E-Signatures

Digital E-Signatures — Getting Started

A complete walkthrough of Tenantivo’s e-signature flow: prepare the lease PDF, build a reusable Firma template with merge fields and signer assignments, send the lease from an approved rental application, and follow the tenant through Part 3 — deposit payment, Firma signing, and the manager’s final approval that unlocks move-in.

5 steps + prep ~30 min Updated June 26, 2026

Who this guide is for: Property managers and organization admins setting up digital lease signatures with Tenantivo’s E-Signatures integration (powered by Firma), plus a tenant-side overview of what happens after the lease is sent.

Start with the Prep section to get your PDF ready, then work through the five numbered steps. Detailed instructions and screenshots will be added to each section — thumbnail placeholders mark where visuals will appear.

Before you start

Prepare your lease PDF

Before opening Firma, finalize the lease document itself. Everything that is not a binding signature — clause text, rules, definitions, headings, and the visible “blanks” where merge data will land — needs to be baked into the file you upload. Firma will lay signature, initial, and merge fields on top of this document, so the body content cannot be edited from the template editor.

Finalize the lease body in Word (or your editor of choice) — clauses, rules, addenda, and the signing block layout.
Visually reserve space wherever a signature, initial, or merge value will sit (underscores, boxes, or blank lines work well).
Plan field names that match what Tenantivo can fill automatically — the editor suggests TenantName, TenantEmail, PropertyAddress, LeaseStartDate, and LeaseEndDate.
Export to PDF (or save a clean .docx) at the final page size and layout — multi-page documents are fine.
Keep the file under 20 MB (PDF or Word). Compress images if the lease has scanned exhibits.
Spell-check and have a second person review — the file you upload becomes the “source of truth” for every send.

Why a pre-step? Firma cannot edit body text after upload — you can only place fields on top of it. Getting the document right before upload avoids re-uploading the lease and re-placing every field later.

Step 1

Upload the PDF and create a template

Upload the lease file you prepared to create a reusable Firma template. Tenantivo opens the embedded Firma template editor so you can lay out fields without leaving the app, and the template becomes available everywhere Send Lease and Bulk Send appear.

From the management workspace, open E-Signatures and click Templates in the sub-nav.
If this is your first time, confirm the Firma workspace is provisioned under Settings — the templates page will prompt you otherwise.
Click + New template, enter a clear Template name (e.g. “Standard Residential Lease”), add an optional Description, then choose your Lease document (.pdf or .docx, up to 20 MB).
Click Continue to template editor. The embedded Firma editor opens with your document ready for field placement.
Back on the templates list, use Set default on the template Send Lease should pre-select, and Sync list if you ever pull templates created directly inside Firma.

Tip: Removing a template here only hides it from Tenantivo — it is not deleted from Firma, so the template ID is preserved and any in-flight signing requests continue uninterrupted.

Screenshots

Step 2

Map merge fields to lease data

In the template editor, drop text / merge fields on top of the placeholders you reserved in Prep. These are the non-binding fields Tenantivo populates automatically at send time — tenant name and email, property address, and lease dates — so every send only needs the signers’ contact info confirmed.

From the Field Types panel, drag a Text Field (or Name, Email, Phone, Date, Number) onto each placeholder — not signature or initial fields.
In the field’s properties, set the field name to one of the supported merge keys: TenantName, TenantEmail, PropertyAddress, LeaseStartDate, LeaseEndDate.
Leave any extra text fields with descriptive defaults so the rendered lease still reads correctly if a value isn’t supplied.
Use the Top / Prev / Next / Bottom page controls in the editor bar to move through multi-page documents.
Click Save Template after each batch of edits so Firma persists the layout.

How auto-fill works: Send Lease reads the applicant’s record and the linked property to populate matching merge keys. Anything not in that list (e.g. monthly rent, prorated amount) can still be a regular text field — it just won’t pre-fill automatically.

Screenshots

Step 3

Place signature & initial fields per signer

Place the binding fields next. Drop Signature, Initial, and (if needed) Signing Date / Stamp / Approval fields on the PDF, then assign each one to a signer slot. Slots are numbered in signing order — typically User 1 for the primary tenant, additional users for co-tenants, and the last user for the landlord or property manager.

