Signature Request Status: Progress and Completion
A workflow label describing request or recipient progress, distinct from a legal conclusion about the agreement.
- Check whether a status belongs to one recipient or the whole request.
- Opened or viewed events do not prove comprehension or acceptance.
- Completion, cancellation and legal execution are different questions.
What is signature request status?
A signature request status summarizes progress in a signing workflow. Check whether it describes the whole request or just one recipient: one person finishing does not mean everyone has finished.
Sent, opened, viewed and signed
- Sent: the invitation has been dispatched; this is not proof of completion.
- Opened: in Sign.Plus, the recipient used the emailed access link.
- Viewed: Sign.Plus records acceptance of its Electronic Records and Signatures Disclosure, permitting review of the document.
- Signed: the recipient completed their designated step; this label can apply even when the assigned action did not include a signature field.
Sign.Plus’s progress documentation explains recipient progress. The separate opened/viewed distinction concerns access and disclosure consent; neither proves that the person read or understood every clause.
Interpret each stage using the recipient’s role and required actions rather than the label alone.
What about expiry or cancellation?
Declining means a recipient chooses not to proceed. Expiry concerns the configured deadline, while a sender may cancel or void a pending process. These are different reasons for stopping, even where a platform groups them under a broader document status. They should not be read as a legal declaration that an already binding contract has been rescinded. A reminder prompts an outstanding action but does not complete it. Review the underlying request and remaining steps before following up.
Workflow completion is distinct from contract execution; software labels do not determine every legal formality or contractual effective date.
A Common Case: Following up on an outstanding signer
For a California real-estate services agreement, one representative might finish while another still has an outstanding action. The operations team could check recipient-level progress before sending a reminder, rather than treating the first completion notice as completion by every party.
FAQs
Does viewed mean the recipient agreed to the contract?
No. Access or disclosure events do not by themselves prove acceptance of the agreement or understanding of its contents.
Does one signed recipient mean the request is complete?
No. Other recipients or required actions can remain outstanding; check the scope of the status and the whole request.
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