Documents & Signatures

Create document templates, generate personalised documents, and collect digital signatures.

Overview

The Documents module provides:

Document template creation with placeholders
Dynamic document generation
Digital signature collection
File storage, organised into folders

A Signatures page that tracks every signature request in one place

Document Templates

Creating a Template

Navigate to Documents > Templates - open the folder the template belongs in first, as a template can't be moved to another folder later

Click Create Template

Enter the template name at the top - two templates in the same folder can't share a name, archived ones included
Use the rich text editor to design your document

Leave the status beside the name as Draft while you work, or set it to Published, then click Create

Use New Folder to group templates into folders.

Generating a Template with AI

Rather than starting from a blank page, describe the document you need and let Mployr draft it:

Click Generate with AI

Describe the document - what it's for, who it's between, what it must cover - or click one of the example prompts, then click Generate

Drafting takes a minute or two, and the dialog shows how far it has got. You can close the dialog - while you stay on the Templates page, Mployr tells you when the template is ready, with a link to open it, and either way the new template appears in the list

The draft opens in the template editor as a Draft, with placeholders already in place - edit it like any other template, then publish it

Treat the output as a first draft, not finished legal advice - review it, and have anything binding checked by someone qualified.

To start from existing Word documents, click Import Word on the Templates page and choose one or more .docx files (Choose Files), or a whole folder (Choose Folder) to keep its folder structure. Each file becomes a draft template named after the file - a file named the same as a template already in that folder isn't imported, and the results say so. The trailing blank paragraphs Word leaves behind are stripped automatically, so imported templates don't arrive with an empty last page. The Import Word button in the editor's toolbar is different: it replaces the content of the template you have open with the Word document.

Template Editor Features

Formatting

Headings (H1, H2, H3)
Bold, italic, underline
Text alignment
Bullet and numbered lists
Tables with customisable borders

Page Layout

A4 page visualisation, with zoom
Page break insertion

Margins - Normal, Narrow, Moderate or Wide

Page Numbers - top or bottom, centre or right - added when you print from Preview (this setting isn't saved with the template)

Header & Footer - a header and footer on every page, saved with the template. Use Page # and Total pages for "Page 2 of 4", and tick Different first page to give page 1 its own (or none). They print on Export PDF, Save PDF, Export Word and the signed PDF, filled in like the rest of the document. Importing a Word document brings its header and footer across

Branding Options

Select how branding appears, using the logo and letterhead set under Business > Branding:

Letterhead (All Pages) - Full letterhead on every page

Letterhead (First Page) - Letterhead on first, plain on rest

Letterhead + Logo - Full letterhead first, logo only on subsequent pages

Logo (All Pages) - Just logo on every page

Logo (First Page) - Logo on first page only

None - No branding

Branding is applied when you print the template from Preview. A generated document's Export PDF and Export Word don't include it, and the signed PDF carries your business logo (if you have one) at the top of the document whichever option you choose. To put a letterhead or logo on every exported and signed copy, add it to the template's Header & Footer instead.

Using Placeholders

Placeholders are dynamic fields that get replaced with actual data.

Syntax

{{Model.field}}

Available Placeholders

The Placeholders panel beside the editor lists every placeholder you can use, grouped by where the value comes from. Some common ones:

Employee Fields:

{{Person.first_name}} - First name

{{Person.last_name}} - Last name

{{Person.full_name}} - Full name

{{Person.email}} - Email address

{{Person.phone}} - Phone number

{{Person.residential_address_full}} - Full residential address

{{Person.date_of_birth}} - Date of birth

{{Person.start_date}} - Employment start date

{{Person.position}} - Job title

Business Fields:

{{Business.name}} - Business name

{{Business.abn}} - ABN

{{Business.phone}} - Business phone

{{Business.contact_email}} - Business email

System Fields (filled in with the date and time the document is created, in your business's time zone - the document keeps them; type a value when generating to use a different one):

{{System.today_date}} - Today's date, e.g. 21 October 2026

{{System.today_date_short}} - e.g. 21/10/2026

{{System.today_date_long}} - e.g. Wednesday, 21 October 2026

{{System.current_time}} - e.g. 4:35 PM

{{System.current_datetime}} - e.g. 21 October 2026, 4:35 PM

{{System.current_year}}, {{System.current_month}}, {{System.current_month_name}}, {{System.current_day}}, {{System.current_day_name}}

{{System.current_financial_year}} - e.g. 2026-27

Email templates can use them too - an email fills them in as it is sent.

