Business owners, CFOs, and financial directors know it well: the management of legal and financial documents requires guarantees of validity and security. That’s why understanding and mastering terms like scanned signature, digital signature, and electronic signature is vital. But do we truly know their differences and legal validity? This article will clarify the most common doubts about the scanned signature. And, if that weren’t enough, we tell you how easyap helps you digitize your electronic invoices and automate any invoicing or accounting process for your business.
Can a signature be scanned?
The first big question is this: can a signature be scanned? The answer is also: yes, it’s possible to scan a handwritten signature and convert it into a digital file.
This process is very basic and consists of signing a paper document, digitizing it using a scanner or a mobile application, and saving it as an image or PDF.
Although the method is easy and fast, it’s important that you understand something more. A scanned signature is simply a visual representation of a handwritten signature. That is, by itself it has no element that guarantees its authenticity or integrity, unlike the recognized electronic signature.
Advantages of a Scanned Signature
So, what is a scanned signature good for? Based on our experience, a scanned signature offers several advantages:
- It offers speed for digitizing documents.
- It gives a professional appearance to unofficial documents.
- Its use is very simple and practical for low-risk cases.
- It provides great ease of digital storage.
- It saves paper and physical resources.
- It gives immediate access from any device.
However, the scanned signature only has utility in very specific contexts. Likewise, it is ideal for internal tasks, such as approving your company’s budgets or for certain non-binding procedures or processes. However, it presents serious legal and security limitations, which we will see below.
Does a scanned signature have the same validity as any digital signature?
In line with the above, the first thing to be clear about is that a scanned signature does not have the same validity as a digital signature or electronic signature. What’s more, directly, the digital signature has no legal validity.
In fact, in Spain, where we follow Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014 (known as the eIDAS Regulation), the legislation clearly distinguishes between these ways of signing documents:
- Scanned Signature: lacks legal backing. Being an image, it does not include mechanisms that provide authenticity to the signatory or ensure the integrity of the document.
- Electronic Signature: regulated by the aforementioned eIDAS Regulation (Regulation on Electronic Identification and Trust Services) of the European Union, has legal validity and can ensure the authenticity and integrity of a document or invoice.
- Digital Signature: is an advanced type of electronic signature that uses digital certificates issued by trustworthy authorities. It is the most secure and has the highest legal validity.
Comparison: Scanned Signature vs. Digital Signature
To group the information more visually, we reflect these differences between these two types of signatures in the following comparison table:
In summary, as the scanned signature has limited utility, it is not the most suitable tool for legal documents, contracts, or invoices.
But why is a scanned signature not a valid signature?
There are several reasons why a scanned signature has no legal validity in Spain and Europe:
- Lack of authenticity. There is no way to verify that the signature belongs to the indicated person, as it is just an image.
- Ease of falsification. A scanned signature can be copied and pasted into other documents without the signatory’s consent.
- Lack of integrity. It does not guarantee that the document has not been altered after the signature was applied.
- Regulation. It does not comply with the requirements of the e-invoicing regulation and its standards for the validity of electronic signatures.
Therefore, for your company’s important documents, the best practice you can adopt is to use an electronic or digital signature. This way, you will comply with all legal and technological guarantees.
Real example
Imagine a supplier signs a contract by scanning their handwritten signature and sending it via mail. If the content or integrity of the document is later questioned, there is no way to prove the validity of that signature or to verify that the terms were not modified. This problem is avoided with electronic signatures, which guarantee the authenticity and traceability of the document.
How to make a scanned signature?
Nonetheless, if despite its limitations you wish to create a scanned signature for unofficial or low-risk use, you can follow these steps:
- Sign on paper. First, write your signature on a white piece of paper, ensuring it is clear and visible.
- Digitize your signature. Next, use a scanner or your smartphone’s camera to capture the signature. Nowadays, there are apps like Adobe Scan or CamScanner that facilitate this step of the signature scanning process.
- Edit the image. Then, use an editing program (like Photoshop or Canva) to clean up the background and adjust the size.
- Save the file. Once the scanned signature is obtained, save it as an image. We recommend using PNG or JPEG format with a transparent background to facilitate its insertion into documents.
- Insert into documents.Finally, to incorporate it, rely on tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or PDF editing software to insert it into your documents.
Even so, we insist: remember that, although it is functional in specific cases, this type of signature is not the most appropriate for legal or contractual documents.
The solution? Electronic signature and invoicing with easyap
Therefore, if you need a secure and legally valid solution, the electronic signature is the ideal option. In this regard,easyap offers you the most advanced solutions and tools to manage electronic invoicingand digitized signature processes in companies.
Furthermore, we have extensive experience working in different sectors and countries, complying with the highest standards of security and legal compliance in all of them.
Advantages of easyap and its solutions with digital signature
To be more precise, below is a list of many of the advantages of using digitized signatures andeasyap’s electronic invoicing software:
- Process automation.Simplifydocument managementand invoicing with solutions adapted to your company, country, and market.
- Legal compliance.Ensure that all your signatures and invoices comply with the eIDAS Regulation and the applicable Spanish and local regulations.
- Security. Protect your company’s sensitive information and data with encryption technology and advanced certification.
- Efficiency. Save time and resources through process digitalization.
- Personalized support.Receive technical assistance and training tailored to the needs of your organization and your team.
- Scalability.Implement solutions that grow with your business. In other words, easyap’s solution adapts to any business volume.
- Simple integration.Connect easyap’s software with your ERP systems or other existing tools used in your organization.
- Positive environmental impact.Reduce the use of paper and other physical resources by digitizing administrative processes.
In conclusion, with easyap you not only optimize your financial management. You also ensure that your documents have the legal validity you need, which avoids risks associated with the use of scanned signatures.Contact usand we’ll tell you much more.
