooth and effective process of document creation and approval is only possible with the introduction of a proven electronic document workflow system integrated with the DocuSign® platform.

Traditional document workflow in a company – what does contract processing look like?

What does the traditional document workflow in a company look like when all employees are on site, in the office?

It all starts with the preparation of a document, such as a contract. Usually several or a dozen people from different departments work on it. The file with the contract circulates between the email inboxes of the people involved in the process. Often many people work on one agreement at the same time, so that several versions of one document are created in parallel, which eventually someone has to assemble into one coherent whole. Employees have the option, for example, of knocking on the door of the next room and reminding a colleague that everyone is waiting for their comments on the contract. They can also walk a few desks away and consult the problem with a colleague.

Once the contract is drafted, it usually has to be reviewed and then approved by the decision-makers. Finally comes the time for the signatures that the parties involved in the agreement must affix to the paper document. The final stage is archiving – usually documents created as part of the company’s operation must be stored for several (and in some cases, even several decades!) years.

Electronic document workflow – a solution for companies working remotely

In the current situation, paper document circulation is impossible or at least difficult. It’s hard to even imagine what it could look like. Would you hire a person to travel with papers between the homes of employees and board members? Such an employee would not only be exposed to the virus himself, but would also pose a potential threat to the others working from home. In that case, how to organize the workflow of a company working remotely?

The solution not only for companies working remotely, but also for those that simply want to streamline their workflow processes, is to implement a good, intuitive and comprehensively working electronic document circulation system. These three terms perfectly describe the Hatiroo system.

Hatiroo is an electronic document workflow tool that not only streamlines and speeds up document workflow, but also enables a huge reduction in costs associated with corporate document processing.

Why is Hatiroo the system you should implement in your company?

The introduction of an electronic document circulation system increases the efficiency of processing by 80%, and leaves tens of thousands of zlotys more in company accounts each year than when using traditional circulation.

• Hatiroo not only coordinates the circulation of documents, but also streamlines the process of drafting, reviewing and approval. Thanks to the integration with Office 365, all people involved in the project can work on the same document, without having to create successive versions. This solution also gives access to the full change history of each document.
• The Hatiroo system is fully integrated with DocuSign®. This means that with one tool you can not only process, but also submit electronic signatures using non-qualified or qualified signatures.
• The Hatiroo system is integrated with your Active Directory, so you are not limited by the number of users. You don’t need to set up accounts for your employees, and access to the application is the same as to your company mail.
• The operation of the system is intuitive – even a person who has not dealt with electronic workflow before will easily cope with working with the tool. Users benefit from the program without having to go through expensive and time-consuming implementations.
• Users access the system from a browser – so they can use it anytime, from anywhere in the world. Every document created goes to an organized electronic repository, which effectively replaces the company’s archive filled with paper documents.

Efficient document workflow management is extremely important – not only now, when we all work remotely, but also when we return to our offices. Implementing an electronic workflow saves time, money and power, and is cost-effective for most companies.