# Agreements and e-signatures

Send a contract to sign online, check each signer's ID with a live photo and selfie, and approve every signer before the agreement is complete.

Source: https://vezmo.com/docs/run-your-business/agreements

## Overview

An agreement is a document your clients sign online: a PDF you upload or one made from a template. You add who signs,
send it, and see who has opened and signed it. When everyone has signed, Vezmo adds a certificate of completion with
the full record of who did what and when, and emails the signed copy to everyone.

For agreements where you need to know who is signing, turn on **Require identity verification (KYC)**. Each signer
takes a live photo of their ID and a short selfie on their phone, then signs. You look at each signer's ID and approve
them before the agreement is complete.

The pictures on this page follow one example: Atlas Studio sends a consulting agreement to Amara Kowalski and Leo
Park at Northwind, with a $1,250.00 first month's fee to pay after signing.

## Send an agreement

1. **Start a new agreement**
Go to **Agreements** and select **New Agreement**. Choose **Upload PDF** to use a contract you already have, or
**From template** for an employment agreement, an NDA, a service agreement and more.

2. **Add who signs**
Add each signer's name and email, and place their signature, date and other fields on the document (a template
places them for you). Turn on **Sign in order** if each signer should get their turn only after the one before has
signed. With it off, everyone can sign at once.

3. **Choose the options**
- **Expiration** is the last day to sign. Leave it empty and the agreement expires 30 days after you send it.
- **Attach payment** adds a payment the signer makes right after signing.
- **Sender name shown to signers** is the name on the signing page and in the emails. Leave it blank to use your
  business name.
- **Show my brand on the signing page** shows your logo and brand colour instead of the Vezmo design.
- **Require email verification** sends each signer a one-time code to enter before they can sign.
- **Require identity verification (KYC)** asks each signer for a live ID check. See below.
- **Require payment to release signed copy** holds back the signer's copy until the attached payment is made.

4. **Send it**
Select **Send for signature**. Each signer gets an email with their own private link and the document attached.

(Screenshot: Signer options: sender name shown to signers, show my brand, require email verification, require identity verification (KYC) switched on with Approve automatically when every check passes under it, and require payment to release signed copy switched on.)

## What the signer sees

Each signer opens the link in their email (and enters the code we email them, if you turned that on), agrees to sign
electronically, and sees the whole document.

1. **Start**
**Start**, beside the top of the first page, takes them to their first field. A tag beside the page then leads them
from field to field: **Initial**, **Fill in** or **Sign**. The date signed fills itself.

2. **Sign**
They add their signature once, typed, drawn or uploaded, and it goes on every signature field that is theirs.

3. **Finish**
**Finish**, at the top, signs the document. Until every required field is filled in, it takes them to the next one
instead.

(Screenshot: Amara Kowalski's signing page for Consulting agreement · Northwind from Atlas Studio: the document with a Start tag beside the first page, Finish and a menu at the top, and a rail of tools on the right: Fields with 3 left, Search, Pages, Details, Download, Print, Help, and zoom.)

The tools on the right show what is left (**Fields**), every page (**Pages**), who sent it, the deadline and who signs
(**Details**), and let the signer **Download** or **Print** the document, get **Help**, and zoom. **Search** finds a
word, a name or an amount anywhere in the document: every match lights up on the pages, and a list shows each one
with the words around it. Ctrl+F (⌘F on a Mac) opens it too.

(Screenshot: Search on the signing page: fee typed in the Search panel, 1 of 2, with each match listed under Page 1 with the words around it; on the document the heading Fees is lit in orange as the current match and fee in the Fees paragraph in yellow.)

On a phone, a button at the bottom leads from field to field, and the tools are in the ⋮ menu. A signer who doesn't
want to sign selects **Decline to sign** in the ⋮ menu and gives a reason; you're emailed.

(Screenshot: The same signing page on a phone: 1 of 4 done under the title, a box to type the text field, the first page with Initial here beside Client initials, and a Start signing button across the bottom.)

