What is signing order in e-signatures?
Signing order, also called routing order, decides when each person receives a document sent for electronic signature. With sequential signing, signers get it one after another, each only after the previous person has finished. With parallel signing, everyone gets it at the same time. Many services also allow a mix of both.
Also called: Sequential signing, Routing order, Parallel signing
Updated October 15, 2026 · By the PDFZyro team
Sequential, parallel and mixed signing
Sequential signing suits documents with a natural order: an employee signs before a manager countersigns, or a customer signs before the company does. Each person sees the signatures already added, and nobody is asked to sign something an earlier signer might still refuse.
Parallel signing is faster: everyone can sign as soon as the request arrives, so one slow signer doesn't stop the others from starting. It suits documents where the order doesn't matter, such as an agreement between equal partners or an acknowledgment several people must sign.
A mixed order combines the two. For example, two co-founders sign at the same time as step 1, then an investor signs as step 2 once both have finished. Steps are usually numbered: people with the same number act together, and a higher number waits for every lower one.
Approvers, copies and in-person signers
Signing order applies to everyone who must act, not only signers. An approver reviews and approves without signing; someone who receives a copy doesn't act at all and never holds anyone up. An in-person signer signs on the sender's device when their turn comes. If anyone declines, the request usually stops for everyone, since the document can't be completed as agreed.
Choosing an order
Put people in the order their signatures should be added: for example, the customer first and the company last, so the company countersigns a document the customer has already accepted. Use reminders and an expiry date so a request doesn't wait forever on one person. The audit trail records when each person received, opened and signed the document, so the order can be shown later.
Signing order in DocuSign and other services
The idea is the same across e-signature services, though the names differ. DocuSign, for example, talks about setting a signing order and gives each recipient a routing order number; recipients with the same number receive the document at the same time. Other services ask whether recipients sign in order or in any order. If you're moving from one service to another, look for these settings when you add recipients.
How to set a signing order in PDFZyro
- Click Request signatures on Home, choose the document and click Continue.
- Add each recipient with their role: needs to sign, needs to approve, receives a copy or signs in person. With two or more, choose Everyone at once, One after another, or Custom to give people step numbers, and use the arrows to change the order.
- Place their fields and send. Each person gets the email when it's their turn; anyone who opens the link early sees whose signature they're waiting for. Every step is recorded in the audit trail.
Tools and guides
Related terms
- E-signature envelopeEverything sent together for signature: the documents, the people, their fields and the message.
- Audit trailThe time-stamped record of every step in a signing process, from sending to signing.
- Signer authenticationChecking that the person signing a document electronically is the person it was sent to.