Sending contracts for signature

Agreements, change orders, and quotes share the contract record system, but their composing, signing, and billing paths differ. This guide covers agreements and change orders. Use New quote for priced quotes.

Legal notice and acknowledgement

The Contracts area first asks each admin to read the current legal notice and select I have read and understand this legal notice. Built-in templates and clauses have not been reviewed or approved by an attorney. They may not suit your business, transaction, or jurisdiction.

The acknowledgement is saved for the admin and organization with the notice's text/version, text hash, time, actor details, source, and tamper-evident record hash. After a successful save, the entry notice is dismissed for that version. A changed notice requires a new acknowledgement; a failed save does not dismiss it. A shorter reminder remains at the sending decision.

Where contracts live

• Contracts: filter and manage agreements, change orders, and quotes.
• New contract: the guided agreement/change-order composer.
• Templates: reusable bodies, the starter library, and clauses.
• /admin/contracts/<id>: the document's recipients, status, actions, and available artifacts.
• Documents finder: search across the organization's contract records.
• A client's Contracts tab: that client's quotes and agreements.

Creating a contract

Open New contract directly, use Send for signature from a template, or use Create change order from a signed contract. A change order is a separate document linked to its signed parent; it does not rewrite the parent's signed copy.

The composer has Details and Review steps with a preview. Set:

• Type: agreement or change order.
• Recipient: existing client, or a new prospect's name/email for an agreement.
• Co-signer: optionally add a second client signer for the in-house flow. Verify the distinct email and send result.
• Project: optional context for project merge fields.
• Signing method: in-house or DocuSign. DocuSign requires its own connection and recipient/template review.
• Template and title: choose a body and a clear customer-facing name.
• Expiry: check the signing window shown in the form.
• Company signature: choose saved, typed, or drawn for an agreement.

For a change order, select the original signed contract, enter a change summary, and review the edited body against the parent. Reset to parent discards those body edits.

The live preview

Check client names, scope, terms, merge fields, and signature placeholders in the preview. Preview PDF renders a document for review. It is not proof of successful sending, customer acceptance, or payment.

The contract's body is frozen when sent. Later template edits apply to future contracts, not an already-sent body's text. Make corrections through the available void/new-document or change-order workflow.

Review and send

The Review step summarizes recipient, project, type, provider, template, title, and expiry. Resolve any warning, including unresolved merge fields or missing project context. Tick the review confirmation, then choose Send for signature.

Read the result. A recorded contract, successful email delivery, a captured company signature, and a completed client signature are separate things. Delivery or signature-application warnings need attention on the detail page.

Building a reusable template

At New template, set its name, optional internal description, category/industry, body, and Require company countersignature setting.

The editor supports Markdown and merge fields such as {{customer.name}} and {{project.budget}}. The Insert controls provide signing/date/initials fields, merge fields, and saved clauses. Preview a new template with realistic client/project information before sending it. An unresolved field is not automatically a correct contract term.

Templates and clauses are starting points, not legal advice. See Multi-signer workflows for the countersign setting.

Pre-signing (your signature goes out with the contract)

In-house agreements and quotes normally apply the sending admin's selected company signature before the recipient signs. A saved signature at Settings → Signatures can speed this up; the composer also allows a typed or drawn signature.

The ordinary human composer checks that a company signature is present for agreements/quotes. However, applying it can still fail and produce a warning. Do not assume every sent document has a completed company signature merely because Send was available.

Change orders skip this pre-sign step. DocuSign sends use the provider's separate envelope flow. Agent/MCP sends may use the key-associated admin's saved signature, or report that none was applied. If a company signature remains required, the contract can wait in Awaiting countersign after client-side signing.

The signing flow

For in-house signing:

1. The primary signer receives a document-specific link; an added co-signer receives their own.
2. Each signer reviews the frozen body, required initials/fields, and PDF.
3. They type, draw, or use an available saved signature and submit the signing form.
4. The contract waits for every required client/witness signature and any outstanding company countersign.
5. Once complete, the system generates signing artifacts and sends the applicable notifications. Check the detail page for artifact/delivery availability.

Unsubmitted signing data is not restored from browser storage after a refresh. Previously submitted signatures are retained, and a saved signature remains a separate account preference.

A signing link does not itself grant a person unrestricted client-portal access. Portal onboarding and team membership are separate.

What if I really do need a countersign step?

Use the contract's actual signer state and template countersign requirement. When the detail page offers Countersign, complete that form and review the resulting status.

A missing saved signature is not a reliable way to force a later approval: the template and existing signers determine whether one is required. If your process needs sequential approval or a specific legal signing order, verify that workflow before sending. See Multi-signer workflows.

The audit trail

The in-house signing system retains server timestamps, signer identity, available request metadata, and hashes associated with the signed body/signature evidence. The detail page provides signed/audit PDFs when generated; the client's Documents area exposes shared artifacts.

These records support traceability and tamper detection. They do not certify identity, legal sufficiency, or enforceability in every situation. If an artifact failed to generate or synchronize, use the displayed status and support workflow instead of assuming the file exists.

Resending

Resend is available for eligible sent, viewed, or expired documents. In-house resends reuse an existing signing token where available and can extend an expired signing window. DocuSign resends the envelope email rather than creating an in-house link. Check the current expiry and recipients.

Voiding

Open the document's admin page and choose Next action → Void contract (or Void quote for a quote). Enter a reason and confirm. A write-enabled admin can withdraw an eligible document; a completed signed agreement is preserved and cannot be withdrawn using this action.

A voided in-house document cannot be completed through its old link. DocuSign must confirm the external envelope void before the portal marks it voided. If the document changes while the request is running, refresh and review the resulting status instead of assuming cancellation succeeded.

The record remains in the history; voiding is not deletion of its audit trail. This document action does not refund payments, void separate invoices, or stop projects and recurring services. For unpaid quote bills, use the separate invoice Void control.

Multi-org client switching

Client documents are scoped to the active organization/client context. Switching organizations changes the workspace; it is not a combined view of other organizations' contracts.