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eSignatures

Send documents for signature straight from a Portant workflow, or upload a one-off PDF and send it for signing without setting up a workflow at all.

Use eSignatures when you need a recipient to sign something you've sent them: a contract, a quote, an offer letter, an NDA. The signed PDF is saved where your workflow sends its outputs, for example your Google Drive folder, the HubSpot record, SharePoint or OneDrive, or Portant hosting, and it is listed on the Outputs page. On paid plans (Pro, Team and Enterprise), you can also add an audit trail to the signed PDF.

When to use eSignatures

eSignatures fit two broad shapes of work:

  • From a source. Pull data from Google Sheets, Google Forms, HubSpot, or another connected source, generate a personalised document, and send it for signature on every new row, response, or stage change.
  • One-off. Upload a finished PDF, drop in signature fields, and send it to one or more signers without setting up a workflow. More than one signer needs a Pro, Team or Enterprise plan.

Both flows produce a signed PDF. Portant provides simple electronic signatures (SES), the basic level of electronic signature. The legal position and what Portant records are described below. Compliance covers how electronic signature law applies in each country.

How it works

  1. Add a signature request to your workflow (or upload a PDF for a one-off send).
  2. Place signature, date, text, checkbox, and initials fields wherever you need them.
  3. Add the signer's email (a tag from your source, or typed directly).
  4. Customise the request and confirmation emails if you want to.
  5. Turn on the workflow. Portant sends the request, collects the signature, and saves the signed copy.

Portant provides simple electronic signatures (SES). It does not provide advanced (AES) or qualified (QES) electronic signatures, and it does not check who a signer is. A request goes to the email address you enter, but anyone who has the signing link can sign. If a recipient forwards the request email, the person who receives it can sign. Keep sensitive requests to recipients you trust.

In every signing flow, the signer ticks "I understand that this is a legal representation of my signature" before they sign. This confirms their intent to sign. It is not the consumer consent described below.

In the US and the EU, an electronic signature cannot be refused legal effect only because it is electronic. Some documents are excluded, or need a handwritten, notarized or qualified signature:

  • United States. The E-SIGN Act (15 U.S.C. 7001 and 7003) applies only when the parties have agreed to do business electronically. Some information that must be given to consumers in writing needs the consumer's consent first. Portant does not provide a consumer consent and disclosure flow, so where this applies, you must give those disclosures and get consent yourself. The Act does not cover, among others: wills, codicils and testamentary trusts; adoption, divorce and other family law matters; most records under the Uniform Commercial Code, such as promissory notes (sales and leases of goods under UCC Articles 2 and 2A are covered); court orders and official court documents; some notices, such as utility shutoffs, foreclosure or eviction on a primary residence, health or life insurance cancellation and product recalls; and documents that must travel with hazardous materials. Check your state's rules too.
  • European Union. Under Article 25 of the eIDAS Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, a qualified electronic signature has the same legal effect as a handwritten one in every EU country. The effect of other electronic signatures, including Portant's, depends on each country's law. Article 2(3) leaves EU and national rules on forming contracts, and on the form a document must take, unchanged. For example, in Germany, where a law requires written form, an electronic document needs a qualified electronic signature (BGB section 126a). Ending an employment contract cannot be done electronically (BGB section 623). A fixed term in an employment contract needs written form (TzBfG section 14(4)). A contract to transfer land must be notarized (BGB section 311b).

The Compliance pages cover each country we list. Portant docs are not legal advice. For regulated or high-value documents, check with a lawyer before you rely on an electronic signature.

What Portant records

Every signed PDF is locked and hashed. Anyone can check a signed PDF at sign.portant.co. The check confirms only whether the file is an unchanged Portant document. It does not show who signed, when, or from where.

On paid plans (Pro, Team and Enterprise), you can append an audit trail to the signed PDF. Turn on the Audit trail toggle before you send the request. It cannot be added to a PDF that is already signed. It works for workflow signature requests, signing links and uploads from the Signatures tab. On signing links, the name and email the signer enters are saved with the signing details.

The audit trail page shows the filename, when and by whom (name and email) the document was created, the document ID, the date format, the time zone and the status. It then lists the document history:

  • When the signable document was created and sent.
  • For each recipient, each time they opened the document and each signature, with their email, the date and time, the IP address, the approximate IP location and the device.
  • When the signable document was completed.

The Free plan does not include the audit trail.

When you turn on signature receipts, each signer gets a copy of the signed PDF.

Portant hosts data on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). For how Portant processes personal data, see the Data Protection Addendum.

Next steps

  • Get started: set up your first signature workflow end to end.
  • Signature requests: the full walk-through, from picking a source to turning automation on.
  • Manual PDF upload: send a one-off PDF without a workflow.
  • Multiple signers: request signatures from up to four people on the same document (Pro, Team and Enterprise plans).
  • Audit trail: add a signing timeline to the signed PDF (Pro, Team and Enterprise plans).
  • Compliance: how electronic signature law applies in each country.