Signed contract: what to send, and where to find it
By Arthur Teboul, DokuTrak · Published
In short
A signed contract is the final, executed version of an agreement: an engagement letter, a client or vendor contract, an employment agreement. Send every page, the signature page signed by all parties, and every exhibit, schedule and amendment. The final copy usually sits in the e-signature email, a shared drive or with the other party.
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What is a signed contract?
A contract names the parties, what each one commits to, the price or payment terms, the dates and how it ends. Exhibits and schedules often hold the details that matter most, such as the scope of work or the rate table.
An executed contract carries the signatures of every party, with dates. A version that only you signed, or a draft with tracked changes, is not the agreement in force.
Who sends it, and when
Either party can prepare the contract; both keep a signed copy. When it is signed online, the e-signature service emails the completed document to every signer. Amendments signed later change the original and travel with it.
Where to get a signed contract
- Your email: search for the e-signature service (DocuSign, Adobe Acrobat Sign, Dropbox Sign) and the word Completed.
- Your account with that e-signature service, under completed or signed documents.
- Your company drive, contract folder or the system your business uses to store agreements.
- The other party, who can send their signed copy if yours is lost.
- For a paper contract, scan every page, including exhibits and the signature page.
Wrong files people send instead
- A draft or a redlined version instead of the executed copy.
- The signature page alone, or the contract without its exhibits and schedules.
- A copy signed by one party only.
- The original contract without the later amendments, or the reverse.
- A proposal or quote that was never signed.
Questions people ask
How do I find a contract I signed with DocuSign?
Search your email for the completed notice from DocuSign and open the link, or sign in to DocuSign and look under completed envelopes. You can download the final PDF there.
Is an email agreement a contract?
It can be, depending on the terms and the law that applies. When someone asks for a signed contract, send the formal signed document if one exists; ask them before sending an email thread instead.
Ask once. DokuTrak does the chasing.
- Your client uploads from one link, with no account and no password.
- Reminders go out on a schedule, by default 2, 5, 10 and 14 days after the request, until the file arrives.
- With AI review switched on in your workspace (it is off by default), each upload gets a first pass that flags a file that is not a signed contract or an unreadable or blurry scan. It says so when it is not sure.
- You accept every file or mark it for re-upload, and your client gets the note by email. The AI never accepts a file.