From the Field Types panel, drag a Signature or Initial field onto every spot the lease requires a signing mark.
Open the Template Users panel and add a row for each signer. The display name and email here are placeholders — Send Lease overwrites them per application — but the signing order is what gets reused.
For each signature/initial field, set its assignee to the matching User 1 / User 2 / User 3 slot. Tenantivo will map: primary tenant → User 1, co-tenants with email → User 2+, landlord/manager → last user.
Walk every page with the editor bar (Top / Prev / Next / Bottom) to confirm no signature spot is unassigned or assigned to the wrong user.
Click Save Template, then Done to return to the templates list. Use Set default on the list if you want Send Lease to pre-select this template.

Signer order matters: Firma sends signing emails sequentially — User 2 won’t get a link until User 1 signs. Put the primary tenant first, co-tenants next, and the landlord/manager last so you only countersign after the tenants have committed.

Screenshots

Step 4

Send the lease from an approved application

Once a rental application has reached Part 3 (Part 2 approved or skipped, with a tenant email on file), you can send the lease. There are two entry points — both land in the same Firma Send Lease form with the application pre-selected.

Pick an entry point:
- From the application: open View Application → the Part 3: Deposit & Lease panel → click Send lease for signing (the button reads Resend / view signing if a request already exists).
- From the workspace: E-Signatures → Send Lease, then choose the application from the dropdown.
Confirm the Firma template — the template marked Default pre-selects automatically.
Review the auto-built Signers table: primary tenant (User 1), any co-tenants with email on file (User 2+), and you as landlord/manager (last user). Uncheck anyone who should not receive this lease, and edit names or emails inline before sending.
Click Send for signing. Firma emails the first signer a secure Sign Document link; later signers receive their links as each previous signer completes.
Track progress on the application’s Part 3 panel and on the E-Signatures → Dashboard. Use Resend or Void from the dashboard if a signer loses their email or you need to start over.

Sending many leases at once? Switch to E-Signatures → Bulk Send to fire one template at multiple eligible applications in a single submission — useful for annual renewals or move-in batches.

Reminders: Default reminder cadence is configured under E-Signatures → Reminders — tune how often Firma nudges a signer who hasn’t opened their link yet.

Screenshots

Step 5

Tenant Part 3 — deposit, signing, and manager approval

Once the lease is sent, the tenant moves into Part 3 of their rental application: Deposit & Lease. This is the final gate before move-in — deposit must be paid, the lease must be signed via Firma, and a manager must approve Part 3 before the rental can be activated.

Manager sets the deposit amount (if not already set). On View Application, in the Part 3 panel, enter the Set deposit amount the applicant should owe (defaults to the property’s listed deposit) and save. The tenant cannot pay online until this amount exists.
Tenant pays the deposit. On the tenant’s Part 3 page, the Pay Deposit card charges Stripe and moves the deposit status to Completed. The lease-signing card stays locked until then.
Tenant signs the lease via Firma. With deposit complete, the tenant opens the Firma email from Step 4 and signs in their browser. Status flips from Sent to Signed / Completed, and the signed PDF is attached to the application. If a co-tenant or the landlord still has to sign, Firma releases their link next.
Manager approves Part 3. On View Application, once deposit is Completed and lease signing is Signed / Completed, the Approve Part 3 action unlocks. Approving sets the application to Fully Approved and emails the tenant the approval notice.
Manager runs Move-In Tenant. With Part 3 approved, click Move In Tenant to attach the tenant to a rental and stamp lease start/end, monthly rent, prorated rent (when applicable), late-fee policy, and the recurring billing day-of-month. Use Move In (Unpaid) if you’ve already collected payment outside Tenantivo.

Approval gate: Part 3 cannot be approved until both deposit payment is Completed and lease signing is Signed or Completed. The UI surfaces the specific blocker (e.g. “Deposit payment must be Completed (current: not started)”) until the gate clears.

Skipping Part 3: For paper-lease or out-of-band move-ins, use Skip Part 3 on View Application. The application still reaches Fully Approved, but Tenantivo records the skip and any manager notes you enter become tenant-visible.

Screenshots