With the contract flow, you send a contract that the client can review, complete and sign online. The client follows a clear sequence: first they see the booking, then they check the details, accept and sign the contract. After your review and, if configured, countersignature, the contract is final.
You send the contract from the booking. The email contains a personal link. The client can complete every step in their browser and does not need to create an account.
Set up the contract flow
Go to Account settings > Contract to configure the basics of the contract flow. These settings apply to new contracts.
- Contract return period (days): sets the default number of days the client has to return the contract. This date appears in the contract and is used to follow up the return.
- Next agreement number: the number used for the next new contract.
- Booking status on final: determines when a booking becomes final, for example when you countersign the contract.
- Send a copy of the signed contract (email address): adds this address as BCC when the signed version is sent.
- Contract notification recipient: determines who receives notifications about the contract flow.
- Requirements for client signing: lets you decide whether the client must accept the terms and conditions, agree to the rider and/or acknowledge the prepayment terms before they can sign.
- Lock venue enabled by default: prevents the client from changing the venue details. Only enable this when the venue is already confirmed.
- Go directly to the contract flow when the client confirms an option: takes a client straight to the contract flow after they confirm an option.
- Event name required field: makes the event name mandatory while the client checks the details.
What the client sees and does
The client opens the link and first sees the most important booking details: artist, date and times, event and venue. They then select Check your details.
At this stage, the client can complete or change the contracting party’s information, unless it has been locked. This includes the company or personal name, address, postcode, city, country, VAT number, contact person, email address and telephone number. The client can also provide invoicing information, such as a different invoice address, finance email address or purchase order/reference number. The event name and venue details can also be changed; the venue stays unchanged when you locked it before sending the contract.
If you selected Temporary contact when creating the booking, a complete contact profile is not required yet. You can still send the contract, and the client can complete their own company and contact information through the contract link.
Important: a client’s change is never accepted automatically. Once the client has signed, you see the changes in Review Changes. Compare the original booking details with the submitted details, and decide for each change whether to accept or reject it. You can countersign only after reviewing them. This keeps the agent in control of the information saved to the booking and contact record.
Reading and signing the contract
After checking the details, the client reads the contract. If you configured this in Account settings > Contract, the client must first accept the terms and conditions, agree to the rider and/or acknowledge the prepayment terms. The client can then sign digitally. Where more than one signer is required, each signer completes their own step.
When all required client signatures have been added, you receive a notification. Review any changes and, where required by your settings, add your signature as a countersignature. The contract is binding only once you have signed it too.
Advancing in the contract flow
If you attached advancing forms to the booking, they are shown to the main signer in the same contract flow after signing. The client can supply the requested information, for example practical, technical or hospitality details. This means the client does not need to open a separate link.
The client submits each form from the contract flow. You then receive the details with the booking, ready for you to check and process. A form you close can no longer be completed, but you can reopen it if needed. Manage which forms and fields are requested in Account settings > Advancing forms and on the relevant booking.
Automatic invoicing
Go to Account settings > Invoicing. Under Automatically create and send invoices when the contract is signed, choose the trigger:
- Do not send automatically: the contract flow does not create an invoice.
- When the client has signed: invoicing starts as soon as the client has signed.
- When you countersigned: invoicing starts after you countersign the contract.
At the selected trigger, Artwin Live creates an invoice only when an invoice is due at that moment. A deposit can therefore be invoiced immediately when it applies to the booking and is due. The invoice details entered by the client in the contract flow are used after you have reviewed the changes.
The Final invoice days before performance setting determines the invoice date for the final invoice: the configured number of days before the performance date. If the performance falls within this period, the final invoice is due when the contract trigger occurs. If the performance is still outside this period, the final invoice is not due when the contract is signed, so that trigger does not create it.
To create and send those final invoices automatically later, also enable Automatically create and send invoices for bookings when eligible. This automation runs around 08:00 in your account time zone and processes future bookings with a positive amount as soon as they are eligible. Without this additional automation, create or send the final invoice yourself from the booking later.
Link expiry and downloads
The contract link expires on the day after the performance. This ensures personal and contract information is not available indefinitely through a public link. You therefore cannot send a contract afterwards through that same flow or have it signed there.
A signed version remains available to download. Download it from the booking when you want to archive the contract or share it afterwards.
Good to know
Check your settings before sending: the return period, signing requirements, venue lock and invoice trigger are used for new contracts. For important bookings, always review the details and any changes before you countersign.