How to Format a Letter With Two Signatures

When two people sign one letter, use one closing ("Sincerely,") and put two signature blocks under it, either side by side or one below the other. Each block is a signature with the typed name and title beneath it. Leave three or four blank lines above each typed name so there's room to sign. Put the senior signer first unless your office does it another way, and write the body as "we".

Sincerely,



Rachel Moore                  Tom Becker
President                     Operations Manager

That layout follows Canada.ca's guidance on two signature blocks (opens in new tab): one closing at the left margin, the first block under it, and the second block starting at the center of the page.

Side by side or stacked: pick by width#

Side by side keeps the closing short, which helps the letter stay on one page. Use it when both names and titles fit on one line.

Stack the blocks when a title is long, when each signer needs a company line, or when the two blocks would crowd each other. Canada.ca puts the second block on the fourth line below the first, which leaves room for the second signature.

Sincerely,



Rachel Moore, President
Moore Landscaping



Tom Becker
Operations Manager
Becker Supply Co.

The blank lines stand for the signing space. Keep each block together; if a page break would split a name from its title, move the whole closing to the next page.

To get the side-by-side layout in Word or Google Docs, insert a table with one row and two columns under the closing, type one signature block in each cell, then remove the table's borders. The blocks stay lined up when you edit a name, and only the text prints.

If one person is signing on behalf of the other, that is one signature, not two. That's a different convention: see signing for someone else with p.p. or "for".

Whose name goes first#

There's no single rule, and the two documented conventions point in opposite directions. Civilian business-writing guides lean toward the senior or lead signer first: on the left when the blocks sit side by side, on top when they're stacked. Indeed's guide (opens in new tab) says the order "doesn't necessarily matter" but suggests "putting the more authoritative individual's name first, if relevant", and Canada.ca's examples put the manager first and the assistant manager second. The US Navy's correspondence manual, SECNAV M-5216.5 (opens in new tab), does the reverse in its joint letter (figure 7-4): the senior official's signature line goes on the right, and the senior official signs last.

Follow your house style if you have one. If you don't, put the senior signer first, and keep that order everywhere the two names appear, such as the letterhead and the first sentence that names them. For equal partners, alphabetical order by last name is easy to defend.

Write it as "we" and name one contact#

A letter from two people speaks as "we": "We're writing to confirm...", "We'd like to thank you...". If one person drafted it and the other is adding their name to back it, say so once, early: "Tom and I both want to thank you for..."

Two signatures can leave the reader unsure whom to answer. Close the last paragraph with one contact: "Please call Rachel at [phone number] with any questions." One name, one phone number or email address.

Different titles or different companies#

Each block carries its own title, either after the name with a comma or on the line below. If the signers work for different organizations, put each company on the line under that person's title, the way Canada.ca places a division or department below the position title. When the letterhead or the top of the letter names both organizations, list them in the same order as the signature blocks.

Leave Mr. or Ms. out of the typed names. Canada.ca says a courtesy title is not usually included, except when the name doesn't make clear how the person should be addressed.

Writing to two people rather than from them is a different job: see how to address a letter to two people.

When the two signers are in different places#

Pass one PDF from signer to signer:

1. Finish the wording first, and send the final PDF, not a draft, so neither signature sits on text that later changes.
2. Signer one signs: on paper and scans it, in an e-signature tool with a signing order set, or on a phone. Here's how to sign the PDF on an iPhone or Android phone.
3. Signer two signs the same PDF above their own name. An e-signature tool routes it; otherwise signer one sends it on.
4. Signer two sends it back as a PDF, not a photo or screenshot of the page.
5. Open it and check that both signatures sit above the right names and that nothing else changed.

Whoever holds the finished PDF mails it, which is usually the last person to sign. The Navy manual says it plainly: if you're the last to sign, "send copies of the signed letter to all cosigners." Both signers keep that final PDF as their copy. If an assistant mails it for both of them, settle whose return address goes on the envelope first.

If what the two of you are signing sets out terms, treat it as a contract: countersigning a contract works differently.

Once both signatures are on one PDF, the letter is ready to go. Print it, fold it and mail it yourself, or upload the signed PDF and we print and mail it by USPS First-Class Mail to a US address. We add an address page in front, so nothing in your letter has to line up with an envelope window. In black and white, which prints in grayscale, it's $2.05 for one page; $2.26 if the closing pushes to a second page. We print exactly the file you upload, so both signatures need to be in it before you do. The signatures print as part of the page, so if the reader needs original ink signatures, mail the signed paper yourself.

Questions about letters with two signatures#

Can a letter be signed by two people?#

Yes. Any letter two people send together can carry both signatures: a joint thank-you from two business owners, a notice from a manager and a director, a recommendation letter from two references. The format doesn't change.

How do I put two signatures on a letter in Word?#

Use a borderless two-column table with one signature block per cell; the steps are in the side-by-side section above. Google Docs works the same way. To stack the blocks instead, skip the table.

What about three or more signers?#

Give every signer a full block with its own signing space, and keep the order rule you chose. With three, set two blocks side by side and put the odd one out in the center below them; the Navy manual places a third cosigner's signature line in the middle of the page. With more than four signers, stacking is usually easier to read, but check that no block is split across a page break.

Does each signer get a copy?#

Yes. Send each signer the final signed PDF. If a cosigner should also get a printed copy in the mail, note it on the letter. Here's how to add a cc line.