E-signing contracts, NDAs and split sheets

What an electronic signature shows — and what it does not

Most e-signature platforms produce a signed PDF plus a certificate or audit trail: who was asked to sign, which email or identity check was used, and when each person finished. That is useful. It is also easy to over-read.

An e-signature record typically does not:

• Date an earlier draft that never went into the envelope.
• Prove the other party received a previous version you emailed outside the platform.
• Show that a file is unaltered once it has left the platform and been copied, flattened or re-exported.
• Replace a notary, a qualified electronic signature under eIDAS, or legal formalities that some documents still need.

If the disagreement is “which schedule was attached?” or “what did we send before they signed?”, you need dated copies of those earlier files as well. We walk through the distinction in timestamp vs electronic signature and in DocuSign Certificate of Completion vs a timestamp. For version-by-version practice, see how to timestamp a contract version.

A routine for contracts and NDAs

Use this when you are sending or receiving an NDA, a commissioning agreement, a licence, or a design appointment.

1. Freeze the draft you are actually circulating. Export a PDF (or keep the exact Word file) and stop editing that copy.
2. Record that pre-signature file. Fingerprint it with TimeBinder so you can show which text went out. Click here to start. The steps are in how to timestamp a file.
3. Send it for signature through the e-signature tool you already use, or a platform listed below. Check the name, the annexes and the date on the document inside the envelope — the audit trail will follow whatever you attached.
4. Download the fully signed PDF and the certificate of completion or audit report.
5. Record the signed file too. It is a different file from the draft. A TimeBind of the executed PDF lets you later check that the copy in the matter folder still matches.
6. Keep a small pack: the last pre-signature draft and its certificate, the signed PDF and its certificate, the platform audit trail, and a note of the email or workspace where it was sent.

If you are disclosing an idea, a demo or a drawing set under an NDA, date the materials as well as the NDA. See NDA and a timestamp before you disclose and timestamp before you disclose.

This is everyday practice for creative and professional work. It is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer about whether a particular document is enforceable, or about formalities in your country.

Split sheets need the same two records

A split sheet records how co-writers have agreed to share a song. Bands and collaborators often fill one in after a session, sometimes on a phone, sometimes as a PDF. The sheet is only as useful as the copy you can still find, and the session files that go with it.

Date both:

• The bounced session or work-in-progress files from the day, so you can show what existed when.
• The split sheet itself, once names and percentages are filled in, and again if you later sign a cleaned-up PDF.

TimeBinder’s free split sheet generator can produce a simple sheet you then keep and, if you want signatures, send through an e-signature tool. For the session-side record, see co-writing session records and split sheets. A TimeBind does not prove you wrote the song, and a signed split sheet does not date the demo that came first.

What to look for in an e-signature tool

For most creators and small studios, the useful questions are practical:

• Can the other party sign without creating an account, or will that slow them down?
• Do you get a downloadable signed PDF and a separate audit trail?
• Can you add more than one signer, in a set order, for a split sheet or a multi-party NDA?
• Where is the data hosted, and is that acceptable if you work with EU or UK clients?
• What happens to the audit trail if you cancel the subscription?

You do not need the most expensive enterprise suite to date a two-page NDA. You do need to download and keep the signed file yourself. Do not treat the platform as your only archive.

How to check the signed file later

Months later, you may have several PDFs that look the same on screen. One is the signed copy; another is a later export or a scan. Hashes will disagree even when the visible text looks identical — a flattened signature, a transferred annotation or a reprint is a different file.

To check whether the copy in your folder still matches the one you dated:

• Use the SHA-256 hash checker or file comparison checker.
• Compare against the file you kept with the TimeBind certificate.
• Keep the platform audit trail next to it, not instead of it.

See also how to prove a contract was not edited after signing. A matching hash shows the file is the same. It does not, by itself, show that the agreement is valid.

If you work with lawyers on a dispute, give them the exact files and certificates rather than a re-exported PDF. What to give a lawyer with an .ots proof explains the idea. This article is not a law-firm services page, and it is not legal advice. For the legal-profession hub, see legal timestamping.

Mistakes that weaken the record

• Signing a file you never dated, then losing the draft trail. If talks ran for weeks, the signed PDF will not reconstruct the offers that came first.
• Timestamping a Word file, then signing a PDF created later. Date the exact file that went into the envelope, then date the signed result.
• Leaving the only signed copy inside the e-signature account. Download it.
• Treating a screenshot of a signature as the record. Keep the PDF and the audit trail.
• Expecting a TimeBind to prove someone agreed. Agreement and identity are what the signature process is for.

Split sheets and session files are also covered on the music timestamping hub.

Date the next draft free

Your first Pooled TimeBind is free, with no credit card required. After that, TimeBinds start from US$5, and an ASAP TimeBind is US$15. Click here to start, or see plans and pricing.