Keep a defensible record of who signed what and when.
An electronic signature is only as good as the evidence behind it. PandaDoc's free plan includes audit-trail support, giving a record of who opened, completed, and signed the document and when.
You download the signed document with its audit trail attached and store both where your deal or compliance records live. If a signature is ever questioned, the trail provides evidence of each action.
Give leadership a clear recommendation backed by the pilot's evidence.
Judge honestly whether the free tool actually improves the signing process.
Run a controlled pilot without disrupting the existing signing process.
Open a completed document.
Review its audit trail — who opened it, completed fields, and signed, with timestamps.
Download the signed document with its audit trail attached.
Store both where your deal or compliance records live.
Use the trail if a signature is ever questioned.
Make storing the trail part of the routine, not an afterthought.
Scenario: [Your company] sends a proforma invoice to [target company] for a [product/service] order. [Contact name] at [target company] opens the document, completes a field, and signs electronically. 1. You receive a completion notification. 2. You open the document and see the audit trail: - [Contact name] opened the document at [timestamp] - [Contact name] completed a field at [timestamp] - [Contact name] signed at [timestamp] 3. You download the signed document with its audit trail attached. 4. You save both to your deal or compliance records. 5. Later, if the signature is questioned, you retrieve the trail showing who opened, completed, and signed the document and when.
Review the completed document's audit trail showing who opened, completed, and signed it with timestamps, then download and store it with the signed copy as evidence.
Handle deals that need more than two signers on a free-plan document.
Turn a proforma into a template so each new one takes minutes.