Documents

Documents is where you send the paperwork. A proposal is a branded offer your client reviews and accepts online, with pricing options they can choose between. A contract is a document they sign online, and every step gets recorded in an audit trail you can show to anyone who asks.

Both start the same way: write it (or upload a finished PDF), send it, and let the other side act on it in their browser. When it comes back signed or accepted, one click turns it into an invoice.

Where to find documents

Open Operations then Documents in the sidebar.

The list shows every document with its Title, Type, Recipients, Amount, Status, Expires and Created date. Click a title to open it.

• The search box matches document titles.
• Filters narrows by Type (Proposals or Contracts) and Status. Active filters show as chips above the table, with Clear all to reset them.

Statuses

A document moves through these:

• Draft - written but not sent. This is the only state you can still edit in.
• Sent - the recipients have their links.
• Viewed - somebody opened it.
• Signed - every signer has signed (contracts).
• Accepted - the client accepted it (proposals).
• Declined - the client turned it down.
• Expired - the signing window closed.
• Converted - you turned it into an invoice.

Creating a document

1. Click New document.
2. Under Document type, choose Proposal or Contract. You cannot change this later.
3. Give it a Title, such as "Website Redesign Proposal" or "Coaching Agreement".
4. Optionally set a Total amount and a Currency. This is the figure used when you convert the document into an invoice, unless the client picks a pricing option instead.
5. Optionally set Expires on. An unsigned document stops working after that date.
6. Choose how the content is written (below).
7. Click Create draft.

Writing the content

Under Content you pick one of two ways to supply the document:

• Rich editor - write and style the document right here, with images if you want them.
• Upload PDF - drop in a finished PDF, for example one your lawyer sent you. It goes out to recipients exactly as it is.

Pricing options (proposals only)

A proposal can offer selectable packages instead of one flat price. Click Add pricing option, give each one a label ("Standard package") and an amount. The client picks one when they accept, and that is the amount that carries through to the invoice.

Editing a draft

Click Edit on a draft to change anything except the document type. Once a document has been sent, it locks: only drafts are editable, so the audit trail always matches what the other side actually saw.

Sending for signature

Click Send on a draft (or Resend / add recipients on one already out).

Each recipient gets an email with their own private link. Possession of that link is how the document knows who they are, so it should only ever go to the person it names.

For each recipient, fill in:

• Email - where their link is sent.
• Legal name - required for signers, since it is the name that appears on the signed document.
• The role: Signer (they sign or accept) or Viewer (they can read it, but take no action).
• Require email verification - tick this and they must also enter a 6-digit code sent to their inbox before they can sign.

Click Add recipient for as many people as you need, set an optional Expires on date, then click Send. If an email is already a recipient, you will see a note saying their link will be re-sent rather than duplicated.

The document page

Open any document to see everything about it in one place.

Across the top: the document's type, its status, the amount, and the expiry date. The buttons available depend on where the document is:

• Edit - drafts only.
• Send or Resend / add recipients.
• Convert to invoice - once it is signed or accepted.
• View invoice - once you have converted it.
• Download signed PDF and Delete live in the overflow menu. Signed, accepted and converted documents cannot be deleted.

Content and pricing

The body of the document is rendered in full. If you uploaded a PDF you get a link to open it. For a proposal with pricing options, each option is listed, and the one the client chose is highlighted with a Selected by client badge.

Recipients

Every recipient shows their name, email, status (Pending, Viewed, Signed, Accepted or Declined), and badges for their role, whether email verification is required, and whether they have verified. Once a signer has signed, the date and the exact name they signed under are shown.

You can fix a recipient's name with Edit name. Because the name is part of what they sign, changing it invalidates the link they already have and emails them a fresh one, and TribeNest asks you to confirm that before it does it.

Timeline

A short summary of the key dates: Created, Sent, Viewed, Completed and Expires.

The audit trail

Every document keeps a running record of what happened to it, in order, with a timestamp on each entry. You will see events like:

• Document created
• Sent for signature (or Sent for review on a proposal)
• Link opened
• Document viewed
• Email verified
• Signed
• All signatures collected, signed PDF sealed
• Proposal accepted
• Declined
• Signed PDF downloaded
• Reminder sent
• Document expired
• Converted to invoice

Each entry names the recipient it belongs to and records the network address and browser it came from, so a signature has evidence behind it rather than just a date.

The sealed PDF

Once every signer has signed, TribeNest seals the finished document as a PDF and shows a tamper-evident signature hash beside it. Download the PDF with Signed PDF, and copy the hash if you ever need to prove the file has not been altered since it was signed. If the file changes by so much as a character, it no longer matches.

Templates

If you send the same agreement over and over, save it once as a template.

Click Templates from the Documents page.

The starter library

TribeNest ships a small starter library you can build from, including a Coaching Agreement, a Statement of Work (SOW) and a Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Each card shows the blanks it expects, such as {{clientName}} or {{amount}}.

• Use opens the document builder pre-filled with that content.
• Customize opens the template builder so you can save your own version of it.

Your own templates

Click New template to build one from scratch.

1. Give it a Title and pick the Type (Proposal or Contract).
2. Under Merge fields, define the blanks the template needs. Each field has a key (like clientName), a label your future self will recognise ("Client name") and an optional default. Click a key's chip to copy the placeholder, then paste it wherever it belongs in the body.
3. Write the Body in the editor.
4. Click Save template.

When you create a document from a template, the merge fields appear as a small form above the editor. Fill them in and click Apply to document to swap every placeholder for the real value in one go.

Deleting a template does not touch documents you already created from it.

What your client sees

Your recipient clicks the link in their email and lands on a branded page on your site titled Review & sign. They do not create an account or log in.

They see who it is from, when it was sent, the expiry date, and the document itself. Then, depending on what you sent:

• A contract gets a signing panel. They either draw their signature or type it, confirm the checkbox agreeing that this is their electronic signature, and click Sign contract. Their name, email, network address and the time are recorded.
• A proposal gets an accept panel. If you offered pricing options, they pick one, then click Accept proposal.

Either way there is a quiet Decline link with an optional reason box, so a "no" comes back to you cleanly rather than as silence.

If you required email verification, they have to enter a 6-digit code before any of that unlocks.

Once it is done, the page swaps to a status banner explaining where things stand, with a Download signed PDF button for signed contracts. With more than one signer, each person who has signed sees that the document is waiting on the others, and everybody is emailed the completed copy at the end.

Turning a document into money

A signed contract or an accepted proposal is a deal you can bill for. Click Convert to invoice and TribeNest creates the invoice with the right amount and takes you straight to it, ready to send. The audit trail records the conversion and the document page keeps a View invoice link so the two stay tied together.

See Invoices for what happens next.

Common patterns

• Standard client agreement. Save your usual contract as a template with {{clientName}} and {{startDate}} merge fields, then send a fresh copy in under a minute.
• Tiered proposal. Offer Bronze, Silver and Gold as pricing options and let the client pick. Their choice becomes the invoice.
• Signature with a deadline. Set Expires on so a quote does not sit open forever, and let the document expire on its own.
• Extra certainty for high-value deals. Turn on Require email verification so the signer proves the inbox is theirs before signing.
• Follow-up on autopilot. Build an automation that fires on Contract signed, Proposal accepted, Document declined or Document sent and reacts for you.

Related

• Invoices - where a signed document turns into a bill
• Pipeline - track the deal a proposal belongs to
• Automations - react automatically when a document is signed, accepted or declined
• Contacts - the people you are sending to