eSignature for contractors: get the quote, the changes and the sign-off in writing

Where builders lose money

Ask any contractor about their worst job and the story usually involves an extra the client asked for verbally and later refused to pay for, or a final invoice disputed because the client "never agreed" to the change in materials. The work was done; the paper was not. On a busy site, nobody wants to go back to the office to print a form.

From quote to completion, on site

Every stage of a job has a document, and each template opens with the client's signature already placed:

• Quote. The quote template itemises materials and labour, states what is not included and how long the price holds. The client accepts by signing; on the Business plan they can pay the deposit in the same step.
• Contract. The construction contract ties stage payments to physical milestones, holds a retention through the defects period, and caps delay damages.
• Changes. Each variation gets a change order with its price, its effect on the completion date and a running contract total. Send it from the site; the owner approves it on their phone before the extra work begins.
• Trades. Each subcontracted trade signs a subcontractor agreement that passes the main contract's duties down.
• Job sign-off. For repairs and maintenance, the work order records labour, parts and the work done, signed by the customer before you leave.

Deposits that arrive before materials are ordered

Materials are the cash-flow risk. With Sign & Pay on the Business plan, a quote or a deposit invoice is signed and paid in one step, by card or, through Paystack, by mobile money where it is supported. The money goes to your own payout account, and you order materials knowing it has arrived.

Signers who are never at a desk

Homeowners sign between meetings, site managers on the move. Links go out by WhatsApp or SMS as well as email, open in any phone browser without an app, and walk the signer through one field at a time. If an email address was wrong, correct it on the document and a fresh link goes out.

Retentions and final accounts

Two moments decide whether a job is profitable: the final account and the release of the retention. Both go smoothly when every change along the way was signed. Because each change order carries the running contract total, the final account is the last change order's revised price plus anything agreed since, and the client has already signed each step. The retention is released at the end of the defects period; send a short letter confirming defects were made good, signed by the owner, and the last payment follows.

The record when you need it

Every signed document comes back as a PDF with an audit trail of who signed what and when. When a final account is disputed, the signed change orders are the answer.