Digitally Sign Contracts in Confluence

Confluence is an intuitive platform that comes with tons of features for creating and collaborating documents. You can also use it to create, manage and save your contracts. However, despite being a powerful tool, it has one major drawback when it comes to managing contracts - you cannot digitally sign a contract inside Confluence. 

The signature of one or more parties involved is the most important feature of every contract. Ideally, you'd want to be able to affix your signature and complete your contracts inside Confluence so that you'll only have to maintain one source of truth. But this is not how Confluence works.

If you want to sign a document you've saved in Confluence, you'll need to export it to another tool for digital signatures such as DocuSign. Using another platform for document signing can save you time and paper but it will take your contract and audit trail outside of Confluence where you are working. This can mean extra work because you now have to monitor two platforms. Aside from that, this setup of having to use another platform for document signing can be a barrier to your goal of having a single source of truth. 

Fortunately, it is now possible to sign contracts within Confluence. You don't have to download your documents and use another platform to complete your contracts. You can achieve this by using the Contract Signatures for Confluence add-on.

What are Contract Signatures for Confluence?

Contract Signatures for Confluence is an add-on app that is accessible through the Atlassian Marketplace. This app allows you to send a read-only Confluence agreement requiring a signature to your signee. The signee can then upload a scanned copy of their signature (along with other optional inputs such as date) to the document from the device they are using. Alternatively, the signee can also draw their signature using a mouse or touchscreen. One advantage of the Contract Signatures for Confluence is that it supports mobile devices, making it accessible to those who are using their smartphones or tablets.

A Centralized Contract Management System

With the availability of the Contract Signatures for Confluence, you can now invite other external users to sign your documents saved in Confluence. The use case for this app is vast. You can use it to get signatures for sales contracts, employment contracts, terms and conditions, non-disclosure agreements, invoices and more. 

After the contract is signed by the parties, an audit trail is automatically created and all parties to the contract will receive an email that contains three attachments:

• An HTML copy of the signed contract
• A PDF copy of the signed contract
• An audit certificate confirming the time and date of contract completion, relevant information about the parties involved such as who created and signed the contract, and signature timestamps among other information

There's also an extra level of security in place. The email that the parties will receive after signing the contract also contains a link for verifying whether the contract is the original document or has been tampered with. Furthermore, as the parties will only receive a read-only copy of the contract, there is no way for the parties to change any details in it apart from their signature and optional information.

Using Contract Signatures for Confluence, the entire life cycle of a contract from creation to signing can now be done within Confluence which will now act as your digital cabinet. There's no need to use a separate tool and save your document elsewhere. 

The Contract Signatures for Confluence app is like the missing feature in the ability of Confluence to manage contracts. Fortunately, an app is now available to fill in the gap. With this app, companies and organizations especially those with globally distributed teams can now prepare legally binding agreements and contracts, whether internally or externally, without leaving Confluence. 

How to Sign a Contract Using Contract Signatures for Confluence

As with other Old Street apps, the Contract Signatures for Confluence is easy to use. Just follow these steps:

1. Download the Contract Signatures for Confluence app. After successfully downloading it, the Signature macro should automatically appear in your list of Confluence macros. Find it by tapping the forward slash ( / ) key or the (+) key, then click the Enter button to add it to your Confluence page. 
2. Once added, the signature field will appear as a signature box by default. You can change the signature box to a box so you can enter your signature, date, initials or text. Alternatively, you can also change it to a checkbox. You can add as many signature fields to your document as needed.
3. Publish the Confluence page then tap on the Contract Signatures logo located at the top of the document. A new window will open where you need to provide the names and email addresses of the parties in the contract. Click Send.
4. The parties in the contract will receive an automated email containing a link to the read-only contract they need to sign. The Status of your contract will be marked as “In Progress” while awaiting the signatures of the parties. Once fully signed, the status will change to “Signed.” All parties can also expect to receive an email confirming the completion of the contract. 

That's it!

Contract signing is now more convenient than ever. You can centralize your contract management system within Confluence. 

Confluence is becoming increasingly popular for contract management, thanks to its collaborative capabilities and the levels of automation available in the platform. We recognize the limitations of native Confluence when it comes to document signing but fortunately, an app is now available for that purpose.