Revising a Declined Contract
When a signer declines a contract, the envelope closes immediately and the contract status changes to Declined. No signed PDF is produced. This page explains how to understand why a signer declined and how to send a corrected or renegotiated contract.
Contracts list with a Declined status badge and decline reason tooltip
Why a signer can decline
Signers are presented with a Decline option during their signing session at any stage before submitting their signature. When they decline, they are asked to provide a reason — for example:
"Terms need to be revised — the liability cap is too low"
"Wrong party named as signatory"
"I need legal review before I can sign"
The reason is recorded in the audit trail and shown in the contract detail.
Reading the decline reason
Open the declined contract from the Contracts list.
On the Overview tab, find the signer who declined — their status badge shows Declined.
Hover over (or select) the status badge to see the decline reason they entered.
Select the Audit tab for a full timestamped record of the decline event.
Options after a decline
A declined contract cannot be reopened. Your options are:
Option A — Send a revised contract from the same template
If the decline reason is a data or configuration issue (wrong signer named, incorrect issue linked), you can send a new contract immediately:
On the Contracts list, select New contract.
Choose the same template and link the correct issue (or the same issue if the issue data is fine).
Add the correct signers.
Send.
Option B — Revise the template first
If the decline reason points to a problem with the contract terms:
Contact your Template Manager and share the decline reason.
The Template Manager creates a draft copy of the template (via Create draft copy), makes the agreed changes, and publishes the revised template.
Send a new contract from the revised template.
Option C — Escalate without sending a new contract
If the parties cannot agree on terms, you may choose not to resend. In this case, the declined contract remains on the Contracts list with Declined status as a permanent record of the event.
What stays on record
Even after a decline, the following are preserved:
The full audit trail (including when each signer opened the document and the decline timestamp)
The contract document as it was presented to signers
The linked Jira issue association
The decline reason entered by the signer
This evidence is available for internal review or dispute resolution if needed.
Next steps