Every day, companies have dozens of documents (or even hundreds of documents in large organizations) signed by employees, partners, customers, prospects, etc. Traditionally done by hand, the signature process pushes back deadlines, wastes time and slows down the productivity of everyone involved.
With company processes being dematerialized and the increased usage of electronic signatures, companies are increasingly using this process for their document signing needs. Electronic signatures have the same legal value as handwritten signatures. The electronic signature features offered in the Odoo ERP are similar in this regard and come with some additional advanatges as well.
Signing contracts, estimates, amendments... How does one manage this when working remotely?
Signing contracts, quotes, amendments... all of these time-consuming tasks have become more cumbersome with the growth of remote work. Companies would usually print out documents, send them by email or mail, wait for a response or return in order to complete a task or sign off documents.
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 follow every shipment closely to make sure you don't miss anything... The turnaround time for this type of process and its tediousness is even worse in a remote work environment. In this context, electronic signature is a necessary tool! Some business operators recorded 200% more subscriptions in spring 2020 after deploying 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 of remote work (for example signing off changes on employment contracts). Employees no longer need to be on-site to consult and validate important documents.
Electronic signatures also cut down on paper usage, thus reducing your company's environmental impact. Reducing environmental impact, in a CSR approach, in turn can enhance a company's image.
Finally, Odoo's electronic signature module is certified on both European and American levels, giving it a global level of 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***