## Statuses

| Status | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Draft | Not sent yet. You can still change it. |
| Sent | Emailed to the signers. Nobody has opened it yet. |
| Viewed | A signer has opened it. |
| Partially signed | Some signers have signed; the others haven't yet. |
| Waiting for your approval | Everyone has signed and the ID check is on. Nothing is complete until you approve each signer. The pill is amber while a signer has a check to look at. |
| Ready to complete | You've approved every signer. Select **Approve and complete**. |
| Approved · finishing | You selected **Approve and complete**. We're sealing it and adding its certificate; everyone gets the signed copy when it's ready. |
| Completed | Signed by everyone, with its certificate. Everyone has the signed copy. |
| Declined | A signer declined to sign. |
| Voided | You cancelled it. Its links stopped working. |
| Expired | Its last day to sign passed before it was complete. |

## Require an ID check

With **Require identity verification (KYC)** on, each signer proves who they are before they sign. There is nothing to
upload: the phone's camera takes the photos.

1. **The signer agrees to the ID check**
After agreeing to sign electronically, the signer reads how their ID and selfie are used and agrees to it.

2. **On a computer, they continue on their phone**
The signing page shows a code to scan with their phone's camera. A signer who can't scan it can select **Email me the
link** (it goes to their own email on the agreement) or **Copy link**. Each link works once, on one phone, and expires
in 15 minutes; the page makes a new one when it is needed. On a phone or tablet, the check runs right on the signing
page.

(Screenshot: Continue on your phone: Atlas Studio asks for a live photo of your ID and a short selfie before you sign. Four steps beside a QR code with the Vezmo mark in its centre, and Email me the link and Copy link buttons under it.)

3. **They take a photo of their ID and a short selfie**
The signer chooses their ID: a **passport** (the photo page), a **national ID card** or a **residence permit** (the
front, then the back). The camera guides them to each photo. Then they record a short selfie video, following the head
movements on the screen.

(Screenshot: Choose your ID on a phone, under the Vezmo mark and Atlas Studio: Passport, photo page; National ID card, front and back; Residence permit, front and back.)

4. **They sign**
The computer moves on by itself when the phone is done, and the signer signs. If a photo or the selfie can't be
used, for example no face shows or the selfie is a photo of the ID, they are asked to try again; a signer has 5 tries.

We compare the face in the selfie with the photo on the ID, check that the selfie is a real person making the movements
asked for, read the name on the ID and compare it with the name you sent the agreement to, and check that the photos
are clear. A check where something can't be confirmed still lets the signer sign: you decide when you review it.

**Who sees the photos:**
You see each signer's ID photos, selfie frames and video, and the result of every check. The photos and video are
kept until 3 years after the signer's last step or after the agreement closes, whichever is sooner, then deleted. The
result stays with the agreement.

### What the signer sees after signing

The signer's page says they've signed and that you'll confirm everyone's identity, and that the final copy comes by
email once the agreement is complete. If you attached a payment, they can pay straight away.

(Screenshot: You've signed, waiting for Leo Park: Atlas Studio will confirm everyone's identity, and you'll get the final copy by email when it's complete. A card to pay the $1,250.00 first month's fee, with a note that the final copy is sent once it's paid and Atlas Studio has confirmed everyone's identity.)

## Approve the signers

When everyone has signed, the agreement shows **Waiting for your approval**. Nothing is sealed and nobody gets the
final copy until you approve every signer and complete it.

(Screenshot: Consulting agreement · Northwind: Waiting for your approval. Everyone has signed. Check each signer's ID and selfie, then approve and complete. 0 of 2 signers approved, with Review Amara and a greyed-out Approve and complete button, above its progress: sent, opened, signed 2/2, approved, completed.)

Select the review button on the banner (it names the signer whose checks need a look, here **Review Amara**), or **Review ID**
on a signer, to open their ID check. You see their ID photo beside their selfie,
the name you sent the agreement to beside the name on their ID, their selfie frames and video, and each check in plain
words: face match, live selfie, a real person, name, passport code and photo quality. Anything that needs a look is
highlighted.

(Screenshot: Amara Kowalski's ID check: look at the name on the ID before you approve. The agreement went to Amara Kowalski; her passport reads AMARA KOWALSKA, marked Doesn't match. The face on the ID beside her selfie with a 71% face match, every check listed, and Reject, Ask for a new ID and Approve buttons.)

