How to decline or void a document and record the reason
The client opens the document, clicks the top-right menu › Decline Document, picks the reasons and submits; your team can decline an already-sent document from Payments › Documents & Contracts. The document becomes Declined, moves to Archived and the reason is kept under View History.
Updated on
Before you start
- The document must be sent (a draft is deleted or edited, not declined).
- To automate the follow-up, you need access to Automation › Workflows.
Where to find it
Payments › Documents & Contracts › All Documents & Contracts › (sent document) › Decline
Step by step
When the client declines
- The client opens the document link they received.
- They click the top-right menu and choose Decline Document.
- They tick one or more reasons (if available) and optionally add notes.
- They click Submit. The document becomes Declined, moves to Archived and can no longer be signed.
When your team voids it
- Open Payments › Documents & Contracts and find the sent document.
- Use the decline action available for sent documents.
- Confirm. The document follows the same path: Declined status and the Archived folder.
See who declined and why
- In Documents & Contracts, open the Archived tab.
- Open the document and click View History.
- You'll see who declined, the date and time, the selected reasons and any notes.
React automatically to a decline
- In Automation › Workflows, create a workflow with the Documents & Contracts trigger.
- In the Status filter, choose Declined.
- Add your actions: a follow-up email to the client, an internal notification, a task, or moving the opportunity to Lost.
- In emails, you can insert the values Document Decline Reasons (list of reasons) and Document Decline Reasons Body (the client's notes).
- Save and publish.
Tips
- Review decline reasons from time to time: they tell you what's pushing clients away (price, timing, terms).
- If the client backed out another way (phone, WhatsApp), void the document from the dashboard so the status is accurate in reports.
- Declined is different from "waiting": only documents actually declined count as declined.
Common problems
- I can't find the decline option → The document is still a draft. Only sent documents can be declined; a draft can be deleted.
- The declined document disappeared from the list → It's under Archived. Open that tab.
- The client wants to sign after declining → A declined document can't be signed again. Clone it or create a new one from the template and send it again.
- The workflow didn't fire on decline → Check the trigger is Documents & Contracts with the status filter Declined and that the workflow is published.
Frequently asked questions
Does the client have to give a reason?
They pick from the available reasons, and the notes are optional.
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