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Approval and technical evidence

Cord keeps a verifiable record of who approved, when they did it, and which line items and amounts they accepted.

The “OK” via email problem

Traditionally, a sales rep sends a PDF and the client replies “Authorized, proceed.” It can later be difficult to show which version, line items, or amount each person was reviewing.

Cord adds an electronic approval and technical evidence layer at that moment.

Requirements

  • Status: the quote must be Sent or Viewed. An expired, rejected, or already approved quote doesn’t accept the signature.
  • Only your client signs: if you open the link with your Cord session, you see it in preview and can’t approve or decline it for them.
  • For the client: just the link; no account needed.
  • Plan and country: every plan and all 12 markets.

The approval process

When your client clicks Approve quote inside the link, the same quote card moves to the Digital signature step (it’s not a separate window), with a summary of the folio and the total being approved.

To proceed, the client must:

  1. Type their full name in Signer’s full name (at least two characters).
  2. Check the box “I have reviewed this quote and accept the stated terms and conditions”.

The Email (optional) field can be left blank. The Confirm and sign button is enabled as soon as there’s a name and the box is checked.

If you changed the proposal while the client was reviewing it, Cord doesn’t accept a signature on the previous version: it asks them to review the changes before approving.

Partial approval

Before approving, the client can uncheck the line items they don’t want to include (each line has its own Include this line in your approval checkbox). The signature covers only the included lines: Cord recalculates subtotal, taxes, and total with those lines, and the rest are marked as Not included.

Rejection with a reason

If the client disagrees, they can use Reject, write a Reason (optional), and Confirm rejection. The reason shows up in the quote’s activity, and the rejection triggers the matching notification (see Notifications).

Audit trail data

At confirmation, Cord stores a technical audit trail:

  • Signer’s name and, if they entered it, their email.
  • IP address from which the approval was made and the browser used.
  • Date and time of the signature, recorded by Cord’s database at the moment it’s saved.
  • Cryptographic fingerprint (SHA-256) computed over the quote, the type of approval (full or partial), the signer’s name, the IP, and the approved lines (description, quantity, prices, and tax rate), used to detect later changes to the data covered by the approval.

Your client knows before signing: the Electronic signature step tells them that approving keeps the date and time, their IP address, their browser and their email (if they enter it) as a record, and that if a charge for that quote is disputed you may submit their name and the date and IP address of the approval to the payment processor, which is what the automatic dispute receipt includes. When paying, the link tells them what’s kept about that payment: the date, amount and method. The IP comes from the header the hosting platform writes, not from one the browser could send.

The Audit Stamp

Once approved, the quote’s link shows an audit stamp in the web view, with this content:

Document verified — Signer: [Signer’s name] (IP: [IP address]) — Date: [date and time] — Seal: [SHA-256 fingerprint]

The signer’s email doesn’t appear on the stamp. The quote PDF you download from Cord doesn’t include the stamp; in the quote’s details, the activity records who signed, from which IP, and, for a partial approval, how many lines and what amount they accepted.

What it is useful for

  • Preparing a dispute: if the client disputes a card charge, the record can form part of the evidence you submit. The issuing bank decides the outcome, and Cord does not guarantee that a dispute will be won.
  • Partial approval, also signed: the fingerprint covers exactly the lines the client accepted, not the original total.
  • Collections context: the team can review who accepted, when, and for what amount instead of relying only on a verbal “yes” or a stray email.
  • Connecting the commercial workflow: the approved version can be used to begin collection and prepare the invoice available for the account’s market.

Cord stores technical evidence of approval; it does not provide notarial services or legal advice. Validity and evidentiary weight depend on the document, workflow, and jurisdiction. Consult a professional for high-risk cases.

Common problems

The Confirm and sign button doesn’t enable. The name (at least two characters) or the acceptance checkbox is missing.

Cord says the quote can no longer be modified. The quote expired, was rejected, or was already approved.

Cord says the quote has expired. Its validity date has already passed in your business’s time zone, even if it doesn’t show as expired yet.

The client went back to review when signing. You changed the proposal while they were reading it; they need to review the changes with See changes and sign again (see Negotiation and counteroffers).