E-signatures
E-signatures that are part of the plan, not filed next to it
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Four documents every client project needs signed
- Scope of work. Drafted from the brief, sent from the project, signed before delivery starts.
- Change requests. A description, a schedule delta and a cost delta. When signed, affected tasks shift and the critical path is recalculated.
- Milestone acceptance. A milestone that requires sign-off cannot be closed until its acceptance is signed. Payment milestones stop being a negotiation.
- UAT certificates. Test cases roll up into a certificate the client signs to confirm acceptance testing passed.
Proposals are signed the same way, and a signed proposal creates the project. See proposals.
How signing works
- 1
Send from the project
Pick the document, add the signer's name and email, and send. The request goes by email and appears on the client portal as waiting for signature. - 2
The client reviews and signs
No account. They open the link, read the document, type or draw a signature and confirm. The view is recorded in the audit trail. - 3
The plan updates
The signed PDF is filed on the project, the milestone or change request is updated, and anyone who needs to know is notified.
The audit trail
Every signature records who signed, their email, when, from which IP address, and a SHA-256 hash of the content that was signed. The trail also records when the document was sent and when it was first viewed. The signed PDF includes the trail, so if the question “did they agree to this?” ever comes up, the answer is a document rather than a recollection.
Why binding signatures to milestones matters
The expensive moment in a client project is the one where work was done, the client is not sure they asked for it, and nobody can find the email. Binding acceptance to the milestone, and the change request to the schedule, means the project cannot drift ahead of what was agreed. The Gantt shows the milestone as blocked until it is signed; the status report lists it as outstanding; the portal shows the client the button. The pressure is gentle and constant, which is what gets things signed.
Compared with a separate signing tool
Standalone e-signature products are good at contracts and bad at projects: nothing connects the signed PDF to the milestone it belongs to, and the project tool has no idea a change was agreed. Among mainstream project tools, native e-signatures are rare and usually gated behind enterprise plans. Planmoor includes them on Free, with five a month, and unlimited on Pro at $9 a seat. See pricing or the comparisons.
Questions people ask
- Are Planmoor e-signatures legally binding?
- Planmoor records the signer's name, email, timestamp, IP address and a hash of the signed content, which is the evidence electronic signature laws such as the UK's Electronic Communications Act, eIDAS in the EU and the US ESIGN Act generally look for in a simple electronic signature. Whether a signature is enforceable in a given case depends on the contract and jurisdiction, so check with your adviser for high-value agreements.
- Does the signer need an account?
- No. They open the link from the email or the portal, review the document, type their name, draw or type a signature and confirm.
- What happens to the signed document?
- A signed PDF with the audit trail is generated and filed on the project. The milestone or change request it belongs to is updated at the same time.
- How many signatures are included?
- Five a month on Free; unlimited on Pro and Agency.
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