Stop Chasing Signatures Manually
If your daily routine involves sending documents, following up on unsigned contracts, and manually tracking who has — and hasn't — signed, you are not alone. This process wastes hours every week and introduces costly human error. The good news? You can build a fully functional document signing automation in under 30 minutes using airslate — no coding required.
In this guide, we'll walk through every step of setting up your own automated signing workflow with airslate, so you can reclaim your time and close deals faster.
What You'll Need Before You Start
- A free or paid airslate account
- A document to automate (PDF, Word, or a template)
- Basic knowledge of who needs to sign and in what order
- About 30 minutes of focused time
That's genuinely it. No developers, no integrations team, no expensive enterprise software.
Step 1: Upload Your Document to airslate (5 Minutes)
Log in to your airslate dashboard and create a new Flow. A Flow in airslate is essentially your automated workflow — it holds your document, your signers, and all the logic that runs the process.
- Click Create New Flow
- Upload your document (PDF or DOCX)
- Name your Flow something descriptive, like "Client Contract Signing"
Once uploaded, airslate will render the document in its visual editor, ready for you to place fields.
Step 2: Place Signature and Data Fields (10 Minutes)
This is where the real power of airslate becomes obvious. You can drag and drop the following elements directly onto your document:
- Signature fields — for each required signer
- Date fields — auto-populated on signing
- Text fields — for name, company, or custom data
- Checkbox fields — for consent or terms acceptance
- Radio buttons — for option selection
Assign each field to the correct recipient role. For example, assign the signature field at the bottom of a contract to "Client" and the internal approval field to "Manager". The airslate system will route each field to the correct person automatically.
Step 3: Set Up the Signing Order and Recipients (5 Minutes)
Inside airslate, navigate to the Recipients section of your Flow. Here you can:
- Add signers by email address
- Set a sequential or parallel signing order
- Define which recipient receives the document first
- Add CC recipients who receive a copy but don't need to sign
Sequential signing means Signer A must complete their part before Signer B receives the document — ideal for approval chains. Parallel signing sends the document to all parties at once, which is faster when no order dependency exists.
With airslate, you can also set an expiry date on the signing request so documents don't sit unsigned in inboxes indefinitely.
Step 4: Configure Automated Reminders and Notifications (5 Minutes)
This is where automation truly shines. Instead of manually following up with signers, let airslate do it for you. Inside the Flow settings:
- Enable automatic reminder emails (e.g., after 24 and 48 hours)
- Set a completion notification to alert you when all parties have signed
- Configure a failure alert if the document expires without full signatures
These automations mean you never have to manually chase a signature again. The airslate system handles all follow-up communication on your behalf.
Step 5: Add Post-Signing Automation (5 Minutes)
Once everyone has signed, what happens next? With airslate, you can automate the post-signing steps too:
- Auto-save the completed document to Google Drive, Dropbox, or SharePoint
- Send a copy of the signed document to all parties automatically
- Trigger a webhook to update your CRM (e.g., mark a deal as "Signed" in HubSpot)
- Create a task in your project management tool to begin onboarding
The airslate Bots library contains pre-built automation bots for all of these actions — no coding or technical setup required.
Step 6: Test and Launch Your Flow
Before going live, use the airslate Test Mode to walk through the entire signing experience as each recipient. Check that:
- All fields appear correctly and are assigned to the right people
- The signing order works as expected
- Reminders trigger at the right intervals
- The completed document routes to the correct storage location
Once satisfied, click Publish. Your document signing automation is now live and running 24/7 without any manual input.
Real-World Use Cases for This Workflow
- Freelancers: Automate client contract signing before project kickoff
- HR Teams: Send and collect signed employment agreements at scale
- Real Estate: Manage multi-party property agreements with full audit trails
- SaaS Companies: Collect signed NDAs and service agreements during onboarding
- Legal Teams: Route contracts through approval hierarchies automatically
Why airslate Is the Right Tool for This
Many document signing tools stop at e-signatures. airslate goes further by combining document generation, signing, automation bots, and integrations in one platform. You don't need to stitch together multiple tools — everything lives in a single Flow.
The platform is also legally compliant with eIDAS, ESIGN, and UETA regulations, meaning your digital signatures carry the same legal weight as handwritten ones in most jurisdictions worldwide.
The 30-Minute Timeline at a Glance
- Minutes 0–5: Upload document and create your Flow in airslate
- Minutes 5–15: Place and assign all signing fields
- Minutes 15–20: Add recipients and set signing order
- Minutes 20–25: Configure reminders and notifications
- Minutes 25–30: Set post-signing automation and test your Flow
Start Automating Today
Document signing doesn't need to be a bottleneck in your business. With airslate, you can build a professional, legally compliant, fully automated signing workflow in the time it takes to watch a TV episode. Every signature, reminder, and post-signing action runs automatically — so you can focus on the work that actually moves your business forward.
Ready to get started? Set up your first airslate Flow today and never chase a signature again.
This post was created with tools we use and recommend: n8n for workflow automation, Turbotic as an AI-native automation alternative, ElevenLabs for AI voiceover, Placid for visual content creation, and Hostinger for reliable VPS hosting. Some links are affiliate links.