Sign-off is the moment a draft inspection becomes a finished, signed and legally useful record. It is a deliberate, separate step — and it is the only point in the whole inspection where a credit is used. This guide covers everything from sign-off onward: what happens during sign-off, what it costs, how to preview, download, regenerate and send the PDF, the 30-day share link, and why a signed report can't be edited (and what to do instead).
What sign-off is for
Everything you do before sign-off — picking the vehicle and customer, taking walkaround photos, marking damage, recording tyre, fuel and mileage readings, working through the checklist — is a working draft. None of it is final and none of it has cost you anything.
Sign-off turns that draft into a permanent, locked record: signatures are captured, the declaration is agreed, one credit is spent, the report locks, the branded PDF is generated, and the customer is emailed automatically. After that point the report is the definitive account of the vehicle's condition at that moment — which is exactly what makes it useful in a dispute, at a hire return, or at a sale.
Before you can sign off
The report has to be complete. While a report is still a draft, a "things to fix before sign-off" panel sits at the top of the report. It lists every outstanding required field — missing walkaround photos, an empty checklist item, the mileage, the fuel level, signatures, and anything else your inspection template insists on. Each item is a shortcut straight to the tab that needs attention, and the relevant tab (Vehicle, Inspection) carries a small warning count so you can see at a glance where the gaps are.
Until that panel is clear, sign-off stays blocked. This is on purpose — you can't accidentally finish a half-done report.
What your template can require
Your inspection template decides the bar for "complete". Depending on how it's set up, sign-off can require:
- An inspector signature, a customer signature, or both — set by the template's signature rules.
- A minimum number of photos per damage marker — if the template asks for, say, two photos per dent, every marker must meet that before you can finish.
- Mileage, fuel/charge level and the checklist completed to the template's standard.
If a requirement isn't met you'll get a clear message naming exactly what's missing (for example, "damage marker needs at least 2 photos") so you know what to go back and fix. Templates resolve automatically by vehicle type and inspection type — see how templates match.
The sign-off step
When the "things to fix" panel is clear, open the sign-off step. You'll:
- Capture signatures — the inspector's, and the customer's where your template asks for it. These can be signed on the device there and then at the vehicle.
- Agree the declaration — the wording set on your template, confirming the parties accept the report as an accurate record.
Then, in a single committed step, vehReports:
- Spends one credit (about £1).
- Locks the report — it becomes a permanent, read-only record, stamped with the completion time and signature times.
- Watermarks every photo — each walkaround and damage photo is stamped with the registration, the inspector's name and the timestamp, so the images can't be passed off as another vehicle or another day.
- Generates the branded PDF.
- Emails the report to the customer automatically, provided their email is on the report.
You'll see a confirmation that the credit was taken and the report is on its way to the customer.
Inbound reports and the verdict
If this is an inbound inspection (a vehicle coming back from hire), the report can also carry a verdict — for example "concerns" — with a short rationale, when your template's verdict rules apply (new damage over a set threshold, or a refuel needed). When a verdict comes back as anything other than a clean pass, your managers and owners are alerted by email or SMS so the right person can follow it up. See inspection types explained for how the inbound type works.
What sign-off costs
Sign-off uses one credit, around £1. That is the entire cost of the report — there is no per-photo, per-page or sending charge.
Worth repeating, because it's the most common worry: signing off a report is one of only two actions in the whole product that ever uses a credit (the other is signing a rental agreement). Everything else is free and unlimited — building and previewing drafts, adding and editing vehicles, customers, templates and team members, driver licence checks, DVLA lookups and MOT history. New companies start with about 10 free welcome credits, so you can sign off your first reports without paying anything. For pricing and packs, see credits, pricing, top-ups and subscriptions and the overview at understanding credits.
If you're out of credits
If your balance is empty when you go to sign off, you'll be prompted to top up first. Crucially, your draft is completely safe — nothing is lost. You can keep building drafts, running checks and adding records while out of credits; only the sign-off itself is blocked. Topping up by card takes a moment, and you can then finish the sign-off straight away.
To avoid being caught short at a handover, turn on the low-balance warning under your notifications so you're told before you run dry.
Note: if the account has been suspended, sign-off is blocked regardless of balance. Contact support if you see a suspension message.
Previewing the PDF before sign-off
You don't have to commit blind. While the report is still a draft you can preview the PDF to see exactly what the customer will receive — the photos, the damage record, the checklist, the readings and the layout. It's the best way to check everything looks right before you spend the credit. The preview reflects your latest changes each time it's generated, so it always shows the current state of the draft.
