Updated Aug 23, 2023
This article covers sending a contract manually to your clients. To automatically send a contract, you can either use a workflow or connect the contract to a proposal to streamline your booking experience.
Send a contract
To add a contract to your client’s project and then send it:
Go to Projects and open your client’s project.
In the project sidebar, click the dropdown under Contract to select a contract template. A popup preview will appear.
In the popup preview, click Add. The contract is now added to the client’s project.
In the same popup preview, click Send. An email draft will appear with the contract linked in the email.
In the email draft, edit the text in the email or click the bookmark icon to load a different canned email template instead.
Click Send to send the contract to your client.
If the contract was already added to the project, click on the down arrow next to Contract in the project sidebar and select Send.
🚨 Contracts that get sent via email are automatically added to the client portal!
You can edit the default email used for sending contracts under Templates >> Canned Emails >> Edit Templates >> Send Contract. If you decide to use a different canned email, just make sure it includes the contract link smart field.
Send a private contract
If you turned password protection to Yes when building your contract from Templates >> Forms, then your contract will say Private in the client's project.
A private contract means that your client can only sign the contract by logging into their client portal.
You send private contracts the same way you send regular contracts. The difference is that after your client clicks on the private contract link, your client will be automatically directed to the client portal and will receive a popup that says Please login to see this form.
To ensure your client can sign the contract, make sure you’ve activated the client portal. Otherwise, when your client tries to click on the contract link, your client will run into the error This portal has not been activated.
Please keep in mind that after the contract is signed by your client, there isn’t a way to turn off the private setting, as contracts can’t be edited after they've been signed.
Edit a contract before sending
If you need to edit your contract before sending it, click Edit in the preview popup after adding the contract to the project.
If you no longer see the preview popup, click on the down arrow next to Contract in the project sidebar and select Edit.
🚨 Any edits you make will only apply to the contract for this specific client’s project. The changes you make will not affect your base template in Templates >> Forms.
When you're finished editing, use the dropdown arrow next to Save form and select Save and Close to save your changes and return to the project.
Contract completed email
After your client signs a contract, Dubsado automatically sends them an email with a copy of their signed contract. This is an automatic email that can’t be turned off, but you can customize the wording under Templates >> Canned Emails >> Edit Templates >> Contract Completed.
FAQ
Can I edit a contract that’s already been signed by the client?
Can I edit a contract that’s already been signed by the client?
No. If the contract has already been signed by the client, then the contract locks and can't be edited. This is to ensure that the terms and conditions aren’t changed after your client has agreed to it.
If you want to edit a contract that’s already been signed, you can remove the signed contract from the project. Then, add a new copy to the project. Edit the new unsigned version and request your client to resign.
Can I send the contract to someone other than the client to sign?
Can I send the contract to someone other than the client to sign?
Yes. In the email draft that appears, you can remove the client's email and type a different email address in the To field.
Please keep in mind:
If you're using a client portal, the contract will still be visible to the client once it's sent, even if you sent it to a different email address.
This can only be done manually. If you want to automate sending out contracts with a workflow, the workflow can only send the contract to the primary client's email address.
The contract completed email will still send to the primary client.
Can I send a contract to two clients to sign?
Can I send a contract to two clients to sign?
Right now, our contracts only support a single client signing. If you need signatures from multiple people, we recommend adding sub-agreements to the project and sending those to the other parties that need to sign. For more information, see our help article on sending multiple contracts using sub-agreements.