Contracts

Contracts in Accordio are professional, legally-binding agreements you can create in minutes. Use AI to generate content, add milestones for payment tracking, and collect e-signatures from clients.

TL;DR

Create contracts with AI or templates, add milestones for payment phases, send for e-signature, and track status from draft to completed.

Creating a Contract

From Scratch

Click New Contract from your dashboard. You'll see a blank editor where you can write your contract. Use the AI assistant on the right to generate content - just describe your project.

From a Template

When creating a new contract, choose from your saved templates or our starter templates. Templates can include variables that auto-fill with client information.

Learn more about templates

Using AI

The fastest way to create a contract is with AI. In the chat, describe your project:

"I'm building a website for a coffee shop. The project is $2,500 with 3 milestones: design mockups, development, and launch."

The AI will generate a full contract with scope of work, payment terms, milestones, and standard legal clauses.

Variables

Variables are placeholders that auto-fill when you create or send a contract. Use them in templates to save time.

VariableFills With
{{client_name}}Client's full name
{{client_company}}Client's company name
{{client_email}}Client's email address
{{project_name}}Project title
{{total_amount}}Contract total
{{today_date}}Current date

Client-Fillable Variables

You can also create client-fillable variables that the client fills in when signing (like their address or tax ID). These appear as form fields on the signing page.

Pro tip

Use client-fillable variables for information you need but don't have yet, like billing addresses or purchase order numbers.

Milestones

Milestones break your project into phases with specific deliverables and payment amounts. Add them from the Milestones tab in the editor.

Each milestone includes:

  • Title: Name of the milestone (e.g., "Design Phase")
  • Description: What's included in this milestone
  • Deliverables: Specific items you'll deliver
  • Amount: Payment for this phase
  • Due date: Optional deadline

Escrow protection

When clients pay for milestones, funds are held in escrow until you submit work and they approve. This protects both parties.Learn more →

Theming & Branding

Make your contracts look professional and on-brand:

  • Themes: Choose from professional themes or customize colors
  • Cover page: Add a branded cover page with your logo
  • Cover image: Upload a custom image or generate one with AI
  • Logo: Your logo appears in the header

Sending to Clients

When your contract is ready, click Send. You can:

  • Send via email: Client receives an email with a link to view and sign
  • Copy link: Share the link directly via any channel
  • Sign first: You can sign the contract before sending to the client
  1. 1Review your contract in preview mode
  2. 2Click the "Send" button
  3. 3Enter client email and optional message
  4. 4Choose to sign first or let client sign first
  5. 5Click "Send" to deliver

E-Signatures

Clients can sign contracts directly from the link you send. The signing process:

  1. Client opens the contract link
  2. They can review the full contract
  3. They can ask the AI assistant questions about terms
  4. They fill in any client-fillable variables
  5. They draw or type their signature
  6. Both parties receive a signed PDF copy

Legally binding

E-signatures include timestamps, IP addresses, and audit trails for legal compliance under the ESIGN Act (US) and eIDAS (EU).

Contract Status

Contracts move through these stages:

DraftStill editing, not sent yet
SentSent to client, waiting for signature
ViewedClient has opened the contract
SignedClient has signed, waiting for you
ActiveBoth parties have signed, work can begin
CompletedAll milestones paid, project done

Version History

Accordio automatically saves versions of your contract as you edit. You can:

  • View previous versions
  • Compare changes between versions
  • Restore an earlier version if needed

Reminders

If a client hasn't signed, send a reminder with one click. You can send reminders as often as needed - Accordio will send a friendly email with the contract link.

Use your preferred LLM

to explore Accordio documentation

Opens your LLM with a prompt to read and explain the docs. For Claude, Gemini, and Grok the prompt is copied to clipboard.

    Contracts - Accordio Docs - Accordio Docs