By Signing This Form
Use a By Signing This Form template to make your document workflow more streamlined.
What By Signing This Form means
By Signing This Form is a document-signing record that shows a person reviewed and electronically executed the attached terms or information. In signNow, the sender uploads the form, places or confirms fillable fields, identifies the signer, and sends the document through a controlled workflow. The signer reviews the content, provides an electronic signature, and receives a completed copy. In the United States, ESIGN and UETA generally recognize electronic signatures when intent, consent, attribution, and record reproducibility are established; exclusions and state-specific requirements still apply.
Who uses this form and why
Small businesses
Small businesses can use By Signing This Form for contracts, NDAs, invoices, and approvals that require a clear signer record. signNow templates reduce repeated field placement, while the audit trail preserves delivery and signing events for internal files and business communications.
Regulated industries
Healthcare, legal, real estate, and construction teams can use the form for consent documents, agreements, applications, and project paperwork. Industry obligations remain separate from the signing platform, including HIPAA safeguards, state notarization rules, and record-retention requirements.
Who benefits from this signing workflow
By Signing This Form fits individuals, regulated practices, and larger teams when the document requires a traceable electronic signature.
Independent contractors use By Signing This Form to document approvals, acknowledgments, or payment-related commitments without coordinating an office visit. A signNow workflow preserves the completed copy and audit trail for the contractor’s business records and future reference. Healthcare practices use the form when a patient, representative, or workforce member must sign a document containing protected health information. A HIPAA-covered workflow requires appropriate safeguards and a business associate agreement with signNow. Enterprise operations teams use By Signing This Form with templates, delegated sending, and role-based access. Business Premium or Enterprise features can support higher-volume distribution, conditional fields, or stronger signer authentication.
These tasks are executed by both individual contributors and centralized administrators depending on organizational policy and required controls.
How By Signing This Form works
signNow turns the uploaded By Signing This Form into a trackable signing workflow, from field preparation through signed-record storage.
Upload form: Upload the completed form Add fields: Auto-detect or place fields Send form: Send to the required signer Archive record: Store the signed copy and audit trail
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Recommended workflow configuration
Configure By Signing This Form around signer identity, reproducible records, appropriate retention, and the sensitivity of the underlying transaction.
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Authentication method | Email verification with SMS OTP |
| Signature type | Legally binding electronic signature |
| Audit trail | Enable completed-document audit trail |
| Document retention | Three years from filing for tax records |
| Encryption | TLS 1.2 or 1.3 and AES-256 |
Platform requirements for signing
Complete By Signing This Form through Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge on Windows and macOS, or through signNow mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Browser support Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge on Windows or macOS Mobile apps signNow mobile apps for iOS and Android devices Secure connection TLS 1.2 or 1.3 with AES-256 storage encryption
Organizations handling regulated information should use managed Windows, macOS, iOS, or Android devices, enforce access controls, and configure signNow authentication and retention policies. API, SSO, certificate, and long-term validation requirements should be reviewed against the organization’s specific compliance program.
Security and compliance for signed forms
Data encryption:
SOC 2 certification:
ISO 27001 certification:
Electronic signature laws:
HIPAA safeguards:
Transport and storage:
Risks of incomplete signing records
Weak signature evidence
Attribution dispute
Evidence gap
Electronic-record challenge
Challenges when preparing the form
A sender may upload a version with missing signature, date, or initials fields, leaving the signer unable to complete the required parts. A consumer-facing workflow may omit the ESIGN paper-record disclosure or fail to demonstrate that the signer can access the electronic record. Sharing a completed By Signing This Form with excessive recipients can expose personal information that was not needed for the transaction. A team may grant sending or template permissions too broadly, making it difficult to identify who changed fields before signature.
Retention periods for signed records
The correct retention period depends on what By Signing This Form records and which federal or state rule governs the underlying transaction.
Three years from filing
Six years for understatement
Six years for HIPAA records
Six years for broker records
Seven years for audit records
Troubleshooting By Signing This Form
Resolve field, authentication, plan, disclosure, and retention questions before sending By Signing This Form for signature.
Upload the original By Signing This Form file again and confirm the document is not password-protected or corrupted. signNow Business supports templates and audit trails; if auto-detection does not identify fields, place signature, date, and text fields manually before sending.
Use the signNow Business plan for legally binding eSignatures, templates, and audit trails. The platform states that its eSignatures comply with ESIGN and UETA; legal validity still depends on intent, consent, attribution, and retaining a reproducible record.
Business and Business Premium subscription plans include 100 signature invites per user per year, with overage fees. Business Premium adds bulk send. The Site License uses $1.50 per signature invite and is designed for usage-based deployment with unlimited users.
For consumer-facing electronic records, provide the ESIGN disclosure, explain the right to paper records, confirm electronic access, and explain consent withdrawal procedures under 15 U.S.C. §7001(c). signNow features do not replace those disclosure obligations.
Use signNow’s audit trail and completed-document history to preserve signer actions, timestamps, and delivery evidence. For healthcare workflows involving protected health information, signNow states HIPAA compliance requires a business associate agreement, while retention remains subject to 45 CFR §164.530(j).
Business Premium includes kiosk mode and quick invite links, while Enterprise adds advanced signer authentication, formula fields, and conditional fields. Select the plan based on the actual workflow rather than assuming every feature is included in Business.
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