Skip to content

Popular

↑ ↓ to move · Enter to open Browse all modules

skillSYMS · Signature Requests

Stop chasing signatures. Start tracking them.

Send a document for electronic signature from the same system that holds your learners, then see at a glance what is still out, what is about to expire and who has not signed yet. Signers need no account.

Live in production. Signature Requests is under Operate → Documents & Signatures; documents are uploaded in the Document Hub.

Get a quote Book a demo

Trusted by leading skills development providers

Divine Favour Progressive College FETElada InstituteThe Great Oasis CollegeEdzani Community DevelopmentHighbury CollegeCollege of AfricaNTCTshwane City CollegeTshimologo FET CollegeRi A Fhata CivilsVictory Education GroupSt Aquinas CollegeHatfield City CollegeTechniconSAIthemba Elihle InstituteThasululo Technical CollegeLin-Glazed Beauty

The agreement is written. The signatures are somewhere else.

A training provider runs on signed paper: learner enrolment agreements, workplace agreements with host employers, assessor appointment letters, POPIA consent. Getting each one signed usually means an email with an attachment, a printed copy, a scan, and a spreadsheet that says who you are still waiting for. The document is rarely the problem. Knowing where it stands is.

  • A host employer signs a scanned copy nobody can find when the auditor asks.
  • The provider’s counter-signature is forgotten because nobody knew the employer had signed.
  • An agreement is signed on an old version of the document, and no one can prove which.
  • A learner starts workplace hours before the agreement that covers them exists.
  • Follow-up lives in someone’s inbox, and leaves when they do.

What Signature Requests does

Every request, one status

Tiles for Total, Draft, Awaiting, Completed, Expiring soon and Overdue, and a list with a progress bar showing how many required signers have signed. Filter by Draft, Out for signature, Completed, Declined, Voided or Expired.

Recipients and signing order

Add each person by name and email as a Signer, Approver, Witness or Copy only. Send to everyone at once, or one after another — useful when the provider counter-signs last. The next person is emailed when it is their turn.

Fields each person completes

Signature, initials, free text and tick boxes, plus date signed, full name and job title filled in automatically. A signer without a signature field cannot be sent, so nobody is asked to sign with nowhere to sign.

Signing without an account

Each signer is emailed a personal link, reads the PDF in their browser, draws or types their signature and confirms they agree to sign electronically. An optional access code adds a second check you share separately.

An audit trail you can check

Created, sent, opened, consented, signed, reminded and completed — each event is chained to the one before it. Press Verify audit trail and skillSYMS recomputes the chain and tells you whether anything was altered or removed.

A signed PDF with its certificate

On completion the signatures are drawn onto a new copy of the PDF with a certificate of completion attached. The original is frozen at the moment of sending, with its SHA-256 fingerprint recorded.

Upload. Prepare. Send. Track.

  1. 1

    Upload the PDF

    Add the agreement to the Document Hub, then press Send for signature.

  2. 2

    Add recipients and fields

    Name the signers, choose the signing order, and place each person’s signature and date fields on the right page.

  3. 3

    Send

    The document and field layout are frozen, and each recipient who can act now is emailed a personal signing link.

  4. 4

    Track and follow up

    Watch Awaiting, Expiring soon and Overdue. Use Resend link for anyone outstanding, and download the signed PDF when it completes.

What this does not do yet

  • This is an ordinary electronic signature under section 13(2) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act. It is not an advanced electronic signature (sections 37 and 38), which requires an accredited authentication service provider. Where a law specifically requires a signature, or for documents the Act excludes, take legal advice before relying on it.
  • Signers are identified by the email address you invite and, optionally, an access code. skillSYMS does not verify a signer’s identity document.
  • Signers see their fields listed under the document rather than overlaid on it. Placement is visual for the sender; signing is not.
  • A reminder replaces the previous signing link, whether it is sent automatically or by hand — only a one-way hash of each link is stored, so the newest email is always the live one. A request past its expiry date shows as Overdue rather than moving to Expired on its own.
  • Only PDFs can be rendered for visual placement. Where a document cannot be rendered in the browser, fields are still placed by page and percentage.
  • Only PDFs uploaded to the Document Hub can be sent from the Signature Requests screen. One decline ends the request for everyone.

Questions providers ask

Is an electronic signature valid in South Africa?
The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (ECTA) recognises electronic signatures. skillSYMS produces an ordinary electronic signature under section 13(2). Where a law requires a signature and does not say what kind, the Act calls for an advanced electronic signature, which skillSYMS does not provide, and some documents are excluded from the Act altogether. For the everyday agreements a training provider sends, check with your own legal adviser which category each document falls into.
Do signers need a skillSYMS account?
No. Each recipient is emailed a personal link. They open it in any browser, including on a phone, read the document, complete their fields, tick the consent box and sign. If you chose Link + access code, they also enter a six-character code you give them separately.
What does the audit trail record?
Each step — created, recipient added, sent, opened, consented, signed, reminded, declined, completed, downloaded — with who did it and when. Network and device details are kept as one-way hashes, not raw addresses. Every event includes a hash of the one before it, and Verify audit trail checks the whole chain.
What does the signed document look like?
A new PDF with the signatures, dates and names drawn onto the pages where the fields were placed, followed by a certificate of completion listing each signatory, when they were invited, opened and signed, the document fingerprints, and a statement of what kind of electronic signature it is.
What happens if someone declines?
They must give a reason. The request ends for everyone, every outstanding link stops working, and the sender is emailed the reason. Prepare a new request if the document still needs signing.
Can I send reminders?
Yes, automatically and by hand. Each request carries its own reminder interval, and anyone whose signature is still outstanding is chased on that schedule — under sequential signing only the person whose turn it is, and never more than six times, after which it waits for you. You can also press Resend link at any moment. Either way the recipient gets a fresh link, the previous one stops working, and the event is recorded in the audit trail.
Who can send documents for signature?
Staff whose role includes sending signature requests, typically administrators, managers and quality officers. Withdrawing (voiding) a request that is already out is limited to administrators, because people may already have signed it.

Talk to us about this

Tell us about your provider and we will come back with a written quote.

By submitting, you agree to our Privacy Policy. We'll never share your information without consent.

Get a quote built around your provider

Tell us how many learners you carry, how many sites you deliver from, and which modules you need. We come back with a written quote within one business day.

Get a quote Book a demo