---
title: "The end-of-cycle dossier: validating and signing"
description: "What the end-of-cycle dossier contains and how it is submitted, approved by the employee and the company, or declined."
url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/performance-end-of-cycle-dossier/"
updated: "2026-11-01"
category: "Performance & Goals"
---

# The end-of-cycle dossier: validating and signing

The end-of-cycle dossier brings together, for one employee and one review cycle, the frozen content of their campaign reviews and, where applicable, their objective-linked bonus. The employee and the company each validate it: it is the written record of the review. This article is for employees, managers and HR.

## Before you start

- A dossier belongs to a specific cycle. Choose that cycle in the selector at the top of the **Performance** screen: with “All cycles”, the **Dossier** tab does not appear.
- The employee must take part in the cycle's campaign. Otherwise the tab shows “No dossier for this cycle — the employee does not take part in it.”
- The validation mode is set on the cycle, in the **End-of-cycle dossier validation** block (see [Setting up a review cycle and campaign](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/performance-review-cycles/)). In **No signature** mode, the dossier can be read but not issued for validation.
- Everyone can read and validate their own dossier without any particular permission. To read another employee's dossier, you need the “Feedback” or “Validate a dossier on behalf of the company” permission in the role matrix, PERFORMANCE section, and that employee must be within your role's population.
- Issuing a dossier for validation, or validating or declining it on behalf of the company, requires “Validate a dossier on behalf of the company” at the **Execute** level. By default, the Administrator, HR Manager and Manager roles hold it. Nobody can use it on their own dossier.

## Opening the dossier

1. Open the employee's profile, then the **Performance** tab. For your own dossier, open your Performance space.
2. Choose the cycle in the selector at the top right.
3. Click the **Dossier** tab.

The header shows “End-of-cycle dossier”, its status and, where relevant, the contract concerned.

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Pending | The dossier has not been issued for validation yet. |
| To sign | The dossier is frozen; at least one of the two parties has not validated yet. |
| Signed | Both the employee and the company have validated. |
| Declined | One of the two parties has declined, giving a reason. |

![An employee's Dossier tab for the Annual 2026 cycle: End-of-cycle dossier header with the Pending status and the Issue for validation button, Objective-linked bonus card, then the message saying the dossier has not been issued for validation yet](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/performance-end-of-cycle-dossier-01.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
The end-of-cycle dossier before it is issued for validation.

For an employee with several contracts, the cycle may provide one dossier per contract (the cycle's **Review unit** setting). In that case, choose the contract in the profile header. If you manage only one of the contracts, the tab tells you which one to choose. As long as no dossier has been filled in, a person who supervises all the contracts concerned can also change this from the banner above the tabs: **Treat as a single interview** or **One interview per contract** (“Merge / split review files” permission).

## What the dossier contains

- **Objective-linked bonus**: at the top of the dossier, the estimated bonus linked to the cycle's objectives, out of the planned envelope, with a breakdown by objective. It is an estimate: payroll applies its own rounding, proration and payment schedule. The card is visible to the employee themselves, and to others only with the “View the objective-linked bonus amount” permission (by default Administrator, HR Manager and Payroll Manager). When no bonus is defined, the card says so.
- **The campaign reviews**: once the dossier is issued, each review appears with its step name, its author (or “self review”), its questions and answers. Only finalised reviews are included.
- Questions marked “private” in the form template never appear.
- Upward reviews (direct reports reviewing their manager) are combined into a single “Upward review · anonymous contributions” card, with no name or order that would reveal an author. The PDF document follows the same rule.

Before it is issued, the tab shows “The dossier has not been issued for validation yet. It will be frozen at that point, and that frozen content is what gets validated.” What is shown after issuing is exactly what is validated: later changes to the reviews no longer alter the dossier.

## Issuing the dossier for validation

Issuing is a company action: employees do not issue their own dossier. It is only possible once all of the employee's campaign reviews are finalised. Otherwise the button is greyed out and a message says how many reviews remain to be finalised.

1. Open the employee's **Dossier** tab, on the right cycle.
2. Click **Issue for validation**.
3. The message “Dossier issued for validation.” confirms it. The status changes to “To sign” and two cards appear, **Employee** and **Company**, showing where each party stands.
4. The **The document** button opens the frozen dossier as a PDF in a new tab. If nothing opens, allow pop-ups for the site.

## Validating or declining

The two parties validate in whichever order they like:

- the employee, from their Performance space, with **Validate my dossier**;
- the company, from the employee's profile, with **Validate for the company**.

Validating counts as acceptance of the content shown. It is timestamped and traced (IP address and browser are kept), but it is not a qualified electronic signature. When one party has validated, the other is notified. When both have validated:

- the status changes to “Signed” and the message “Dossier signed by both parties.” appears;
- the dossier's campaign reviews move to the “Signed” status;
- the document is filed in the employee's documents, in the **Performance** category.

To decline:

1. Click **Decline**.
2. In **Reason for refusal**, explain what you disagree with (at least three characters: a refusal without a reason cannot be handled).
3. Click **Confirm refusal**, or **Cancel** to go back.

The dossier changes to “Declined” and the reason is shown on the card of the party who declined.

## With electronic signature

If the cycle is set to **Electronic signature**, issuing also sends the PDF to the electronic signature provider connected to your space. The employee receives their signing link from the provider; the person who issues the dossier signs on behalf of the company. The dossier's state updates automatically a few minutes after each signature, refusal or expiry of the request.

![A cycle expanded in Settings, Performance, Review cycles: End-of-cycle dossier validation block with the three modes In-app validation, Electronic signature and No signature](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/performance-end-of-cycle-dossier-03.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
The dossier validation mode is set on the cycle.

- Without a connected provider, issuing is refused: connect one, or switch the cycle to **In-app validation**.
- Each dossier sent counts as two signatures (the employee and the company) against your subscription's signature quota. Once the quota is reached, sending is refused.
- The in-app validation buttons remain available: a validation made in Illizeo counts as an in-app validation.

## Notifications

Notifications arrive in the **Performance** tab of the bell and by email, in the recipient's language. Their wording cannot be customised. Everyone can switch them off in their personal settings, Notifications tab, “Performance reviews” line.

| Event | Who is notified |
| --- | --- |
| Dossier issued for validation | The employee and the people authorised to validate for the company |
| One party has validated | The other party |
| Dossier signed by both parties, declined (reason included) or signature request expired | The employee and the managers who can read their dossier |

The person who performs an action is never notified of their own action.

## Good to know

- A refusal is final: a declined dossier cannot be issued again from the screen.
- As soon as one party has validated, the dossier's reviews can no longer be reopened.
- As soon as a dossier in the cycle carries a validation or a refusal, the cycle can no longer be reopened once closed.
- A dossier is never issued automatically: the company decides when.

## FAQ

### The Issue for validation button does not appear.

Check that you are on the employee's profile (not your own dossier), that your role holds “Validate a dossier on behalf of the company” at the Execute level, that the cycle is not set to **No signature**, and that the dossier has not already been issued.

### The button is greyed out.

Some campaign reviews are not finalised yet. Finalise them (see [Completing and approving reviews](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/performance-reviews/)), then come back to the dossier.

### The employee does not see a bonus in their dossier.

No objective-linked bonus is defined for them over the cycle's period. See [Objective-based bonus: preparing and sending to payroll](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/performance-objective-bonus/).

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