The PDF's sections and styling come from your inspection template, and the logo, colours, sender name and footer come from your company branding. If something looks off in the preview, that's the place to fix it.
Downloading and regenerating the PDF after sign-off
Once a report is signed off you can reopen it from Reports at any time and:
- Preview the PDF — a full-screen view of the finished, watermarked document.
- Download the PDF — the final, definitive file to keep, print or attach yourself.
- Regenerate the PDF — re-render the document from the stored record. The report's content is locked and doesn't change, so a regenerated PDF is identical in substance; this is simply a fresh render, handy if you ever need a clean copy. Regenerating does not cost a credit and does not alter the report.
Because a signed report is locked, its PDF is the permanent record and its content won't change. (On a draft, by contrast, the PDF reflects your latest edits each time it's produced.)
Sending the report to your customer
A signed-off report is emailed to the customer automatically the moment you finish, provided their email address is on the report. For most jobs that's the end of it — there's nothing extra to do.
Sending it again
From a signed report you can send to customer again whenever you need to — for instance if they've changed email address, lost the original, or you simply want to resend it. When you do, you can confirm or correct the customer's email (and optionally a mobile number) before it goes, so a wrong address on the original report doesn't keep failing.
- Email delivers the report with the download link.
- SMS (optional, if you add a mobile number) sends a quick text with the link so the customer can open it straight from their phone.
Each resend is recorded as its own entry in the team activity log, so there's a clear trail of who sent what, to whom, and when.
Sharing a 30-day link
Sometimes a link is easier than an email attachment. From a signed report you can grab a link to the signed PDF that's valid for 30 days — useful for pasting into a message, a WhatsApp, or your own back-office system, or when the customer would rather click than dig through their inbox. After 30 days the link expires; just generate a fresh one if it's needed again.
What the customer receives
The customer gets your branded PDF — your logo, colours, sender name and footer — containing the walkaround photos, the damage record, the checklist, the tyre and fuel readings, the mileage and the signatures. Because the report was locked at sign-off, what they receive is the definitive, watermarked record. Set how it looks under company profile and branding. Branding applies only to these customer-facing PDFs and emails — it doesn't change how the software looks to your team.
If the email doesn't arrive
If the customer says nothing came through:
- Ask them to check their spam/junk folder first.
- Confirm the email address is correct — use the "send to customer" option and correct it there if needed.
- Resend, or fall back to the 30-day share link, which is a reliable way to get the document to them when email is being awkward.
Why a signed report is locked — and how to correct one
A signed report cannot be edited. Sign-off locks it into a permanent, read-only state, and there's no way to change the photos, damage, readings, signatures or any other detail afterwards. This is deliberate: the entire value of a signed inspection is that nobody can quietly alter it after the fact. Locking is what makes the record defensible — so it's a feature, not a limitation.
"I made a mistake — what do I do?"
Create a new report for the vehicle with the correct details. The original stays on file as the record of what was captured at the time, and the new report reflects the corrected position. Yes, the new report uses a credit like any sign-off; the original report's credit isn't refunded, because it remains a valid record of what was captured.
"The vehicle's condition has changed since — do I edit the old report?"
No. Each report is a snapshot of one moment. If the situation has moved on — a fresh inspection, or a vehicle coming back from a hire — capture a new report rather than altering the old one. That way each record stands on its own and you keep an accurate history of the vehicle over time.
"Can I still use the signed report?"
Yes. You can preview, download, regenerate and re-send its PDF as often as you like, and share the 30-day link. It simply can't be edited.
After sign-off
The finished report lives under Reports, where you can find it, filter and search your reports, and preview, download or re-send the PDF at any time. If the inspection was part of a hire — an inbound return, for example — it counts towards closing the rental agreement.
Every sign-off, resend and share is captured in the team activity log, giving you a complete audit trail of the report from the moment it was finalised.
Quick answers
- Does previewing a draft cost a credit? No. Only sign-off costs a credit (about £1). Previews, drafts and regenerated PDFs are free.
- Will regenerating the PDF change the report? No — the content is locked. It's just a fresh render of the same record.
- The customer's email was wrong on the report. Can I fix it for the resend? Yes — confirm or correct the email (and add a mobile for SMS) when you choose "send to customer".
- How long is the share link good for? 30 days. Generate a new one after that if needed.
- I'm out of credits mid-handover — did I lose my work? No. The draft is saved. Top up by card and sign off straight away.
- Can I unlock a signed report just this once? No. Create a new, corrected report instead.