How bookkeepers request a signed contract from clients
By Arthur Teboul, DokuTrak · Published
In short
Ask the client for the signed contracts behind recurring payments and annual prepayments: software subscriptions billed yearly, insurance policies, retainers, service agreements, equipment financing. You use the term, amount and payment schedule to set up recurring entries and spread prepaid costs over the months they cover. Ask during onboarding, then whenever a new contract is signed.
Why bookkeepers need a signed contract
A yearly payment that covers twelve months should not hit one month’s expenses. The contract gives you the start and end dates to record it as a prepaid expense and recognize it monthly, and the schedule to expect each recurring charge, so a missing or doubled payment stands out at the close. Financing agreements also tell you how to split payments between the loan balance and interest.
What exactly to ask for
The signed agreement with its pricing and payment terms, for every contract that runs longer than a month or was paid in advance, including renewals signed this year. During onboarding, ask for every contract still in force; after that, ask the client to send each new one when it is signed.
What to check when it arrives
- Start date, end date and renewal terms are on the copy, so you know the months to spread a prepayment over.
- The amount and billing frequency match the charges you see on the bank or card statements.
- The copy is the signed final version, with any amendments that changed the price.
Email to send your client
Replace the bracketed parts. The same text fits in the message of a DokuTrak request (up to 1,000 characters).
Subject: Contracts with recurring payments
Hi [Client name],
To set up your recurring expenses correctly, I would like a copy of the contracts behind them: yearly software or insurance paid upfront, retainers, service agreements and any equipment financing.
The signed version with the pricing page is what I need, plus any amendment that changed the price or the term. It lets me spread a yearly payment over the months it covers instead of showing one expensive month.
Could you send them by [date]? If some are only in your email, forwarding the email works, and I am happy to help track them down.
Thank you, [Your name]
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.