Reviewer Role on the Sign Step

The Reviewer role on a Sign step lets you run approve-then-sign workflows in a single signing sequence. Assign an internal participant as a Reviewer to view and clear a document before a Signer completes their signature. This is useful when you generate final documents from templates and need internal clearance before an external party signs, without adding a Collaboration step.

Who Has Access?

Key Capabilities

• Signer and Reviewer roles. Assign each participant on a Sign step a role of Signer or Reviewer so you can configure who must sign and who only needs to review.
• Publish-time validation. Signers must have at least one sign field on the document before you publish. Reviewers require no sign fields.
• Approve-then-sign in one step. Run internal review and external signature in the same Sign step, in the order you configure, without a Collaboration step or hidden sign fields.
• Separate review and signature in the audit trail. Reviewer completion is recorded with review-appropriate audit events, not incomplete sign actions.

Example Workflows

• Offer letter: A hiring manager reviews a generated offer letter, then the candidate signs.
• Consent or intake packet: A supervisor reviews a completed form packet before the patient or client signs.
• Compliance clearance: An internal reviewer clears a templated agreement before the external counterparty signs.

Note: Use a Collaboration step when participants need to redline, comment, or negotiate changes to the document. Use a Reviewer when the document is final and the participant only needs to view and clear it before signature.

Part 1: Assign Signer or Reviewer Roles on the Document Step

Roles are assigned while configuring participants on the document that feeds your Sign step.

Open the document step

Open the workflow you are building and select the Document step that contains the file for signing.

In the sign fields tab, click on the signer dropdown and select "Manage assignees".

Set each participant's role

For each participant, set their role to Signer or Reviewer.

• Signer — must sign the document. At least one sign field must be placed for each signer before you publish.
• Reviewer — views and clears the document only. No sign fields are required or available for reviewers.

Place sign fields for signers only

Place sign fields on the document for each participant with the Signer role. Do not place sign fields for participants with the Reviewer role.

If you change a participant from Signer to Reviewer, any sign fields already placed for that participant are removed from the document.

If you change a participant from Reviewer to Signer, you must place at least one sign field for that participant before you can publish.

Part 2: Configure the Sign Step and Publish

After roles are set on the document, configure the Sign step and confirm the workflow is valid before publishing.

Open the Sign step

Select the Sign step in your workflow and open its configuration panel.

Set signing order

If your workflow uses sequential signing, set the order so reviewers complete before signers when you need approve-then-sign.

Map participant contact details

Map each reviewer and signer to the correct email address or contact field so notifications are sent to the right person.

Resolve validation errors before publish

Before you publish, confirm:

• Every Signer has at least one sign field on the document.
• Every Reviewer has no sign fields on the document.

If a signer has no sign fields, publish is blocked until you add at least one sign field for that participant.

Publish the workflow

Save and publish the workflow. Roles and sign-field rules are saved with the workflow.

Part 3: What Reviewers and Signers Experience

Reviewer experience

When it is a reviewer's turn:

1. The reviewer receives a notification with review-oriented language (not a request to sign).
2. The reviewer opens the session and reviews the document.
3. The reviewer completes review without a signature pad or sign fields.
4. Reviewer completion is recorded in the audit trail as a review action.

Signer experience

After configured reviewers complete (when using sequential order), each signer receives their signing request and completes the required sign fields as usual. Signer delivery, reminders, and progress notification behavior are unchanged for signer-only participants.

Feature Considerations

• Reviewers cannot sign. Participants assigned as Reviewer cannot add or complete sign fields. If someone must sign, assign them the Signer role.
• Signers require sign fields. Every Signer must have at least one sign field before publish. This validation applies at design time so invalid configurations are caught before a session runs.
• Role changes affect sign fields. Changing Signer to Reviewer removes that participant's sign fields from the document. Changing Reviewer to Signer requires you to add sign fields before publish.
• Sign tags. If your document uses sign tags, reviewers do not need tags assigned. Signer routing for tagged documents is unchanged.
• Signer-only workflows are unchanged. Workflows where every participant is a Signer behave the same as before this enhancement.
• Not a replacement for Collaboration. Use a Collaboration step when the document may be redlined, commented on, or negotiated. Use a Reviewer when the document is final and only needs internal clearance before signature.

Troubleshooting

Publish is blocked because a signer has no sign fields.

• Open the Document step and confirm each participant with the Signer role has at least one sign field placed on the document.
• If you recently changed a participant from Reviewer to Signer, add at least one sign field for that participant.

Publish is blocked or the session will not start for a review-only participant.

• Confirm the participant is assigned the Reviewer role, not Signer.
• Reviewers do not require sign fields. If the participant should only review, set their role to Reviewer on the Document step.

A reviewer still sees "sign" language in email or the session.

• Confirm the participant is assigned the Reviewer role on the Document step and that the workflow was published after the role was set.

I need participants to edit or negotiate the document before signing.

• Use a Collaboration step for redlining and versioned back-and-forth. The Reviewer role is for view-and-clear on a fixed document, not document negotiation.

Sign fields disappeared after I changed a participant's role.

• Changing a participant from Signer to Reviewer removes their sign fields from the document. This is expected. Change the role back to Signer and place sign fields again if that participant must sign.

Summary

The Reviewer role on a Sign step lets you configure approve-then-sign workflows: an internal reviewer clears a final document in the same signing sequence before signers complete their signatures. Assign Signer or Reviewer roles on the Document step, place sign fields for signers only, configure signing order on the Sign step, and publish. For general Sign step setup, see Sign Step in Streamline Workflows.