Contract Automation

View our Pricing & Plans for a detailed list and comparison of features available in each plan.

Our contract automation solution will optimize your process and cover all your contract stages from creation to signing.

In this article:

• Create contract
• Collaborate
• Negotiate
• Sign
• Track your contracts

Before you Begin

• You can only invite members who are in the same workspace as your contract to collaborate on it.
• As the creator of the contract you are the one in charge of approving or denying suggestions, as well as moving the contract to a new stage.

Create a Contract

1. Login to Docubee.
2. On your dashboard, navigate to Documents and click Contracts.
3. At the upper-right corner of your screen, click the New button and select Create Contract from the menu.
   Note: If you have not created any contracts as yet, you will see the Create New Contract button in the middle of your screen.
4. In the Create new contract modal, use the Start with a blank document toggle to decide if you want to:
   • start with a blank document or 
   • select a document from your Docubee library, your machine, Google Drive, Dropbox or generate one using AI.

Create a New Contract

Let’s create a new contract. You are the owner of any contracts you create.

1. The Start with a blank document toggle is enabled by default.
   Note: You can start with an existing contract document by disabling the Start with a blank document toggle and using the module below to upload an existing contract document from your local files.
   
2. Enter a name for the contract and click Create.
3. The document editor opens with a right-side panel of the various stages.
4. Prepare your contract by adding your content in the document.
   Note: If you had loaded an existing contract document instead of creating a new one, you would be editing it here.
5. On the right-side panel, next to Collaborate, click the Start button.
   Note: If you do not need to collaborate, skip ahead to the next step.

Collaborate

1. In the Collaborate modal you have the My Team section that lists you as owner and allows you to add collaborators to your contract. The dropdown list displays the members in your workspace.
   Note: While in the Collaborate stage, you can open this modal by clicking the Edit button in the right-side panel under Collaborate. This will allow you to remove or add collaborators at any time during this stage.
2. Click Add to my Team. Select a participant and click Add. Repeat for additional participants you want to add.
   Note: By default, participants can view the document. You can assign additional permissions per participant by selecting the checkboxes for Suggest changes and Edit document.
   Note: You can remove a participant by clicking the trash can icon at the end of the member information in the Collaborate modal.
3. Click Save. The right-side panel under Collaborate displays participant summary with email and permissions.
   • Collaborators/participants will receive an email invitation to collaborate on your document.
   • They will click on the View Document button in the email to collaborate on your document.
   • The participants that accepted the invitation to collaborate can view, edit and/or comment (based on the permissions granted) on the document.
4. When the document is ready to share with external participants for negotiation, on the right-side panel, next to Negotiate, click the Start button.
5. You are prompted with a message that you are completing this stage and moving to the negotiating stage, and will not be able to return to the collaborate stage.
   In the negotiate stage, you can continue editing the document and will have other participants outside your workspace in your document.
   Note: All collaborators maintain their assigned permission during the negotiation stage.
6. Click Continue to Negotiate.

Negotiate

1. In the Negotiate modal, a Receiving Teams section is now available in addition to the My Teams section.
2. Click Add to Receiving Team, enter the email of the person to invite for negotiations, click Add.
   Note: By default, participants invited to negotiate can view the document. You have to assign additional permissions by selecting the checkbox for Suggest changes. They cannot edit.
   Note: You can remove a participant from any section by clicking the trash can icon at the end of the member information in the Negotiate modal.
   • Negotiators will receive an email invitation to negotiate on your document.
   • They will click on the View Document button in the email to review and negotiate on your document.
   • Participants invited to negotiate can view and suggest changes (based on the permissions granted) in the document.
3. When negotiations are complete and the document is ready to sign, on the right-side panel, next to Sign, click the Start button.
   Note: If you have any open/unresolved comments or suggestions in your document, you are prompted with a message informing you of it. Click Return to Document to go back to your document and resolve them.
4. You are prompted with a message that you are completing the negotiate stage, moving to the signing stage, and will no longer be able to edit the document.
   Note: All participants’ links to view/edit the document will become nonfunctional.
5. Click Continue to Signing.

Sign

1. In the Ready to Sign modal, your team and receiving team members are listed and you can set permissions for those who sign and receive the finalized document. Click Save.
   Note: You can add more participants, if required.
2. In the right-side panel’s Sign section, click Approve and Sign.
3. The Fill or Sign modal opens for your contract with the Send & Sign option selected and all the recipients’ and signers’ information prefilled.
   Note: You can select the gear icon by each participant to add additional actions, additional security parameters and create a customized email. 
   
4. Click Continue.
5. In the Prepare Document modal, click and drop into your document the signature and/or other fields, as required. For more information on configuring fields see Preparing a Document.
6. Click Send for Signature.
   Note: you will be prompted with a message if you have not added any fields for a participant you have selected to sign the contract. You can click Go back and add fields to do so.
7. In the Finalize Document modal, you can review/modify the general settings and set an expiration date. Click Send Now.
   • Participants will receive an email about a document to review and sign. They can click the Review Document button to act on it.
8. You are back on the Contracts page with the right-side panel showing your contract information.

After all participants have signed the contract, you will receive an email informing you that your document is complete and you can download the document using the Download Signed Document link which will expire after two weeks.

Track Your Contracts

You can monitor your contract’s progress through its stages and the signer’s status.

1. In the Contracts page, click on any contract’s View Signing Information icon to open the right-side panel that shows your contract signing information: title, progress bar, list of recipients, and their states.
   • You can view the signers progress and information.
   • You can preview and/or download the contract using the Preview Document and Download Document buttons, respectively.
2. Click the More Actions icon (3 vertical dots) on a contract for the actions you can perform from the Contracts page. The available actions vary based on your stage.
   Note: The Download as DOCX and Download as PDF actions allow you to download the negotiated contract in their respective formats without any signing information, regardless of the progress made in signing.

Known Limitations

• Six participants can be involved in contract collaboration.
• Six participants can be involved in contract negotiation.
• Six participants can be involved in contract signing.
• This is a “Contact Us” feature.  A Docubee customer support representative must enable the flag for a given organization.

Related Information

Additional Resources

Need more help getting set up? Contact us for assistance from our customer support team.