When you generate a document and choose a person, the Employee fields fill in from their People record and the Business fields from your business details. The System fields aren't filled in for you (nor are the legal entity and invoice ones): you type their values when you generate, and any left empty come out blank.

Inserting Placeholders

Position the cursor where you want the placeholder, or highlight the text you want to replace

Find the placeholder in the Placeholders panel on the right - type in the search box to filter every group at once by name

Click the placeholder to insert it at the cursor (or replace the highlighted text), or drag it into the document

Or type {{ to trigger autocomplete

The same panel, with search and click to insert, is on email templates too (see the Email guide).

Adding Signature Blocks

Click Signature (the pen icon) in the toolbar

Enter a label (e.g., "Employee Signature", "Witness")

Click Insert Signature

The block appears in your document. When a copy is downloaded to sign on paper (Export PDF, Save PDF or Export Word) it prints as Signature, Name and Date lines

When you generate a document from the template, you're asked who signs each block.

Template Status

Draft - Work in progress

Published - Ready for use

Only a published template can be used to generate documents. Change the status beside the template name in the editor (then save), or use Publish / Unpublish on the template's row menu.

Archiving a Template

Archive a template you no longer use instead of deleting it:

Open the template's row menu and choose Archive, or tick several templates and click Archive Selected

Archived templates drop out of the template list and every template picker, and the list no longer offers Generate for them

To see them, click the archive icon in the filter bar - archived templates are shown as one list, whatever folder they're in

Choose Unarchive to bring one back

Documents already generated from an archived template are kept. A template that documents have been generated from can't be deleted - archive it instead.

Generating Documents

Creating a Document Record

Open a published template and click Generate (or choose Generate from the template's row menu)

Under Select Person (shown when the template has placeholders), choose who the document is for - placeholders are filled in from their People record and your business details. Choose None (Fill manually) to type every value yourself

Check the values and change any that need it

If the template has signature blocks, choose who signs each one under Who signs here? - they're added to the new document as signers, but nobody is emailed yet. Fill every block, or leave them all blank and add signers from the document later

Click Generate Document

The new document opens straight away. Generating uses the template as last saved, so save your edits first.

Generated Documents

Each generation creates a separate document, not a new version of an earlier one
Each document is named for the person it was generated for (or the date, if no person was chosen)
You can see who generated it and when

Records from a Template

To see what's been produced from one template:

Open the template's row menu and choose View Records (offered on published templates)

The Document Records page lists the documents generated from the template's current version - search by person, date or content. Saving a change to a template starts a new version, so documents generated before the change aren't listed here; one that went out for signature can still be opened from the Signatures page

Click View to open one: Formatted View shows the document, and Signatures manages its signers

Comparing Two Documents

When you need to see exactly what changed between two generated documents:

On the template's Document Records page, tick the two documents

Click Compare Selected

Review the differences side by side (Split) or in one column (Unified) - change either document with the Left and Right pickers, or click Swap

This is useful for confirming what changed before a document is re-issued or signed.

Digital Signatures

Adding Signers to a Document

If you chose signers when you generated the document, they're already listed. To add more:

Open the document and go to its Signatures tab

Click Add Signer

Select:

Select Person - who signs, from your people directory

Role (Client, Witness, Guarantor, etc.)

Override Email (optional) - send the request to a different address

Signing Order (for sequential signing) - signers with the same number can sign at the same time

Click Add Signer

Sending Signature Requests

After adding all signers, click Send Signing Requests

Each signer receives an email with a secure link - with a signing order, only the first group is emailed, and each later group is emailed automatically once everyone ahead of them has signed. Signers who use Mployr also get a notification in the app

A link works for 7 days from when that signer was added to the document - including signers chosen when you generated it - so send the requests soon after adding signers. Resend Request always sends a fresh 7-day link

Track status in the Signatures tab, or on the Signatures page

If nothing could be sent, Mployr says why - for example, the next signer has to wait until everyone ahead of them has signed, or has no email address. Once everyone still to sign has been emailed, the button gives way to a note pointing you to Resend Request. While your business is still in its pilot, signing emails are held rather than sent - the signer stays Pending and shows Held by pilot.

Mployr also chases signers for you: anyone who hasn't signed three days after their request gets a reminder email, and a second one three days later, while their link still works. Your own staff are always reminded. Anyone else - a customer signing a quote, for example - is only reminded once an admin turns on Remind customers who haven't signed at the top of the Signatures page. It's off until you turn it on.

