Start and protect
Contracts and signatures
Do you need a contracts and e-signature tool, and what should it handle?
Six short steps. No email or account.
- Who needs it
- Anyone quoting work above a few hundred dollars, anyone using subcontractors, and anyone whose customers ask for terms.
- When it matters
- As soon as a job is large enough that losing the money would hurt.
- Compare first
- Templates versus blank tool
- Matters most when
- just started, established, growing, mature
Is this the right tool for you?
Handshake deals and emailed PDFs leave you exposed when a customer disputes the scope, the price or the payment terms. Getting agreements in writing, signed and stored where you can find them turns an argument into a document you can point to.
Signs you need it now
- You have started work before anything was signed.
- Customers print, sign, scan and email back, or never quite do.
- You reuse an old contract and edit it by hand, and are not sure which version is current.
- You could not quickly find the signed agreement for a job from last year.
- Scope disputes end with your word against the customer's.
When another area fits better
- What you need is a priced proposal that the customer accepts, with the contract terms attached. Read the proposals guide
- Your main need is storing and sharing project files rather than getting signatures. Read the documents and client portals guide
Recognise two or more of these? Sort out contracts and signatures next.
Tell us how your business runs and get a plan that puts contracts and signatures in order with everything else: what to set up first, your must-haves and what to compare.
What matters at your size
Working alone
A few solid templates and a simple e-signature tool cover most needs. Have an attorney review the template once rather than every job.
A small team
Shared templates that staff cannot quietly change, signing from a phone, and signed copies filed automatically against the customer or job.
Several teams or locations
Approval steps before sending, audit trails, role permissions and connections to your CRM or job system so contracts go out from where the work is managed.
How the way you work changes the choice
- Trades at the customer's door
- Signing on a phone or tablet at the site matters most. Some states have specific rules for home improvement contracts and cancellation rights, so have your template checked.
- Professional services
- Engagement letters, NDAs and statements of work, often with multiple signers. Templates with fillable fields and reminders save the most time.
- Working with subcontractors
- Subcontract agreements, waivers and insurance certificates need collecting before work starts. Look for a way to request and track them in bulk.
What to compare
Templates versus blank tool
A signing tool with no templates still leaves you writing the contract.
Mobile signing
If you sign at the customer's door, test it on a phone before buying.
Legal review
Template libraries vary in whether an attorney reviewed them for your state.
Signature volume
Per-signature caps are the usual hidden limit on cheap plans.
Cost and setup effort
- Pricing is usually per sender or by volume of documents, so estimate how many agreements go out each month and who sends them.
- The real setup is the templates. Budget for an attorney to review your core agreements once; the tool only delivers what the template says.
- Check whether signing requires the customer to create an account, which adds friction for one-off customers.
Trade-offs to weigh
- Standalone e-signature or built into another tool
- Many job, CRM and proposal tools include signing. That keeps everything in one place but may lack templates, audit detail or bulk sending.
- Templates or attorney drafting
- Generic templates are quick but may not fit your state or trade. Attorney-reviewed templates cost more up front and are reused for years.
- Speed or control
- Letting anyone send contracts is fast. Approval steps and locked clauses slow things slightly but stop someone promising what you cannot deliver.
When to sort it out
As soon as a job is large enough that losing the money would hurt.
Your next step
Answer six short questions about how your business runs. You get an operating plan: where contracts and signatures fits among your priorities, the must-haves to hold every option to, and what to compare when you choose.
Where this comes first
Trades and businesses that usually sort this out early.
Often decided alongside
Other parts of start and protect.