Use case
PDF editor for HR teams
HR teams at sub-200-person companies hit a classic awkward zone: DocuSign Business Pro is $40/seat/month, way overkill for 2-3 HR people who send 50-100 signed documents a year. The 'personal' tier doesn't include the company-brand audit trails HR needs for I-9 or compliance review.
PennyPDF's e-sign (/sign) includes branded audit trail (company name, logo, jurisdiction notice), multi-signer workflows (HR + candidate + manager), and retention per-operation rather than per-seat. For a 2-person HR team sending 100 offer letters a year with 3 signers each = 900 coins = under $25/year total, vs. $960/year for DocuSign Business Pro on 2 seats.
Workflow coverage: offer letters with countersign (/sign, 6-9 coins). I-9 compilation (/merge, free; /edit for the Section 2 employer portion, free). Onboarding packet (merge employee handbook + benefits + company policies, /merge, free). Policy acknowledgments (/sign, 3 coins per acknowledgment). Separation agreements with HR + exiting employee signatures (/sign, 6 coins).
How it works
- 1For offer letters: /sign with candidate and hiring manager emails.
- 2For I-9 Section 2 completion: /edit fills the form in-browser.
- 3For onboarding packets: /merge combines the relevant PDFs into one package.
- 4For policy acknowledgments: batch /sign via API for company-wide notifications.
- 5Retention: keep signed PDFs in your HRIS (BambooHR, Rippling, etc.) — PennyPDF deletes after 2 hours.
Frequently asked
Is the audit trail compliant with I-9 record-keeping rules?+
Yes — the audit trail includes all DHS-required fields (who signed, when, from what IP, what document hash). Retain the signed PDF per standard I-9 retention rules (3 years post-hire or 1 year post-termination, whichever is later).
Can we integrate with our HRIS?+
Via the API. Webhooks notify on signature completion. Many customers use Zapier or custom scripts to push completed docs into BambooHR or Rippling.
What about E-Verify?+
E-Verify is a USCIS system separate from I-9 form completion. Use PennyPDF to fill and sign the I-9 PDF; use E-Verify directly for the DHS check.
Multi-language documents?+
PDF content can be in any language — PennyPDF is language-agnostic on the document side. The signing UI and audit trail certificate are localized to 6 languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese) with more on the way.
What happens when an employee leaves — can we purge their data?+
PennyPDF doesn't retain the document after processing (2-hour delete). Retention is in your HRIS. On account termination (separation), we delete the user account and all account metadata within 30 days per the DPA.
Why PennyPDF
- No subscription. Ever.
- Coins never expire — use them in 5 years.
- Client-side processing for 14 of 22 tools.
- No watermarks at any tier.
- Per-operation pricing, shown before you click.
- Same coins for web + public API.