"You'll sign it when you're in the office" — a phrase that delays deals by days or weeks once a team works from different cities and countries. Couriers are slow and expensive, and a scanned signature has no legal force at all. Let's look at how a remote team can sign documents quickly and legally.
Why the Old Ways Don't Work
When everyone sits in one office, a paper document somehow makes its way between desks. In a distributed team, every signature becomes a logistics operation: print, sign, scan or courier it, then wait for the other party to do the same.
There are two problems at once. First, speed: the signing cycle stretches from hours into weeks. Second, legality: a scan or photo of a handwritten signature is not a signature — it is just an image. Full legal force comes from a qualified electronic signature — the QES that the law treats as equal to a handwritten one.
Signing with a QES in the Browser, from Anywhere
The modern approach is to sign documents with a QES right in the browser, with no plugins or software to install. An employee in Uzhhorod, Kyiv or Warsaw only needs a laptop or smartphone: open the document, apply the signature with your key — done. No more "I'll drop by the office on Thursday".
Compare how the process changes:
| Before (paper and scans) | After (QES in the browser) |
|---|---|
| Courier between cities: 2–5 days | Signing in minutes from anywhere |
| Scanned signature with no legal force | QES equal to a handwritten signature |
| "Who has the document now?" — nobody knows | Status visible in real time |
| Manual reminders in messengers | Automatic notifications to participants |
| Originals in one office's drawer | Documents in a searchable electronic archive |
Approval Routes Instead of Messenger Ping-Pong
The second problem for remote teams is approval "in chats": the file bounces between messengers and email, versions get mixed up, someone drops out of the thread. Instead, set up an approval route: describe once who reviews the document and in what order — and the system passes it from participant to participant on its own.
Everyone sees when their turn comes and gets notified, and nobody can "lose" the document. The initiator always knows exactly where the process has stalled and who has already received a reminder.
External Counterparties Without an Account
Remote work is not just about your own team — clients and contractors are geographically scattered too. In eObig you can send a document for signature to a counterparty even if they have no account in the system: they receive a link, review the document and sign it with their own QES. We covered this in detail in our article on exchanging documents with counterparties.
Is Remote Signing Secure?
A common worry: "if signing happens in the browser, my key must be uploaded somewhere". In fact, no: the private key and its password never leave the user's device, and all cryptographic operations run locally. The eObig cryptographic core has a positive assessment from Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications (SSSCIP), so the signing mechanism has been vetted by the regulator. See our article on browser-based signing security and the platform security page for more.
In other words, remote signing is no less secure than "office" signing: the key stays in its owner's hands — just without being tied to one particular computer in one particular room.
Case Study: A Team in Three Cities
Picture a services company: the director in Kyiv, the accountant in Lviv, the project lead relocated to Ivano-Frankivsk. A contract with a new client used to take a week to sign: printing, couriers, waiting.
Now the process looks like this. The project lead creates the contract from a template and starts the route: the accountant checks the financial terms, the director signs with a QES. The client receives the document via a link and signs on their side — no account needed. From draft to a fully signed bilateral contract takes a few hours, with every step recorded in the system. The team handles internal paperwork the same way — from orders to HR applications.
Key Takeaways
- Scans and photos of signatures carry no legal force — unlike a QES, which is legally equal to a handwritten signature.
- Browser-based signing works from anywhere in the world, with no plugins and no trips to the office.
- Approval routes replace chaotic file forwarding in messengers, while statuses and reminders keep the process under control.
- A counterparty can sign a document even without an account.
- The private key stays on the user's device, which makes remote signing secure.
If your team works from different cities, try signing your first document online for free at portal.eobig.com or book a demo — we will show you how to set the process up for your structure.