eSignatures for small businesses: a godsend. They’re faster, easier to use, more secure, and save time and money. However, creating electronic signatures can be a major snag—depending on the signature maker software at your disposal.
So how do you do it without getting frustrated? This guide explains how to create an eSignature and make signing business documents hassle-free.
Why eSignatures Over a Paper Signature?
A few years ago, it was common for companies and their clients to complete business documents with wet signatures. But after the global pandemic hit, businesses switched to electronic document formats and eSignatures to authenticate various transactions.
eSignatures drive value for your employees, customers, and entire organization, thanks to the ease and convenience they provide to all stakeholders in the agreement process.
Plus, eSignatures enjoy federal and statewide protection through the ESIGN (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce) Act of 2000 and the UETA (Uniform Electronic Transactions) Act. These and other international acts and legislations make documents drafted and signed online legally enforceable.Â
Wondering if eSignatures are worth adding to your workflow? Here are several reasons businesses use digital signatures:
- Speeds up document completion and boosts employee productivity
- Authenticates the document and confirms that it’s untampered with
- Confirms the signer and signee of the document.
- Proves the document’s origin to both parties
- Offers better efficiency and security, and holds the same value as wet ink signatures even in a court of law
- Saves time for all stakeholders (customers and employees across the organization)
How to Create an eSignature
You can use eSignatures in various scenarios, such as to sign NDAs, invoices, sales contracts, timesheets, tax forms, and leases. They’re useful when you need to fill out PDF documents and sign them before completing a transaction or process.
But how do you make an electronic signature and what tools make the document signing process easier and automated?
Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough to create an electronic signature using Docubee.
Step 1: Select Get Document Signed in the Quick Sign Section
Docubee’s Quick Sign feature is a fast and secure way of signing a document yourself. Or for preparing and sending it for electronic signing by employees in your team or your customers. To start, go to the Docubee dashboard and select Get Document Signed just below the Quick Sign section.
Step 2: Upload the Document You Want to Sign
Next, upload the document you want to sign or others to sign. Docubee allows you to upload up to 10 documents to sign yourself or send for signature, and in different file formats like: DOC, DOCX, JPG, JPEG, PDF, PNG, TIF, or TIFF.Â
Select the green Upload Document button and select the file from its location or drag and drop the file to upload it.
Tip: You can create an online form with Docubee in minutes and sign or send it along for signing by other employees or clients.
Once the document upload is completed, select Continue.
Step 3: Select a Signing Option
In the Fill or Sign section, you’ll see two signing options:
- Sign it Myself: To quickly sign the document yourself and get the finalized document.
- Send and Sign: To individual signature requests to one or more participants and then get the completed document for record keeping. If you select this option, you’ll need to assign an email address for each signer of the document, and set who should receive the finalized document. You can add signers or recipients using the Add Signer and Add Recipient buttons for up to 10 contacts.
For this guide, we used the Sign it Myself option.
After selecting an option, select the Sign Now button at the bottom to move to the next step.
Step 4: Create a Signature
On the next screen, you’ll find your uploaded document and a menu of options on the right side: Text, Sign, Initials, and Date.
To create your signature, select the Sign option from the menu.Â
In the create an eSignature box, you’ll find two icons—one for drawing your signature and another for typing your signature (keyboard icon).
If you choose to draw your signature, you can scribble it using your touchpad or mouse in the blank box provided.Â
Alternatively, you can enter your name as your signature using the type signature icon that resembles a little keyboard. This option provides a variety of fonts you can choose from for your eSignature.
Once you create your eSignature, select the Save Signature button.
Step 5: Sign Your Document
Your eSignature is ready for use on your business documents. Move it to the signature field in your document.
You can resize the signature to fit the allocated space in your document. Once you’re done with the signing stage, select Finish and Download to complete the signing process.Â
See Why Customers Love Creating Electronic Signatures with Docubee
“We’ve really been enjoying using Docubee—it has streamlined many of our processes and saved the entire team a lot of time and steps in getting contracts and forms signed.” — Pat Sanchez, eBridge Inc.
Get Your 14-Day Free Trial Today
With Docubee, you can create, send, assign, and review eSignatures over any device. Our electronic signature solutions let you add legally binding signatures to your digital documents and keep your business processes moving.
Plus, you can automate notifications and escalations to match your business needs without understanding code or paying for developers or consultants to get started.
Ready to learn more? Get your 14-day free trial and start creating electronic signatures today.