Governance Documents

The Governance Documents area manages official, auditable governance records that sit alongside policies but serve a different purpose. Use it to author, approve, sign, and publish formal records such as appointment letters, committee charters, committee membership, approval memos, delegation letters, meeting minutes, board decisions, and executive decisions.

Governance documents are distinct from policies. Policies define rules that people follow and acknowledge; governance documents capture formal organizational acts and decisions that must be authored, approved, signed, and retained as evidence.

1. Background and Business Purpose

A governance document is a controlled record of a formal act or decision. It carries ownership, an approval trail, a decision number and date, validity dates, optional signatures, and links to the records it governs. The goal is a defensible, auditable history of who decided what, when, and on what authority.

Main business outcomes:

• maintain official governance records with a clear approval and signature trail
• standardize recurring records using bilingual document templates
• capture decision numbers, decision dates, and validity periods
• link decisions to the policies, risks, vendors, assets, and evidence they affect
• collect legally-meaningful sign-off through digital signatures
• preserve documents for audit, board review, and regulatory inspection

2. Core Records and Actors

Item	Meaning
Governance document	Controlled record of a formal act or decision, with title, owner, status, decision number, validity dates, content, links, and history.
Document template	Reusable template with bilingual variables used to generate a document with consistent structure and wording.
Decision number / date	Official reference and date assigned to the act or decision the document records.
Signature request	Request to collect sign-off on the document through Digital Signatures.
Related links	Connections to policies, risks, vendors, assets, and evidence that the document governs or supports.
Workflow	Optional approval route attached to the document.

Actor	Responsibility
Tenant administrator	Configures document templates, categories, workflows, and permissions.
Document owner	Authors and maintains the document, validity dates, and content accuracy.
Approver	Reviews and approves the document before it is sent for signature or published.
Signer	Internal or external party who signs the document.
Auditor	Reviews approvals, signatures, decision numbers, validity, and activity trail.

3. Authoring a Governance Document

A document can be created in two ways:

• Authored directly, by writing the content in the editor as HTML or Markdown.
• Generated from a Document Template, where the platform fills bilingual template variables (such as names, dates, titles, and decision references) to produce a consistent draft that the owner can then refine.

Each document carries:

Field	Meaning
Title	Name of the document in the current language.
Owner	Accountable user for the document.
Approver	User responsible for approving the document.
Decision Number	Official reference assigned to the act or decision.
Decision Date	Date the decision was taken.
Effective Date	Date the document takes effect.
Expiry Date	Date the document ceases to apply.
Next Review Date	Date the document is due for review.
Content	Authored or template-generated body in HTML/Markdown.
Status	Current lifecycle state of the document.

4. Lifecycle and Statuses

Governance documents follow a controlled lifecycle from drafting through approval, signature, and publication.

Status	Meaning	Typical Next Action
Draft	Document is being authored and is not approved.	Submit for review.
InReview	Document is under review by the approver or workflow step.	Approve or send back.
Approved	Document has been approved and is ready for signature.	Send for signature.
SentForSignature	A signature request is open and signers are signing.	Collect signatures.
Signed	All required signatures have been collected.	Publish.
Published	Document is official and available as the active record.	Track validity and review date.
Retired	Document has reached end of life and is withdrawn.	Read-only reference.
Rejected	Document was not approved or was declined during signing.	Read-only reference or revise.

The main flow is Draft → InReview → Approved → SentForSignature → Signed → Published. Retired and Rejected are terminal states retained for history.

5. What to Click First: Document Operating Flow

Use this flow for a new governance document.

Step 1: Create the Document Record

1. Open Governance.
2. Open Governance Documents.
3. Click Create Document.
4. Choose to author directly or generate from a document template.
5. Enter title, owner, approver, decision number, decision date, and validity dates.
6. Author or refine the content.
7. Save.

Result: the document starts as Draft.

Step 2: Submit for Review and Approval

1. Open the document.
2. Review content, owner, approver, and validity dates.
3. Submit for review, or start the configured workflow.
4. Approver reviews and approves or sends back with comments.

Result: the document moves to InReview, then Approved.

Step 3: Send for Signature

1. Open the approved document.
2. Send it for signature through Digital Signatures.
3. Add internal users or external email signers and set the signing order if needed.

Result: the document moves to SentForSignature, then Signed once all signatures are collected.

Step 4: Publish

1. Open the signed document.
2. Click Publish.

Result: the document becomes Published and is the official, active record.

Step 5: Maintain and Retire

1. Use the next-review date to find documents due for review.
2. Revise or supersede content as needed.
3. Retire documents that have reached end of life.

Result: the governance record set remains current and auditable.

6. Document Detail Layout and Tabs

Tab / Area	Purpose
Details	Title, owner, approver, decision number, decision date, validity dates, and status.
Preview	Read-only rendering of the document content as it will appear.
Related Links	Linked policies, risks, vendors, assets, and evidence.
Workflow	Optional approval route, current step, and decision actions.
Signatures	Signature request status and the collected signatures.
Comments	Review discussion and owner notes.
Activity	Audit trail of create, update, submit, approve, sign, publish, and retire events.

7. Related Links and Signatures

A governance document can be linked to the records it governs or supports, including policies, risks, vendors, assets, and evidence. These links give reviewers and auditors the full context behind a decision.

When sign-off is required, the document is sent for signature through Digital Signatures. The document records who signed, in what order, and when, and moves to Signed once all required signatures are collected. See Digital Signatures for how signature requests, ordered signers, and external signing work.

8. Permissions

Permission	Allows
documents.view	View governance documents and their details.
documents.create	Create new governance documents.
documents.edit	Edit governance documents.

9. Related Pages

Related Page	Why It Matters
Governance	Policies, exceptions, and change management that sit alongside governance documents.
Digital Signatures	Collect legally-meaningful sign-off on governance documents and policies.