/ 4 min read / contract signature / agent authority / supplier verification
Purchase Contract Signed by Unverified Agent
Agent signatures need authority evidence before buyers accept contract terms, payment instructions, or claims responsibility.
What to check in the order file
Purchase Contract Signed by Unverified Agent is the kind of supplier detail that small importers often leave in the message thread. The weak point is identity control.
Start with the business decision. For unverified agent signature, the decision is whether the signer can bind the supplier named in the order. This keeps the review narrow.
Use the purchase contract, signer name, agent title, supplier legal name, authorization letter, invoice issuer, bank beneficiary, and sales email.
A common case is a sales agent signing a contract while the legal seller and beneficiary appear elsewhere in the file. Trade teams change. Websites change.
The main risk is the buyer holding a signed document that may not bind the company responsible for production or claims. Avoid vague comfort questions.
Store the evidence in two places. Save the contract, signer authority, company role map, and final approval note.
The final test is simple. If yes, Purchase Contract Signed by Unverified Agent has been handled as part of supplier due diligence.
Make the decision before the next handoff
Agent signatures need authority evidence before buyers accept contract terms, payment instructions, or claims responsibility. Another member of the team should be able to verify the answer from the file before supplier approval or production release. Record the outcome with the purchase contract agent evidence before handoff.
Open the business record, legal and trade names, PO, invoice issuer, factory address, and payment beneficiary together. Mark the first changed field and keep the earlier version beside the document the importer plans to use. The comparison should show who supplied the revision, when it arrived, and which order step depends on it. Link the answer to the agent authority checkpoint for this order.
Familiar commercial explanations can hide a real mismatch. Ask which company, document, quantity, model, payment, or shipment the answer covers, and record when the answer applies only to this order. Name this point in the supplier verification closeout rather than leaving it in chat.
Assign the file to sourcing, finance, and the person maintaining the approved-counterparty file. The owner does not need every chat message, but does need the final file, counterparty answer, purchasing team decision, and next checkpoint. Keep the supporting file beside the contract signature entry in the order folder.
The unresolved risk is that the importer may rely on one company while another company sells, produces, signs, or receives payment. State whether the exception covers one shipment, one payment, one model, or the wider vendor relationship. A one-order decision should not silently become standing decision. Record the outcome with the purchase contract agent evidence before handoff.
Use the checklist as a closing test: identify the signer, ask who employs or authorizes the signer, match contract party to invoice issuer, and keep responsibility stated in writing. Record who completed each step and keep the evidence beside the document it supports instead of leaving a general note that the supplier was checked. The next reviewer should find the answer under supplier verification without reopening the whole case.
Give the exception an end point, such as receipt of a corrected document, payment confirmation, inspection, broker acceptance, warehouse receipt, or claim settlement. Keep the supporting file beside the contract signature entry in the order folder.
Close the record for the next order
Public guidance can frame the contract signature check, but it cannot establish the facts of this order. The order owner's PO, invoice, beneficiary record, packing list, product evidence, broker reply, and shipment file remain the deciding records. Name this point in the agent authority closeout rather than leaving it in chat.
If the issue returns, begin with the prior note. It should show which document to request first and which assumption caused the earlier delay. Put that result in the purchase contract agent note for the current PO.
Save the revision path visible. The folder should show which version was rejected, which version controls, and whether anyone outside sourcing still holds an obsolete copy. Record the outcome with the contract signature evidence before handoff.
Record one of three outcomes: approve, approve with a stated condition, or hold. Name the evidence supporting that outcome and the event that would force the importer to reconsider it. Keep the supporting file beside the agent authority entry in the order folder.
Send the controlling record to every team that will act on it. Approval is incomplete when finance, logistics, the warehouse, or the broker continues from an older version. Name this point in the supplier verification closeout rather than leaving it in chat.
When the same exception affects several orders, add the field to the supplier baseline. Repeated problems belong in onboarding, PO wording, inspection scope, payment sign-off, or broker instructions. Make this result visible in the purchase contract agent decision record.
Preserve evidence in the format closest to the original event: source PDF, email, photo, receipt, broker reply, or warehouse record. A summary should point back to those files rather than becoming the only record left in the folder. Keep the supporting file beside the agent authority entry in the order folder.
Working checklist
- Identify the signer.
- Ask who employs or authorizes the signer.
- Match contract party to invoice issuer.
- Keep responsibility stated in writing.
- Store authority evidence.