Methods and apparatus for managing document workflow, including generating a nonce for providing participant access for a particular step of the document workflow, generating a first number of nonce elements, and assigning nonce elements to a plurality of participants of a step of the document workflow preceding the particular step in a one-to-one correspondence. The nonce is determinate from a number of the nonce elements that is greater than or equal to a second number and less than or equal to the first number.