Proposals for businesses

This page covers clients that are businesses: how to mark one, who signs for it, what they see, and what the signed copy records.

What a business client is

Every client is an Individual or a Business. An Individual signs for themselves. A Business is a company, and a person signs for it: its owner, a partner, or someone else with authority to sign. For example, Alex Rivera signs a proposal for Northwind Services as its Managing Member.

For a Business, the signed copy says who signed, in what capacity, and for which business: "Alex Rivera, Managing Member, for Northwind Services".

Every client you already have is an Individual until you change it, and nothing about an Individual's proposals changes.

Mark a client as a business

1. Open the client under Clients (or click Add client for a new one).
2. At the top of the form, under Client type, choose Business.
3. Fill in:
   • Business name (required): the business, exactly as it should appear on the proposal. It's the field called Name on the proposal for an Individual.
   • Contact name: the person you deal with, in full, for example "Alex Rivera". Optional.
   • Contact's first name: used in the greeting ("Hi Alex"). Leave it blank and it's filled in from the first word of the contact name when you save.
   • Contact's title: their title at the business, for example "Managing Member". Optional. As you type, common titles are suggested (Owner, President, Managing Member, Member, Partner, and more), but you can type any title.
4. Click Add client, or Save changes in the bar at the bottom of the client's page.

The client's page then shows a Business tag beside the name and Contact with the contact's name and title. If there's no contact yet, it says Add a contact. That's only a hint: a Business with no contact can still sign, and the signer types their own name and title.

The Clients list shows the Business tag too, and searching finds a business by its contact's name.

Nothing is assumed about the title. If you leave Contact's title blank, the signing page starts with an empty title for the signer to fill in. Only a title you entered is filled in for them.

Switching back to Individual removes the contact name and title. The form says so before you save ("The contact name and title will be removed."). The name and first name stay.

What your client sees

The signing page looks the same as an Individual's, with three differences in the signature area:

• It starts with Signing for Northwind Services.
• Below Type your full name to sign, there's Your title, filled in with the contact's title when you entered one. The signer can change it, and the same title suggestions appear as they type. A title is required: without one, the page says "Enter your title to sign for Northwind Services."
• The E-sign consent names the business. The signer agrees, for themselves and for the business, to sign electronically, and confirms that they're authorized to sign for it. The box is never ticked for them.

Agreements and consents sent on their own, the steps of a walkthrough, and Sign in person all work the same way. In a walkthrough, once a signer confirms their title on one step, the next steps start with that title.

What's recorded

• The signed PDF. Under the typed name, the signature line reads "Managing Member, for Northwind Services" where an Individual's shows their name.
• The signature certificate. Signed by reads "Alex Rivera, Managing Member, for Northwind Services", and the consent wording is the one that names the business.
• The proposal's page. The signature reads "Signed by Alex Rivera, Managing Member, for Northwind Services".
• Your automations. The signed events say the client is a business and include the title and the business it was signed for, so a tool like n8n or Zapier can file the client as a business in your other software.

The business name, the contact, and the title the signer was offered are fixed when you send. If you change the client afterwards (or turn an Individual into a Business), proposals already sent sign as they were sent. To change one, revise it. See Creating and sending a proposal.

Two people signing for the business

With Multiple signers on, a business can have more than one person sign, for example two partners.

1. Open the client and, under People, click Add a person.
2. Fill in their details as usual and, under Title (optional), their title at the business. Title appears only while the client is a Business.
3. Choose Signer: signs it too under Role, tick the box, and click Add person.

Every signer on a business's proposal signs for the business. Each one confirms their own title on their own page, and each signature reads ",