Guide · Updated · By Buğra Sözeri
How to Get a Contract Signed Remotely
Clients, freelancers and partners are often in different cities or countries. Electronic signatures let you finish a contract without printing, posting or meeting.
Step by step
- Prepare the contract. Write it yourself or start from a template, then export the final version as a PDF.
- Confirm who signs. Check the legal names and email addresses of everyone who needs to sign, and whether they sign on behalf of a company.
- Send for e-signature. Use an e-signature service to send the PDF with signature and date fields for each signer.
- Follow up. Track who has opened and signed, and send reminders if needed.
- Share the final copy. Once everyone has signed, send the completed document to all parties and store it with its audit trail.
The low-tech alternative
You can also sign the PDF yourself, email it, and ask the other party to sign and return it. This works for simple agreements but leaves you tracking versions manually and without a formal record of the signing process.
Cross-border contracts
Electronic signature laws differ by country. Most allow e-signatures for ordinary commercial contracts, but some documents need a qualified signature or a notary. Check the rules that apply to your contract.
eSignSimple offers contract templates and sending Word or PDF documents for signature with an audit trail, free for 3 documents a month.
How do you prove who signed when you never met?
Send the signing link to an email address you have already been corresponding with, not one supplied in a hurry. Keep the email thread where the terms were agreed. When signing completes, the audit trail records timestamps, IP addresses and devices, and the final PDF gets a SHA-256 fingerprint anyone can check on the verify page. eSignSimple does not offer SMS or ID verification, so for high-value deals with strangers, consider an extra identity check outside the signing flow, such as a video call.
Common mistakes with remote contracts
Sending to a generic inbox (info@) instead of the person with authority; forgetting to name the company as a party when the signer acts on its behalf; letting the client edit the Word file and sending back a different version; and not setting a signing order when you should countersign last. Starting from a freelance contract or consulting agreement template helps. The mechanics are in how to send a document for signature, and if you drafted in Word, how to sign a Word document online skips the export step. Country rules are on our legality pages.
Switching from a bigger e-signature tool?
Many freelancers start on an enterprise tool and find they pay for seats and features they never use. If that is you, how to cancel a DocuSign subscription covers what to export first. Leases are a common remote-signing case too; see how to sign a lease online.
Walkthrough: three parties in three time zones
A small agency in London signs a project agreement with a client in Toronto, with a developer in Berlin as a subcontracting party. The agency uploads the contract, adds the client first, the developer second and its own director last, and sends at 5 pm London time, which is midday in Toronto. The client signs that afternoon; the developer signs first thing the next morning in Berlin; the director countersigns at 9 am. Total elapsed time: about sixteen hours, with no one awake at an odd hour.
Two details make this work. First, the contract states its own effective date instead of relying on whichever signature came last, so nobody argues later about which day, in which time zone, the agreement started. Second, each party signs on behalf of a company, so the agency added a text field for each signer's job title next to their signature. The certificate of completion then records who signed, when and from where.
Who should sign for a company?
Someone with authority to bind it. For a small company that is usually a director or the owner; in larger organisations it might be a manager acting under a delegated authority. If the person you deal with day to day is not that person, ask who signs contracts on their side before you send, not after.
Write the company as the party, with its registered name and number, and the signer as acting for it: name, title, and the words on behalf of the company in the signature block. If a contract is signed by someone without authority, the company may later deny being bound by it. For sole traders and freelancers, the person and the business are the same, so their own name is enough.
What do you do when the other side goes quiet?
Silence after a contract is sent is normal and usually means busy, not unwilling. A sensible sequence: let the first automatic reminder go after three days on a paid plan; after that, send a personal message that offers to walk through any questions; then ask directly whether anything in the contract is a problem. A short call often reveals a clause they wanted to change but did not want to raise.
Before you resend, check that the link went to the right address and was not caught as spam. If the signer has moved roles or left, void the request and send it to whoever replaced them. And keep the commercial position clear: until the contract is signed, the work has not started, which is easier to say politely at the outset than once you are halfway through.
One file or counterparts?
On paper, parties in different places often sign separate identical copies, called counterparts, and swap them. Many contracts include a counterparts clause for exactly this reason. With electronic signing it is simpler: everyone signs the same file, and the final PDF carries every signature and the certificate in one place.
Counterparts still turn up when one party insists on signing in its own system. That is workable, but you then hold two signed files that should say the same thing. Compare them carefully, keep both, and make sure the contract has a counterparts clause. If you can, agree upfront on one signing process to avoid the problem entirely; how to send a document to multiple signers covers the setup.
Our take
Remote signing is not the hard part any more; getting the other side to actually do it is. The fastest contracts are the ones where the client knows it is coming, the document is short, and the signing link arrives while they still care. Send it straight after the call where you agreed the terms. And never start work on the strength of "looks good, will sign later"; a completed certificate is the green light.
Sources and further reading
Frequently asked questions
Is a remotely signed contract enforceable?
In many countries, yes, for most commercial contracts. Keeping an audit trail helps prove who signed and when.
What if the other party doesn't have e-signature software?
They don't need any. Signers usually sign through a link in their browser.
Can we sign in a specific order?
Most e-signature services let you set a signing order.
Which date does a remotely signed contract start on?
The effective date written in the contract, if there is one. Without it, the agreement usually takes effect when the last party signs, which is why stating a date is clearer.
Can the other party sign on their phone?
Yes. The signing link opens in a mobile browser, and they can sign with a finger or by typing their name.
Should I sign before or after the other party?
Usually after. Countersigning last means you never hold a contract that binds you while the other side has not committed.
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