Why you need On-Behalf Signatures?

On-Behalf Signatures blog header

On-behalf signatures let an authorised person legally sign a document for someone else — whether under a Power of Attorney or a general delegated authority — while keeping a full audit trail of who signed and who they represented. Secured Signing’s On-Behalf Signatures feature builds this directly into the digital signing workflow.

If a deal has ever stalled because the one person who needed to sign was overseas, in hospital, or just impossible to pin down, this is the fix.

Signing Shouldn’t Depend on One Person Being Available

Contracts don’t wait for convenient timing. Directors travel. Attorneys act under Power of Attorney. Administrators sign for the business. But most e-signature tools assume the person named on the document is the person who signs it.

That assumption breaks down constantly in the real world. And when it does, deals stall, approvals get delayed, and someone ends up printing a document, signing it by hand, and scanning it back in defeating the point of going digital.

What Is an On-Behalf Signature?

An on-behalf signature is when an authorised signer electronically signs a document for another individual or entity — the principal — instead of the principal signing themselves.

Setting it up takes a few clicks: add an on-behalf signer, name the principal they’re representing, and choose the type of signing authority that applies. The signer then picks their signature wording and font, and the signature is captured with a complete audit trail attached.

POA vs. General On-Behalf Signing: What’s the Difference?

Secured Signing supports two distinct types of on-behalf signatures, and choosing the right one matters for compliance.

Power of Attorney (POA)

Use this when the signer is acting under a legally recognised Power of Attorney. The signature displays clear text identifying the signer as the Attorney-in-Fact without a handwritten signature image.

Typical wording looks like:

  • Principal by John Smith, Attorney-in-Fact
  • Principal by John Smith, Attorneys under POA
  • John Smith, Attorney-in-Fact for Principal

This is the right fit for legal, financial, healthcare, and property transactions where POA authority needs to be unambiguous.

General On-Behalf Signing

Use this when someone is authorised to sign for another person or entity outside a formal Power of Attorney think corporate approvals, delegated authority, or administrative sign-off.

The difference: General signing includes the signer’s actual electronic signature alongside wording naming both parties, such as:

  • Signed on behalf of David Principal, John Smith
  • For and on behalf of: David Principal By: John Smith
  • Signed for: David Principal By: John Smith, acting on their behalf

Why It Matters: The Benefits of Delegated Signing Done Properly

  • Clear representation — every signature states exactly who signed and who they represented, removing ambiguity.
  • Stronger compliance — full audit trails support legal and regulatory record-keeping.
  • Faster processes — contracts, approvals, and consent forms don’t stall because one signer is unavailable.
  • Flexibility — POA and General authority both live inside the same secure workflow.
  • Built-in trust — recipients can see, at a glance, that a document was signed by a properly authorised representative.

Who Uses On-Behalf Signatures?

  • Attorneys signing under Power of Attorney for property, healthcare, or financial matters
  • Corporate officers signing on behalf of a company
  • Administrative staff completing approvals for an unavailable manager
  • Any organisation with a formal delegation of signing authority

Delegated signing shouldn’t mean choosing between compliance and speed. Secured Signing’s On-Behalf Signatures feature captures who signed, who they represented, and under what authority, all with the same audit trail and authentication standards behind every other signature on the platform.

Whether it’s a Power of Attorney arrangement or a general business delegation, the result is the same: documents get signed properly, on time, without the paper workaround.