Signing & rejecting

When a record reaches an approval step assigned to you, you act on it by signing — applying an electronic signature — or by rejecting it. The act is deliberate and authenticated, because the signature carries real weight.

Applying a signature

Signing isn’t a single click. You re-authenticate with your password at the moment of signing, confirm the meaning of the signature — what you’re attesting to — and may add a comment giving the basis for it. Requiring authentication at the point of signing is what ties the signature to you, then and there, rather than to a session someone left open.

What the signature captures

Each signature records the essentials a regulated signature must carry: who signed (your identified account), when (a trustworthy timestamp), and the meaning of the signature. Together these make the signature attributable and unambiguous — anyone reviewing the record later knows exactly who took responsibility for what, and when.

Rejecting and requesting changes

Approval isn’t a foregone conclusion. If a record isn’t ready, you can reject it rather than sign, sending it back instead of advancing it. As with a signature, the rejection is attributed and can carry a reason, so the author knows what to address. This keeps the gate meaningful: a chain that can only ever approve isn’t a control.

Advancing the chain

A signature satisfies its step once the step’s required approvals are met; the record then moves to the next step, and ultimately to approved when the chain completes. A rejection holds it back for rework. Either way the outcome is recorded — and every signature and rejection accumulates into the record’s signature history.