The document problem in a franchise network
Bringing on a franchisee is a paperwork-heavy process. Disclosure documents have to be provided and acknowledged, the franchise agreement signed, and supporting contracts executed, often across parties in different places. Every one of those documents needs a defensible record of exactly what was provided, what was signed and when.
Run on paper or emailed PDFs, this is slow and error-prone. Documents get lost, versions drift, and the record of who acknowledged what disclosure sits in an inbox rather than a system. For a franchisor signing on franchisees regularly, that is a recurring administrative load and a recordkeeping risk.
Franchise disclosure and agreement e-signatures solve this by capturing legally binding signatures, tracking who has signed, and keeping a complete audit trail. Cohiva Sign is built for it.
What Sign does for franchises
Sign provides legally binding e-signatures and explicitly handles agreements, contracts and franchise disclosure documents. For a franchise network that means:
- Disclosure documents sent and acknowledged, with a record of what was provided and when.
- Franchise agreements signed by the franchisee, on any device.
- Supporting contracts executed in the same flow.
- A full audit trail of every signature and acknowledgement.
- eIDAS compliance, so the electronic signatures meet a recognised legal framework.
Signing inside the workflow
What sets this apart for a franchisor is that Sign is embedded across Cohiva products. Documents are sent and signed inside the onboarding workflow rather than in a separate signing service, and the signed documents attach to the franchisee record.
Because the suite shares one data layer, the executed agreement and acknowledged disclosure live with the franchisee, alongside the finance consolidation in Crunch and the brand-compliant marketing in Campaign. One record of the franchisee across the platform.
Why an audit trail matters here
Disclosure and franchise agreements carry real legal weight. If a question is ever raised about what was disclosed or what a franchisee signed, you need to show exactly what was provided and executed, and when. Sign's full audit trail and eIDAS compliance support that record. Sign helps you keep a clear, defensible signing record; it does not replace your own legal advice on disclosure obligations.
Where this sits in your operation
Sign is the signing layer of an integrated platform for franchises. The solutions for franchises page shows the full bundle, including multi-entity consolidation and brand-compliant marketing.
For the product detail, Explore Sign.
What good looks like day to day
A connected signing layer changes franchisee onboarding. The franchisor sends the disclosure documents and the agreement, the franchisee reviews and signs on any device, and the executed documents attach to the franchisee record automatically. The franchisor can see, at a glance, who has been sent what, who has signed and who is outstanding, rather than tracking it across an inbox.
For a network bringing on franchisees regularly, that consistency removes a recurring source of risk. Every franchisee receives the same disclosure and signs the same agreement, with a clear record of what was provided and when. If a question is ever raised about a particular onboarding, the answer comes from the record, with a full audit trail behind it, rather than a search through old emails and paper files. The executed agreement then sits alongside the finance consolidation and brand-compliant marketing for that franchisee, so the whole relationship is one connected record across the platform instead of scattered across separate tools.
Who it is for
Sign suits franchisors that onboard franchisees regularly and want disclosure documents acknowledged and franchise agreements signed inside one workflow, attached to the franchisee record, and held with a defensible audit trail rather than chased through email and paper.