You want a document to be signed or approved by any one person among several, for example any manager of a team or any member of your legal department? With a Recipient Group, you add a pool of possible signers or approvers. The first person who acts signs (or approves) in their own name, so your signature request is never blocked because one person is away.
Prerequisites
Recipient Groups are available on the following plans:
Plan | Recipient Groups per signature request |
Free trial | 2 |
Pro | 2 |
Scale | Unlimited within the limits of 100 Signers and 10 Approvers per Signature Request |
Recipient Groups are not available on Free, One and Plus plans.
Discover Recipient Groups
A Recipient Group works like a single signer or a single approver:
All members receive a request to sign (or approve) at the same time.
Only one member needs to act. Once a member has signed (or approved), the other members no longer need to do anything. Only the name of the member who signed appears on the signed document and the audit trail.
A group contains only signers or only approvers, never both.
All members share the same settings: signature level, authentication method and delivery method.
Recipient Groups are available with the Simple Electronic Signature level only.
Note: A Recipient Group counts as one signature, whatever the number of members. For example, a group of 3 signers consumes 1 signature.
Create a Recipient Group
You can create a Recipient Group when preparing your signature request, whatever the signing order you choose. To do this:
Click Add signer (or Add approver).
Click Create new signing group (or Create new approval group) at the bottom of the list.
If needed, give your group a name (for example, "Legal team"). This name helps you recognize the group, members do not see it.
Select the members from your contacts. If a person is not in your contacts yet, you can create them directly from the list.
Click Add signing group (or Add approval group).
The group appears as one recipient in the list of signers (or approvers).
Drag the necessary fields onto your document for the group, like for any signer.
Note: A group needs at least 2 members.
Customize the email sent to the group
You can customize the email of a signature request for each group. A Recipient Group receives one custom message, the same for all its members.
Use Recipient Groups in templates and bulk sends
In a template, you can replace a placeholder signer with a Recipient Group. The group is kept in every signature request created from the template.
In a bulk send, you can use a template that contains a Recipient Group. Each signature request of the bulk send includes the group.
Note: A placeholder signer cannot be a member of a Recipient Group.
Manage a Recipient Group
You can edit, replace or remove a Recipient Group while preparing your signature request. To do this:
Click ... to the right of the group name.
Select the action you want:
Edit group to add or remove members, or rename the group.
Remove group to delete the whole group.
You can also replace a signer with a Recipient Group, or a Recipient Group with a signer. The fields already placed on the document are kept.
You create the group in each signature request. To reuse the same group often, add it to a template.
Note: Once the signature request is sent, you can edit a group until one of its members signs, approves, declines or rejects.
What members see
Members are not told that they belong to a group. They receive the same invitation email as any signer or approver.
Only one member at a time can sign (or approve). If a member opens the signature request while another member is signing, they see a message saying that another person is currently signing.
If the member who started signing stops for 10 minutes, another member can start. The new member does not see the information filled in by the previous member.
Once a member has signed (or approved), the other members see a message saying that the signature request was already signed (or approved) by another recipient.
Only the member who signed can access the signed document and the audit trail. The other members cannot.
Note: If one member declines or rejects the signature request, the whole signature request is declined or rejected.
Track a signature request with a Recipient Group
On the detail page of your signature request, the Recipient Group appears as one recipient. You can open it to see, for each member:
Their status (for example, signed or waiting)
The delivery status of their emails
Once a member has signed, the audit trail shows the name of this member.
Send a reminder
Automatic reminders are sent to all the members who have not acted yet, at the frequency you chose. To send a manual reminder:
Click ... to the right of the group name.
Click Send reminder.
All the members who have not acted yet receive the reminder.
FAQ
Can a member of a group see the other members?
No. Members are not told that they belong to a group, and they do not see the other members.
Can I use a Recipient Group with the Advanced or Qualified Electronic Signature?
No. Recipient Groups are available with the Simple Electronic Signature level only.
Why can't another member sign right now?
Only one member can sign at a time. If another member has started signing, wait until they finish. If they stop for 10 minutes, you can start.
Can I save a Recipient Group to reuse it later?
No. You create the group in each signature request. To reuse the same group often, add it to a template.
What happens to my Recipient Groups if I change to a plan without this feature?
Signature requests already sent are not affected and can be completed normally. Your drafts and templates with a Recipient Group are kept. When you try to send them, a message tells you to remove the group first (or to change back to an eligible plan).