Sending a Document to Your Team to Sign

To have several people each sign their own copy of the same document - a policy everyone acknowledges, for example:

Open a published template and click Send for Signing (or choose Send for Signing from the template's row menu)

Tick the people who need to sign it - search to narrow the list, and Select all ticks everyone shown

If the template has more than one signature block, choose the block each person signs, and who signs each of the others on every copy (a manager, for example)
Fill in any details that are the same on every copy - each person's own details, your business details and today's date fill themselves in

Click Send and confirm

Each person gets their own copy, generated from the template as last saved, and an email with a link to sign it. Once they sign, the signed PDF is emailed to them, and their copy is listed on the template's Document Records page. As the person who sent them, you're notified and emailed the signed PDF for each copy as it's signed.

Anyone who has already been asked to sign the template, or has signed it, is skipped - so you can send it again later to reach new starters only. Someone who declined can be asked again. Saving a change to the template starts a new version, and sending that goes to everyone you choose, since nobody has signed the new wording yet.

When it's done, Mployr lists what happened for each person - sent, already asked, or why nothing was sent.

Signing Process (For Signers)

When you receive a signature request:

Click the link in the email
Review the document

Click Add Your Signature

Choose how to sign, then click Confirm Signature:

Draw - Use mouse or finger to draw

Type - Type your name (cursive font)

Upload - Upload a signature image

Tick the box agreeing that your electronic signature is legally binding

Click Submit Signature

A signer who won't sign can choose Decline to Sign and give a reason.

The signer's own signature box in the document is highlighted - clicking it opens the signature pad, and their signature shows in it before they submit. Other signers' boxes say whose they are. The page shows your business logo (your Logo for dark mode from Business > Branding when the signer's device is in dark mode), while the document itself always shows on a white page, as it will look in the signed copy. Once everyone has signed, the same link offers Download my copy.

Signature Status

Track each signer's progress:

Pending - Not yet sent

Sent - Email sent, awaiting action

Viewed - Signer opened the document

Signed - Signature completed

Declined - Signer declined to sign

On the Signatures page the same stages read Not sent, Awaiting, Opened, Signed and Declined, and a Link expired badge flags a request whose link has run out.

Resending Requests

If a signer hasn't responded:

Click the menu on their row

Select Resend Request (offered once their request has gone out - it also asks a signer who declined to sign again)

A new email is sent with a fresh link, valid for another 7 days

Remove Signer on the same menu takes off someone who hasn't signed yet.

When Everyone Has Signed

When the last signature is in:

The Signatures tab shows All signatures collected, and Signed PDF downloads the signed copy

The person who generated the document is notified, and emailed the signed PDF - so is your business's email address
Each signer is emailed their own signed copy

The signed PDF is the document as it was signed, with each signature in its box, followed by a Certificate of completion listing every signer with their email, role, signing method and when their request was sent, viewed and signed, in your business's time zone.

The person who generated the document is also notified as each signer signs or declines.

The Signatures Page

Signatures in the sidebar lists every signature request you can see - documents, forms, WHS records, award arrangements (IFAs and TOIL agreements), quotes, piecework records, asset handovers and Learning sign-offs - so you don't have to open each record to find out who still has to sign.

Tabs for Outstanding, Signed, Declined, Expired and All

Search records and signers, and filter by Type

Each row shows who it's waiting on, its status (with any reminders sent), when the request was sent and how long it has been waiting - the column picker adds Email, Reminders, Link expires and Completed

Row actions: Open record, Resend request (or Send a new link once a link has expired), Signed copy (PDF) and Copy email address

Tick several rows to Resend requests or Copy email addresses in one go

Admins also see the Remind customers who haven't signed switch here - see Sending Signature Requests above

The page tracks requests but doesn't start them - signatures are requested from the record being signed. It only offers the kinds of record you can open: if a module isn't available to you, its requests, its Type filter option and its link aren't shown.

File Storage

Beyond the documents you generate, Documents > File Storage is a general store for your business's files, organised into folders.

Uploading Files

Go to Documents > File Storage and open the folder you want (or create one with New Folder)

Click Upload File

Drag the file in or browse for it - PDF, images (PNG, JPG, GIF), Word and Excel files, up to 10MB

Click Upload

A folder can't hold two files with the same name - rename the file or choose another folder.

