How to Decline Documents in Sparkforge and Automate Follow-Up

By Sparkforge Support Team ·Last reviewed May 3, 2026

Sparkforge's Decline Documents feature lets recipients formally decline a proposal or contract with a reason, while business users can mark documents declined manually. Declined docs auto-archive with full history and can trigger workflows for follow-up.

When a client doesn't accept a proposal or contract, you want a clean record of why — not silence. The Decline Documents feature in Sparkforge captures structured feedback at decline time and routes the document into Archived with the reason attached. From there, workflows can fire follow-up tasks, emails, or nurture sequences automatically.

What Decline Documents does

Decline Documents applies to files created in the Documents and Contracts tool — proposals, agreements, and contracts. Instead of leaving a document unsigned, the recipient can decline it formally and pick a predefined reason or add a custom note. Business users can also mark a document declined manually when the client tells them by phone or email.

Once declined, the document status flips to Declined and moves to Archived. The full decline history stays attached to the record — who declined, when, and why.

Why use it

Clear feedback: Predefined reasons or custom notes, captured at the moment of decline.
Workflow automation: Trigger notifications, tasks, or nurture sequences when status changes to Declined.
Accurate tracking: Auto-archive declined items with complete history.
Personalized email: Use decline reason and notes as merge fields in templates.

Recipient flow

Recipient opens the document link.
Click Decline Document from the top-right menu.
Select a predefined reason or add a custom note.
Submit the decline.

Business user flow

Use this when the client communicates the decline outside the platform.

Open Documents and Contracts in Sparkforge.
Find the document under Waiting for others.
Click the three-dot menu and select Mark as Declined.
Add a reason or note.

Trigger workflows on declined status

Open Workflows and create a new trigger using Documents and Contracts → Status → Declined. Common follow-ups:

Notify the assigned rep.
Create a follow-up task with a due date.
Start a re-engagement sequence with a discount or revised offer.

Email templates with decline context

In the Email Builder, open or create a template, click the Custom Values dropdown, and pick from Documents and Contracts:

{{Document Decline Reasons}} — inserts the predefined reason.
{{Document Decline Reasons Body}} — inserts the custom notes.

This pulls the actual decline context into your follow-up email so the message feels like a response, not a generic blast.

Track declined documents

Go to Documents and Contracts → Archived.
Open the document and click the three-dot menu.
Select View History to see who declined, when, and why.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens when a document is declined?

Status changes to Declined, the document moves to Archived, and the decline reason and notes are logged in history. Any workflows triggered by status = Declined fire at that point.

Can recipients add custom feedback when declining?

Yes. They can pick from predefined reasons or write a custom note explaining why.

Where do I see decline history?

Open Documents and Contracts → Archived, click the document, then click View History from the three-dot menu.

Can a business user mark a document declined on a client's behalf?

Yes. From Documents and Contracts → Waiting for others, open the three-dot menu and select Mark as Declined. This is for cases where the client communicates the decline by phone or email.

How do the decline reason merge fields work in email?

Use {{Document Decline Reasons}} for the selected reason and {{Document Decline Reasons Body}} for the detailed note. Both pull live from the document into your email template.