Get an agreement ready and send it for signing

Open a draft agreement, add the people who sign, link the customer, clear what blocks it, then send it for signing now or at a time you pick.

In the sidebar, open Agreements, then All Agreements, and press the agreement's title. The page address is /agreements/ followed by the agreement; each tab adds its own name, such as /participants. A new draft opens here right after you create it (see Create an agreement).

The page has the tabs Overview, Document, Participants, Approvals, Checklists, Timeline, Audit & evidence and Related records. Above them, four tiles count Readiness issues, Outstanding required signers, Actionable approvals and Active legal holds.

Before you start

• Changing a draft needs permission to edit agreement drafts. Sending needs permission to issue agreements. Without them those buttons are missing.
• Only a draft can be changed. For an agreement already sent, see Resend, revise or cancel a sent agreement.
• An agreement made from an uploaded PDF is prepared in the signing PDF editor instead: see Place signature fields on a PDF agreement and send it.

Steps

1. On Overview, read Readiness and next steps. Each yellow card names something that still blocks sending.
2. Open Participants and press Add participant. Choose the Participant type (Internal user for someone on your team, CRM contact for a customer's contact, or External party), a Role and a Route order.
3. For anyone who signs, turn on This person signs, then set Required signer and Signing order. Press Add participant. Signing path at the top of the tab shows the order people sign in.
4. On Overview, under Related records, press Link record to tie the agreement to the customer, work order or project, if it is not linked yet.
5. To change the title, dates, signing mode or the details filled into the document, press Edit agreement details, make the change and press Save draft. Check the result on the Document tab.
6. When nothing blocks it, press Send for signing. The Send for signing? window opens and lists any Outstanding readiness items.
7. Under Delivery timing, keep Send immediately, or choose Schedule delivery and pick the date and time in Send on.
8. Under Message and senders, choose Email delivery, Text delivery or both, and pick who it comes from in Email from and Text from. Add a Custom message if you like, and turn on Email me when viewed to hear when a signer opens it.
9. Press Send for signing (it reads Send and schedule delivery when you picked a time). Nova sends it and opens the Document tab.

When email delivery is selected, Custom message supports bold, italic, underline, lists and links. On a phone, press Formatting to show the tools. If you also send a text, it uses the message’s plain-text counterpart. Nova keeps the signing instructions and secure signing link.

What you see

• The first status chip at the top no longer reads draft. A scheduled agreement shows Signer delivery is scheduled with the send time; signers get nothing until then.
• Execution workspace appears at the top. It opens this agreement's signing progress: see Track agreement signing.
• If the agreement has approvers, Request approval comes first and Send for signing stays greyed out until they approve. See Approve an agreement before it goes out.

If something looks different

• Send for signing is greyed out: something on Readiness and next steps is still open, or approval is still needed.
• Participants shows No participants configured: add at least one signer before sending.
• You no longer need the draft: use Cancel draft (it stays on file, marked canceled) or Delete permanently in the bar at the bottom right of the page.

Open All Agreements