Manual Contract Signing
This article provides an overview of how the Manual Signing workflow functions in the CLM system, including document handling, contract phase transitions, user permissions, and key actions required to complete manual signing.
🗺️ Overview
Manual Signing is a contract workflow phase that allows CLM Power Users to finalize contracts using offline collected signatures. This workflow ensures that all required documents are marked as signed, validated, and finalized before a contract can move into the Signed status.
The process includes strict controls around document versioning, signed document handling, mandatory fields, contract edit permissions, and clear user guidance throughout each phase.
🧑🦱 Who Can Use This
The Manual Signing flow is available to:
CLM Power User
Additional viewing permissions:
Users with View/Edit rights assigned directly via Permissions tab.
Some content from a third-party Marketplace app couldn't be migrated.
The app may not be installed or supported on your Cloud site. Please check your Cloud site and reinstall the app manually to restore this content.
✍️ Manual signing flow
1. Document Signing Flags (Signed / Not Signed)
When uploading documents or document versions to contracts only (not templates), users can set:
“Document is Signed” flag: yes/no (default: no)
Signed/not-signed status can be applied only during document or version upload, not during editing.
When the latest uploaded version is marked as Signed:
The document automatically becomes Signed
Document status always reflects the latest version
Document version behavior:
Users cannot change the signed/not-signed flag after upload.
To “undo” a signed document, users must upload a new version marked as Not Signed.
Older versions remain unchanged (e.g., a previously signed version stays signed for audit).
Read-only behavior for signed documents:
Once the latest version is Signed → the document becomes read-only.
Only three actions remain available:
Delete
Set/Unset as Main
Upload New Version
Document metadata is locked (even in Draft).
2. Transition to Ready for Signing
CLM Power User can move the contract to Ready for Signing when all of the following conditions are met:
At least one document is uploaded and has passed the AV (antivirus) check.
At least one user or user group is assigned to the contract in the Permissions tab.
All assigned users/user groups belong to the selected organizational units.
Supplier, Value and Currency fields are filled in.
After confirming the action, the contract status becomes Ready for Signing.
3. Ready for Signing Phase
In this phase:
Contract is switched to View mode.
Editing of the contract is not allowed.
The Edit button is hidden for all users.
CLM Power Users, and users with view/edit rights can view all tabs.
Available actions:
Send for manual signing
Send back for authoring
Archive
4. Starting Manual Signing
When Start Manual Signing is clicked:
Contract status becomes Manual Signing.
Contract remains in View mode.
All CTAs disappear except:
Complete Signing - visible only to CLM Power Users
Edit - visible to Editors, CLM Power Users
5. Editing During Manual Signing
When user clicks Edit:
Contract enters Edit mode.
Only the Documents tab becomes editable.
All other tabs remain view-only with no edit actions.
User is redirected automatically to the Documents tab.
Edit lock:
Manual Signing phase uses the same concurrency lock rules as Authoring (only 1 user can edit at a time).
6. Finalizing Manual Signing
When the user clicks Complete Signing:
Validations are triggered:
There must be a Main document (Set as Main = yes)
The Main document must have Signed status
If validation succeeds, the contract transitions to Signed.
Some content from a third-party Marketplace app couldn't be migrated.
The app may not be installed or supported on your Cloud site. Please check your Cloud site and reinstall the app manually to restore this content.
Some content from a third-party Marketplace app couldn't be migrated.
The app may not be installed or supported on your Cloud site. Please check your Cloud site and reinstall the app manually to restore this content.
Best Practices
💡 Tips for Effective Use:
Assign Main document early to avoid delays at finalization.
Upload clean document versions and mark them “Signed” only once they are final.
Use Not-Signed versions to revise a signed document without overwriting audit-critical versions.
Complete all metadata (Supplier, Value, Currency) before initiating the signing flow.
Avoid unnecessary edits in Manual Signing; only documents are editable, plan revisions beforehand.