Files that belong to other modules stay in those modules. Insurance policy documents and certificates, workers' compensation documents, VEVO checks and Learning library files don't appear in File Storage, and opening one depends on access to the record it belongs to.

Downloading Files

Click a file in File Storage (or choose Download from its menu), or click Download on a generated document that has a saved file

The file downloads through a secure signed link
Links expire after five minutes for security

Save as PDF

Open a generated document (View on the template's Document Records page)

Click Export PDF or Export Word to download a copy

Click Save PDF to keep the PDF with the document - it then shows a File badge and a Download button

Troubleshooting

A signer says their signing link doesn't work or has expired

A signing link works for 7 days from when the signer was added to the document - not from when the email went out - and then stops working. Open the document, go to the Signatures tab, click the menu on the signer's row and choose Resend Request - a fresh email with a new link, good for another 7 days, is sent. You can also find the request on the Signatures page under Expired and choose Send a new link. That's also the fix for a signer later in the signing order whose link ran out before their turn came - they aren't emailed automatically once it has expired.

A signer didn't receive the signature request email

Check the signer's email address on the Signatures tab. If you set an Override Email when you added them and it's wrong, use Remove Signer and add them again with the right address; if the address comes from their People record, correct it there. If the signer shows Held by pilot, your business is still in its pilot and the email was held, not sent. Otherwise use Resend Request to send again. Ask the signer to check their spam or junk folder - the request arrives from an automated Mployr address, with a subject starting "Please sign:" followed by the document's name.

Placeholders show as `{{Person.first_name}}` in the finished document instead of the actual value

A placeholder is left as typed when it doesn't exactly match the name Mployr fills in - for example, typed by hand with spaces inside the braces, like {{ Person.first_name }}. In the template editor, insert placeholders from the Placeholders panel (click or drag) or by typing {{ to trigger autocomplete, rather than typing them by hand, then generate the document again.

A placeholder that comes out blank had no value. When you Generate, choose the person under Select Person so their People record can populate the fields, and fill in anything still empty yourself - System fields such as today's date are never filled in for you, and personal details such as date of birth or home address only fill in if your role lets you see them.

The document isn't showing as fully signed

A document completes only once every signer has signed - the Signatures tab then shows All signatures collected. Anyone still showing Pending, Sent, or Viewed is holding it open, and so is a signer who Declined - use Resend Request to ask them again. If you remove them instead and everyone left has already signed, the document shows as fully signed but the signed copies aren't emailed out - download the Signed PDF and send it on yourself. If you're using Signing Order for sequential signing, later signers aren't emailed until the earlier ones finish.

A download link stopped working

Download links are secure signed URLs that expire after five minutes for security. In File Storage, just click Download again to generate a fresh link; on a template's Document Records page, refresh the page first if it has been open for a while.

Frequently asked questions

Can I change the order signers receive their requests?

Yes. When you Add Signer, set the Signing Order. With sequential signing each signer is only emailed once the previous signer has completed - useful when a witness needs to sign after the main signer. When you generate a document and choose signers for its signature blocks, they're ordered the way the blocks appear in the template, so each one is emailed only after the one before has signed.

How do signers actually sign - do they need an account?

No account is needed. Signers click the secure link in their email, review the document, choose Add Your Signature, and can Draw, Type, or Upload a signature image before submitting.

Can I see every outstanding signature in one place?

Yes. The Signatures page lists every request you can see across documents, forms, WHS records, award arrangements, quotes, piecework records, asset handovers and Learning sign-offs, with tabs for outstanding, signed, declined and expired requests.

What file types can I upload?

File Storage takes PDFs, images (PNG, JPG, GIF), and Word and Excel files, up to 10MB each. Files are stored securely and downloaded via a signed link that expires after five minutes.

What's the difference between "Export PDF" and "Save PDF"?

From a generated document, Export PDF downloads a copy to your computer, while Save PDF stores the PDF permanently against the document so it's kept with the rest of your files.

What happens to documents made from a template I archive?

Nothing - they're kept. Archiving only takes the template out of the list and the template pickers, and you can unarchive it at any time.

Tips

Use consistent placeholder naming across templates
Preview documents before sending for signatures
Set signing order for documents requiring witness after main signer

Check the Expired tab on the Signatures page and send new links where needed

Archive templates you no longer use rather than deleting them
Keep templates organised with clear naming conventions and folders

In this guide