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Collaboration & approvals

Document stages explained

What Draft, Review, Signing and Done mean, how a document moves between them, and how to change the stage yourself.

Written By Sebastian

Last updated About 2 hours ago

Every document in fynk has a stage. The stage shows where the contract is in its life, and decides what you and the other party can do with it.

Available on all plans

The stages

StageWhat happensWho can edit
DraftYou prepare the document internally.Your team
ReviewThe document is shared with the other party to comment and propose changes. Optional.Your team; the other party can comment and propose changes
SigningSignatories sign. The content is locked.Nobody. To change it, stop signing first.
DoneAll signatories have signed in fynk, or the document was marked as finished without a signing process in fynk, for example an imported contract. It can be tracked with dates and reminders.Nobody. Metadata can still be edited.

Imported contracts (Import without signing) go straight to Done.

How a document moves on

  • Draft → Review: happens automatically when you share the document with an external party. See Share a document with external parties.
  • Draft or Review → Signing: click Start signing. You can skip Review and start signing straight from Draft, unless the document has checkpoints.
  • Signing → Done: happens automatically when the last signatory signs.

If the template has checkpoints, the document only moves on once the approvers have approved. See Internal approvals with checkpoints.

Change the stage manually

Open the ⋯ menu in the document header. The available actions depend on the document’s current stage:

  • Move to Review: move the document into review.
  • Move to Done: mark the document as finished without signing in fynk, for example because it was signed on paper.

During signing, the menu instead offers Reset to Review, or Reset to Checkpoint if a checkpoint preceded signing. Resetting removes signatures already given.

Good to know

  • The stage is shown in the document header and as a column in the document list, including how many signatures are in (for example "1/2").
  • To stop signing, an internal Collaborator opens ⋯ and selects Reset to Review, or Reset to Checkpoint if a checkpoint preceded signing. This removes signatures that were already made, and all signatories are notified.
  • Some actions are only possible in certain stages. For example, the other party can only propose changes in Review.
  • Filter the document list or dashboards by stage to see what's waiting for whom.
  • Stages are separate from tasks and approvals. A document can stay in Review while people work through discussions, tasks or checkpoints.
  • You can't add your own stages.

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