For each signer, you can:

- **Approve** them.
- **Ask for a new ID and selfie.** We email them a link that opens only the ID check, with fresh tries. Their signature
  stays; they don't sign again. When they've done it, the signer waits for your approval again.
- **Reject** them. Their signature is cancelled, and you choose what happens next: **cancel the agreement**, or
  **replace the signer** with someone else, who gets their own invitation and signs in their place. The new signer
  can't use the rejected signer's email, or that of anyone rejected before on the agreement. We email the rejected
  signer that their signature was cancelled, without a reason, and their link stops showing the agreement.

You can add a note for your records to each decision. It is kept with your decision, and the signer never sees it.

Once every signer is approved, select **Approve and complete**. Vezmo seals the agreement, adds the certificate of
completion and emails the signed copy to every signer and to you. If making the signed copy takes longer, the agreement
shows **Approved · finishing** until it's ready, within about 10 minutes; selecting it again changes nothing.

### Approve automatically

Turn on **Approve automatically when every check passes** (under the ID check option, off by default) and a signer
whose checks are all clean is approved for you. If every signer is, the agreement completes on the last signature,
as one without an ID check does. A check that needs a look still waits for you.

### Reminders and your To-do

While an agreement waits for your approval, we remind you by email and in the dashboard a day after everyone signed
and again after 3 days. It is also on your **To-do** page as "Confirm the signers' identities on" the agreement, and
goes when you complete it, reject a signer or cancel it. The agreement still expires on its last day to sign. In your
[notifications](/docs/get-started/notifications#needs-action), the review stays under **Needs action** until it's
done.

(Screenshot: To-do: Confirm the signers' identities on Consulting agreement · Northwind. Everyone signed. Waiting for your approval, with a Review the signers button.)

## Payment and the signed copy

The signer pays the attached payment right after signing. The order is always: their ID, their signature, then the
payment.

- With **Require payment to release signed copy** on, the signed copy goes to the signers once the agreement is
  complete and the payment is made, whichever happens last. You get your copy when it completes.
- If you **reject a signer who already paid**, their payment stops counting at once: the signed copy needs a new
  payment, and the agreement gets a new payment link for the same amount for whoever signs in their place. The
  agreement's payment card shows **Refund** for each rejected signer who paid. It refunds that signer's payment the
  same way as from the payment's own page, and needs the permission to change payments. If a payment can't be tied
  to a signer, the card links to **Payments** to refund it from there.
- If an agreement is **cancelled, declined or expires** after someone paid, its payment card shows **Refund** for each
  payment and nothing more to pay, and we tell you by email and in the dashboard.

## The certificate of completion

Every completed agreement ends with a certificate: who signed, when, from where and on what device, how each signer
proved who they are, and every step of the activity. With the ID check on, each signer's card says **Identity:
Checked and approved by** the person who approved them and the date, or **Approved automatically, all checks passed**.

## What happens when

### A signer declines

The agreement shows **Declined**, and you get an email. An unpaid payment link on it stops taking payments.

### A signer doesn't sign

Select **Resend** on the agreement to email the signers who haven't signed a fresh link. We also remind them by email
in the last days before the agreement expires.

### I want to stop an agreement

Select **Void** and confirm. Its links stop working, an unpaid payment link closes, and anyone who opened or signed it
is told. You can void an agreement that waits for your approval, but not once you've selected **Approve and
complete**.

### A signer's new ID check runs out of tries

They show **New ID check failed**. Ask them again for a new ID and selfie, which gives them fresh tries, or reject them.

### A signer's ID check runs out of tries before they sign

They can't sign. Select **Give them new tries** from their card: we email them a new link, they take the ID check
again and then sign. Or reject them to replace them or cancel the agreement.

## Related

- [Notifications](/docs/get-started/notifications): the bell, Needs action and what reaches you by email.
- [Payment links](/docs/get-paid/payment-links)
- [See a payment's details](/docs/get-paid/payment-details#refund-a-payment)
- [Agreements in the API](https://user.vezmo.com/docs/v1/agreements): create and send agreements, approve signers and
  complete agreements from your own code, with webhooks such as `agreement.awaiting_approval`.