Business· Help center

Help center › Quotes & invoices

How to send a contract to sign

Write a service agreement, waiver or other document in Otto, send it for signature, and keep the signed copy with its trail.

Updated 2026-10-17

Contracts is for any document a customer needs to sign: a service agreement, a liability waiver, a photo/media release, an NDA or a work order sign-off. It is written in Otto and signed on a page of its own, with no outside e-sign service. People whose position can write quotes can write and send contracts; managers can.

It is under Work → Contracts.

Write and send it

  1. Open Contracts and press New contract.
  2. Under Start from, choose a starter (Service agreement, Liability waiver, Photo/media release, Non-disclosure agreement, Work order / scope sign-off), one Saved by your business, or A blank page.
  3. Pick the Customer, give it a Title, and fill in Amount, Address and Sign by if the document uses them. Placeholders such as {customer}, {business}, {date}, {amount} and {address} are filled in when it is sent.
  4. Edit the text under The contract. Write [initials] where a clause should be initialled.
  5. Press Next: who signs. Add each signer's name and email (up to nine), and choose In this order or Any order. Tick The business countersigns if you sign too: We countersign, last.
  6. If you like, tick Ask for an emailed code before signing, or ask the signer to fill in a Company name, Date of birth or a checkbox.
  7. Press Send.

What happens next

The email to each signer waits in Reviews. Nothing goes out until you approve it. The contract then shows Out for signature, then Viewed and Signed.

The signer types their full name and ticks I agree to sign electronically. When everyone has signed, the contract is Completed and the Signed copy shows the exact text, a SHA-256 fingerprint of it, and a Trail of every step with its time.

Press Remind to draft a reminder (it also waits in Reviews). Once anyone has signed, a contract can never be edited, only voided with a reason.

If it doesn't work

  • "Nothing to fill {amount}" — fill in the field the placeholder needs, or take it out of the text.
  • "Add at least one person to sign." / "… has no email address. Add one to send it."
  • "The expiry date has passed. Choose a later one."
  • "This contract is waiting for approval in Reviews. Decline it there to edit it."
  • "Only a draft that was never sent can be deleted. Void this one instead."