How to get a contract signed on your phone

Pick the right way

When they're with you: sign in person

This is the fastest way to close: the customer signs before you leave. With SignMaster you prepare the contract on your phone, then hand it over. Each document you send is an envelope: one or more documents going to one or more signers.

1. 1

   Prepare the contract

   Start an envelope from a template or upload the PDF. Add the customer as a signer and fill in everything you can before you hand the phone over: price, scope, start date.

2. 2

   Tap Sign in person

   Open the envelope and tap Sign in person for the customer. A hand-over screen shows who should take the phone.

3. 3

   They sign, field by field

   The customer agrees to sign electronically, then signing moves them from field to field. They can draw, type or use a picture of their signature, and turn the phone sideways for more room.

4. 4

   Take the phone back

   A hand-back screen tells them to return your phone. In the iPhone and iPad app, only your Face ID or passcode gets you back in.

When they're somewhere else: send a link

1. 1

   Add the signers

   Enter each signer's name and email. If more than one person signs, set the order. Tap Add me if you'll countersign.

2. 2

   Place the fields

   Put signature, initials, date signed and any text or checkbox fields where each signer needs them.

3. 3

   Set a deadline and reminders

   In Message & settings, add a note, a sign-by date, and an access code if the contract is sensitive.

4. 4

   Send

   Each signer gets an email with a link. They open it on any phone or computer with no account, and can read and sign in their own language: SignMaster's signing page comes in 6 languages.

When the last person signs, everyone gets the signed PDF by email, along with a certificate of completion.

What your customer sees

It helps to know the signer's side, so you can walk a nervous customer through it:

1. An email from you with a button to review and sign, or your phone handed across the table.
2. A code prompt, only if you turned on an access code.
3. A short consent: a checkbox agreeing to use electronic records and signatures, with a link to read the full disclosure, and a way to decline.
4. The contract, with each field they need to fill highlighted in turn.
5. A signature box where they draw, type or use a picture, then Adopt and sign.
6. A done screen, and later an email with the fully signed PDF once everyone has signed.

When someone sends you a contract

If it came as a signing link, open it and follow the steps. If it came as a PDF attachment, you can sign it with tools already on your phone: Markup on iPhone, or Drive and Acrobat Reader on Android. Those work well for a document only you sign. If you want a record of the signing, upload it to SignMaster, tap Add me, and sign it there.

What makes a phone signature hold up

Under the federal ESIGN Act and state UETA laws, a contract can't be denied legal effect just because it was signed electronically. Signing on a phone screen is no different from signing on a laptop. What matters is being able to show who signed, that they agreed to sign electronically, and what they signed.

• A consent step. SignMaster asks each signer to agree to use electronic records and signatures before they sign, and lets them decline.
• An audit trail. The certificate of completion records each signer's email, IP address, device and the time of each step.
• An access code for sensitive contracts: one you share, or a one-time code emailed to the signer.
• The same final copy for everyone, sent automatically when signing is done.

A photo of a paper contract texted back to you, or a signature drawn in a photo editor, carries none of that. It may still be a valid signature, but it's much harder to prove.

Tips for faster signatures

• Use templates for contracts you send often, so the fields are already placed.
• Fill in the blanks first. Hand over a contract that only needs signatures.
• Set the signing order so the customer signs first and you countersign after.
• Add a sign-by date. Reminders follow up so you don't have to.
• Scan paper contracts with Scan with your phone: start an envelope on a computer, scan the pages with your phone's camera, then send them like any other PDF.