eSignature for small business · Updated
E-signatures for small businesses
Small businesses sign contracts with customers, suppliers, employees and partners, often without a legal department or big software budget.
eSignSimple keeps it simple: upload a Word doc or PDF, add fields, send. Plans start free, Bronze is $4.99/month for 25 documents, and Silver gives unlimited documents at $9.99/month. Gold ($19.99/month) adds priority support, seats for up to 5 senders with shared templates, and your own logo and colors.
In a small business, the person sending contracts is usually also doing sales, hiring and supplier management. There is no time to learn a complicated tool, and no budget for one that charges per envelope with surprise overages.
Our take: a small business needs three things from e-signatures. Documents should go out fast, signers should not need an account, and the record should be good enough to rely on if something goes wrong. Everything beyond that is a nice-to-have you should not pay enterprise prices for.
What slows down paperwork in small business?
Too many tools
One simple tool covers sales, HR and supplier paperwork. Using one tool for customer contracts, supplier agreements and HR documents also means one place to find everything later.
Unpredictable costs
Unlimited documents on paid plans means no envelope quotas. We think envelope quotas punish the businesses that are growing, which is why paid plans are unlimited.
Keeping records
Each document includes a certificate of completion for your files. Download the signed PDF and certificate into the same folder as your other records so they are there when you need them.
Approvals that happen in hallways
A discount, a long payment term or an unusual clause often gets approved verbally. When the contract is signed, nobody can show who agreed to the exception.
Customers who only use their phone
Many customers will not open a laptop to sign a contract. If the signing page is awkward on a small screen, the deal waits until the weekend.
Which documents do small business teams sign with eSignSimple?
| Document | Who signs | How it works in eSignSimple |
|---|---|---|
| Sales contract | Customer, owner | Start from the sales contract; a manager can sign first with signing order. |
| Service agreement | Customer, business | Use the service agreement as a reusable template. |
| Supplier NDA | Supplier, business | Send the NDA before sharing prices or plans. |
| Purchase order | Supplier | Send the purchase order for a signed confirmation. |
| Operating agreement | Members of the LLC | Add each member as a signer to the operating agreement. |
| Signups from your website | Customers | Turn a single-signer template into a web form link and put it next to your booking button. |
| Sales commission agreement | Sales rep, owner | Use the commission agreement with rates and payout dates in text fields. |
| Consignment agreement | Consignor, shop | Send the consignment agreement with the item list attached to the same PDF. |
| Business proposal | Prospect | Send your business proposal with a signature block, so acceptance and proposal are one document. |
| Payment plan | Customer with an overdue balance | Use the payment agreement to put instalments in writing before the next delivery. |
Which small business documents can be signed electronically?
- Sales contracts
- Service agreements
- NDAs
- Purchase orders
- Quote acceptances
- Employment contracts
- Operating and partnership agreements
How do you get the most out of e-signatures in small business?
- Turn your most used documents into templates.
- Use signing order when a manager must approve before the customer signs.
- Have a lawyer review your core templates once.
- Set up signing order for documents that need internal approval, such as a manager signing off on a discount before the customer receives the contract.
- Name documents consistently, such as customer, document type and date, so they are easy to find later.
- Review who can send documents in your name, and remove access when people leave.
- Our take: pay a lawyer once to review your three or four most important templates. It is one of the best-value legal spends a small business can make, and templates spread that cost over every future deal.
- Write the exception into the contract itself (for example 15% discount approved by the sales manager), and have that manager sign first.
- Decide who in the business is allowed to sign for it, and only add those people as company signatories in your templates.
- Before you build templates, read our guide on how to send a document for signature, and if you mostly work in Word, see how to e-sign a Word document.
Before you rely on an e-signature for a specific document, check the rules where you work: see e-signature law in the United States, the United Kingdom or other countries, and read how we store and protect signed documents.
How do we get a discount approved before the customer sees the contract?
Use signing order with your manager as the first signer. Say a wholesale bakery agrees a 15% volume discount with a new café. The salesperson prepares the sales contract with the discount written in, adds the sales manager as signer one and the café owner as signer two, and sends it. The manager gets the email first, reads the terms and signs. Only then does the café owner receive the contract.
If the manager will not approve, they decline instead, and the customer never sees a price the business has not agreed to. The completed PDF shows both signatures with timestamps, so six months later nobody has to remember whether the discount was cleared. For bigger deals, add a second internal signer, such as the owner, before the customer.
When does a small business need Gold instead of Silver?
Silver ($9.99/month) gives one sender unlimited documents, bulk send, web forms and API access. That is enough for a business where one person sends everything. Gold ($19.99/month) is for the moment a second or third person starts sending: up to 5 senders share templates, so everyone uses the approved version of your contract instead of an old copy on their desktop. Each sender's documents stay their own.
Gold also adds your branding (logo and colour on the signing page, emails and certificate) and priority support. If customers are confused by an unfamiliar sender name, branding helps them recognize you. If you need more than 5 senders, we are honestly not the right fit yet. Compare plans on pricing, or see how we stack up in our DocuSign alternative for small business comparison.
Where should signed contracts live after signing?
Keep your own copy outside the signing tool. Download each completed PDF, which already includes the certificate of completion as its last page, into a shared folder organized by customer or supplier. Use one naming pattern, for example customer, document type, date, so a search for a customer's name finds every agreement you have with them.
Keep contracts at least as long as your accountant or local rules require, which in many countries is several years after the contract ends. If a signed contract is ever questioned, anyone can check that your copy is unchanged by uploading it on our verify page, which compares its SHA-256 fingerprint with the one recorded when it was completed.
Templates for small business
Related reading
Frequently asked questions
Are e-signatures legally binding for these documents?
In most cases, yes. Simple electronic signatures are recognized under the US ESIGN Act, UETA and the EU eIDAS Regulation. Some documents, such as wills or certain court and real property filings, may need wet ink, witnesses or notarization depending on the jurisdiction.
How much does it cost?
Free for 3 documents a month, $4.99/month for 25 documents on Bronze, and $9.99/month for unlimited documents on Silver. Gold is $19.99/month for up to 5 senders with shared templates and your branding; see pricing for current details.
Is it legal to e-sign business contracts?
For most everyday business contracts, yes. Sales, service, supplier and employment contracts are covered by simple electronic signature laws in the US, UK, EU and many other countries. A few document types have extra formalities; see our legality pages for your country.
Do my customers need an account?
No. Customers get a link and sign in any browser or phone.
Can customers sign from our website?
Yes, on Silver and up. Turn a single-signer template into a web form link and put it on your website; each customer who opens it signs their own copy.
Can our contracts show our logo?
Yes, on Gold. Your logo and colour appear on the signing page, the signing emails and the certificate of completion.
Can we connect eSignSimple to our own software?
Silver and up include API access for sending documents from your own systems. We do not offer ready-made integrations beyond that, so plan on a small amount of development work.
Get your next document signed today.
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