What is a certificate of completion?
A certificate of completion is a document issued when everyone has signed an electronic agreement. It summarizes the signing process: who signed, when, from which IP address, how each signer was identified and when they consented to sign electronically, together with a fingerprint of the signed file, so the agreement can be checked later.
Also called: Signing certificate, Completion certificate
Updated October 14, 2026 · By the PDFZyro team
What's on a certificate of completion
Details vary between services, but a certificate usually lists the agreement's subject and sender, each signer with their role and signing order, the times the request was sent, opened and signed, the identity checks used (an email link, an access code or a code sent by text message), each signer's IP address and device, and an image of each signature.
Many also include a hash, a short fingerprint, of each signed document. If anyone changes the file, even by one character, its fingerprint no longer matches the one on the certificate.
Some services add the certificate to the end of the signed PDF; others issue it as a separate file, which lets one certificate cover several documents and list the fingerprints of the signed files.
Certificate of completion vs audit trail
The audit trail is the full, event-by-event log kept by the signing service. The certificate of completion is the portable summary you keep with your records and can show to a court, an auditor or the other party. A good certificate includes the event history and a reference to the audit trail, so the two can be checked against each other.
Why it matters
If a signature is ever questioned, the certificate is usually the first thing people ask for. Together with a signed PDF sealed with a digital signature, it helps show who signed, that they agreed to sign electronically and that the document hasn't changed since. Keep it with the signed document for as long as you keep the agreement. This is general information, not legal advice.
How to get a certificate of completion in PDFZyro
- Send the document with a signature request and add each signer.
- When the last person signs, PDFZyro seals the signed documents and creates the certificate of completion, also sealed, with every signer's details, the full history and each signed file's SHA-256 fingerprint.
- The sealed documents and the certificate are saved to your library, ready to download and keep with your records.
Tools and guides
Related terms
- Audit trailThe time-stamped record of every step in a signing process, from sending to signing.
- Electronic signature (e-signature)Any electronic sign that shows a person agrees to a document, from a typed name to a drawn signature.
- Digital signatureA cryptographic, certificate-based seal that shows who signed a file and that it hasn't changed.