Adding a contract to a smart file allows you to book a client and get the electronic signatures you need exactly when you need them, while also offering the opportunity to build the experience out further with an invoice, questions for clients, and more. However you choose to build your smart file, the end result is a seamless experience for your clients and a contract that matches the look and feel of your other branded materials.

Add a contract to a file

Once you’ve created your file, find or create the page where you want the contract to go. You can pull an existing contract into your new template to save time. If you make edits, they’ll take effect only in the template you’re working on.

Add to an existing page

In your file, click the large plus (+) button to add a new block
Select Contract
From here, you can:
- Click + Start from blank to add a new contract block
- Or, select an existing template to pull in its contract
Now, edit and format the contract as necessary

If your smart file includes an invoice, you can also add a payment recap or a services recap to your contract. Click the contract to open the sidebar, and select Insert next to the recap you’d like to add.

Add to a new page

Click the pages icon at the top of the builder
Select Add Page
From here, you can:
- Click + Start from blank to add a blank page, then add a contract block by following the steps in the drop-down above
- Or, select pages of an existing template that contain a contract
Now, edit and format the contract as necessary

Once you've added a contract, skip here for more details on building your contract out and customizing it.

Use smart fields

Smart fields can be used to automatically pull in project details, or to request information. You can set smart fields up to:

Automatically pull info from project details fields, such as relevant dates, locations, client contact info, and more
Automatically pull in answers from questions you ask in your smart file at some point before the contract
Automatically pull in session-related details, such as the meeting date, time, location, and name
Request (or require!) clients to fill out fields before they’re able to sign
Remind you to fill out certain client or project information before sending

📚 Tip

Need your client to enter their initials by specific clauses in your contract? You can use smart fields for this.

Learn how to set up smart fields here.

Add payments or services recaps

If you've included services and/or an invoice in a smart file that also contains a contract, you can pull information dynamically from those blocks into the body of the contract.

From the contract page of the smart file, click the body of the contract to open the content menu in the right sidebar.

Click insert next to payment recap to insert the payment schedule (pulled from the invoice), and/or services recap to insert the client's service selections.

Add and edit signature lines

Find the signature lines

Scroll to the bottom of the contract
- If you’re currently building a contract in a template, you will not see the option to add any signature lines—since it’s just a template, we don’t know who’s signing yet
  - Once you add the file to a project, you’ll see signature lines added automatically
Here, you’ll see two signature lines: one for you (or the creator of the project), and one for the first participant of the project

Edit a signature line

Locate the signature lines
From here:
1. Click a signature line to open the settings sidebar, where you can decide whether that signature is required
2. Click into any email that's part of the signature line to edit the text that appears there

Add a signature line

Locate the existing signature lines
Click + Add Signature
From the assign to drop down, decide which participant you’d like to add as a signatory
1. Or, click + Add to include a new signatory, which would also add that contact as a project participant)

Remove a signature line

Locate the existing signature lines
Select the appropriate line, then click the trash can icon

Note that you are required to keep at least one participant and one team member as signatories. It's not possible to send a contract with a signature only for your client.

📚 Tip

You can't sign a contract before sharing the file with your client. You'll be able to sign the contract as soon as it's sent. No need to resend the contract once you sign—your client's version of the file will automatically reflect that update.

Share your contract

Once you've built out the contract and the rest of your smart file, click Share. Learn how to share a file here.

When a client adds a signature, you’ll be notified right away.

Edit and resend a contract

If you need to make changes to a contract you've already sent out, you can. If your client has already signed the contract, editing and republishing/resending the smart file will automatically invalidate the original signature and prompt your client to sign again.

Locate the file you need to update and click to open
From the file, select Edit file to return to edit mode
Make any changes you need
Click Publish Changes
Now, you may be required to alert your client to the changes via email
1. Learn more about if you'll be required to notify your client of the changes, and if they'll need to resign the contract, here
2. If you're required to alert your client, complete the process by sending an email