Every day, companies have dozens of documents (or even hundreds in large organisations) that need to be signed by employees, partners, customers, prospects, and more. Traditionally done by hand, the signing process delays deadlines, wastes time, and slows down productivity for everyone involved.
With company processes being digitalised and the growing use of electronic signatures, companies are increasingly adopting this method for their document-signing needs. Electronic signatures have the same legal standing as handwritten signatures. The electronic signature features offered in the Odoo ERP are equivalent in this regard, and also provide additional advantages.
Signing contracts, quotations, amendments… how do you manage all this when working remotely?
Signing contracts, quotations, amendments… all these time-consuming tasks have become even more cumbersome with the growth of remote work. Companies would usually print out documents, send them by email or post, then wait for a reply or for the documents to be returned before they can complete a task or sign them off.
But there are several problems with this approach: not everyone has a printer or scanner at home, which increases the time needed to process a document. Emails and letters can get lost… You have to track every delivery closely to make sure you don’t miss anything… The turnaround time for this type of process, and its tedious nature, is even worse in a remote work environment. In this context, electronic signatures are an essential tool! Some businesses saw subscriptions increase by 200% in early 2020 after implementing electronic signatures.
Electronic signature in Odoo ERP
Odoo comes standard with electronic signature features. For example, it's directly integrated in the quote and order modules. Each time a quote is sent to the customer, they can sign it immediately without downloading or using a specific plugin.
The Odoo ERP has a dedicated module for other documents as well. The user-friendly system allows you to sign PDFs directly and initial pages without hassle.
It is a module that is widely used for signing quotes, invoices(think after a boiler installation or bug extermination, for example) important documents and certificates directly from a smartphone or a tablet. Electronic signature is also very useful for employee contracts, agreements and other internal documents.
Reduce administrative burdens, go paperless and improve conversion rates...
Integrated into your Odoo ERP, electronic signature allows different core company processes to be automatically updated. For example, once a quote is signed, it automatically becomes an order. A project is then created so that involved teams can be informed regarding any further actions that need to be taken.
The greatest advantage of the electronic signature lies in its ability to reduce administrative burden. No more printing documents, sending them by email or physical mail and scanning them... Your teams save time and company performance rises, thanks to the reduction of useless exchanges.
Another significant advantage, especially for salespeople, is how Odoo improves conversion rates. By giving the ability to sign quotes or order forms immediately, prospects procrastinate less and move through the sales pipeline faster. An improvement that has an immediate impact on the activity of your company.
Electronic signatures can also bring significant time savings to the human resources department. This is especially true with the increase in remote work (for example, signing off changes to employment contracts). Employees no longer need to be on-site to review and approve important documents.
Electronic signatures also cut down on paper usage, thus reducing your company's environmental impact. Reducing environmental impact, as part of a CSR approach, can in turn enhance a company's image.
Finally, Odoo's electronic signature module is certified at both European and American levels, giving it global legal validity.
Electronic Signature in figures
- By 2025, 95% of contracts will be signed electronically**
- Reduced invoicing time: from about 10 minutes to less than 3 minutes**
- Cost: $20.46 for a handwritten signature / $10.47 for an electronic signature***
- ROI: 48.8% savings***