Before you sign: check the final version against the deal

Before you sign, run a compare between their "final version" and the last version you both agreed, and read every change it shows. Then check names, numbers, attachments and any point you settled by email against the checklist below. Sign only when every difference is explained or fixed, and the e-signature request holds that same file.

What are you comparing?

At the signing stage you usually hold three files, and they are easy to mix up.

• Their "final version." The file the other side says is ready to sign. It often arrives as a clean copy with no tracked changes.
• The last agreed version. The most recent file both sides accepted. Anything you settled after it, by email or on a call, goes on a separate list.
• The signing copy. The file inside the e-signature request, often a PDF made from their final version.

The compare runs between the first two files. The checklist catches what a compare can't, such as a point agreed by email that never reached either file.

How do you check the final version?

Check the final version in four steps, in this order.

1. Pick the right two files. The base is the most recent text both sides accepted, whatever the file is called. If you aren't sure which file that is, find the email where they said yes. If no full version was ever accepted, use the last draft you sent and check each settled point separately.
2. Run a compare. In desktop Word for Windows, go to the Review tab, select Compare, then "Compare two versions of a document (legal blackline)." Put the last agreed version under Original document and their final version under Revised document. By default, Word shows what changed in a third, new document and leaves both files untouched.
3. Sort every change, then run the checklist. Use the table further down to decide what to do with each change. Then go through the checklist, because a compare only shows differences between two files.
4. Open the signing copy. Before you sign, open the document in the e-signature request and check the whole of it, attachments included, against the file you compared. A matching page count is only a first check.

If the final version or the signing copy is a PDF, ask for the Word file it was made from and compare that. If there isn't one, read the PDF side by side with the file you compared.

What should be on your pre-signing checklist?

Copy this list into your notes and tick it off against the compared file. Names and figures in brackets are made-up examples.

1. The right two versions. You compared their final version with the last version both sides accepted, and you can point to the email that shows it was accepted.
2. Every agreed point. You listed each point settled after that version: price, payment days, deposit, scope, revision rounds, ownership, liability cap. You found each one in the text.
3. Attachments and SOW. Every exhibit, schedule, statement of work or price list the contract mentions is attached. Each is the agreed version and carries the title the contract uses.
4. Legal names and signers. A company appears under its registered name and entity type [Brindlewick Media, LLC], not its brand [Brindlewick]. A sole proprietor appears under their own name, with any trade name after it. Each signer is named, and the other side has confirmed theirs can sign for the company.
5. Amounts and dates. Fees, currency, payment days, deposit, start date, deadlines, term, renewal and notice periods match the deal. Where an amount appears in words and figures, both say the same thing.
6. The file in the e-signature request. The document you're asked to sign is the one you compared. The attachments are in the same request, or the contract names each one by title and date.

What if the final version doesn't match the deal?

Most differences between the final version and the deal fall into three groups: accept, ask, or send back. A quick test helps. If a change alters what you're paid, what you owe if something goes wrong, or how much work the fee buys, it isn't a tidy-up.

A late change that reopens a settled point is a new redline, whatever the file is called. Our guide to client redlines covers how to push back on one.

One short email can ask about one change and send back another:

Is an e-signature binding?

The US, the EU, and England and Wales all accept electronic signatures in principle. Each rule is narrower than it sounds, so check what it does and doesn't cover.

Four things these laws don't do:

• They don't cover every document. The US federal law doesn't apply to, among other things, wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, or to state rules on adoption, divorce and other family-law matters.
• They don't decide whether you have a contract. They remove one objection, that the signature is electronic. Whether a contract was formed and is valid is still a question for ordinary contract law, and the EU regulation says so expressly.
• They don't force anyone to sign electronically. The US federal law says it doesn't require a person or business to agree to use or accept electronic signatures.
• They don't check the file. None of them confirms that the document you signed is the version you agreed.

What mistakes happen at signing?

Three mistakes are easy to make when you sign, and easy to prevent.

• Signing an old upload. Someone builds the e-signature request from an earlier file, and you sign the version before the last round. Open the document in the request and check it against the compared file first.
• Leaving the attachments out. The main agreement goes into the signing request, but the SOW or price list stays in an email. Ask for every attachment to be in the same request, and have the main agreement name each one by title and date.
• Writing the brand instead of the legal name. In our made-up example, the contract names "Brindlewick," but the company that owes you money is Brindlewick Media, LLC. Use a company's registered name and entity type, or a person's own name. Add the brand as a trade name if you want it there.

When should you get a lawyer?

You can usually check a final version yourself when it matches the deal or differs only in typos and formatting. Get a lawyer when:

• The final version adds a clause you don't fully understand, such as an indemnity, a non-compete or a personal guarantee.
• The other side insists on a late change that moves money or risk, and the contract is large for your business.
• The signing is unusual: you aren't sure the person signing for the other side can bind the company, someone signs under a power of attorney, or the document is a deed.
• The contract crosses borders, or uses the law of a state or country you don't know.
• The document may fall outside e-signature laws, or the other side asks for a witness or a notary.

When is a final check by hand not enough?

A careful compare and the checklist cover most signings. It gets harder when the contract runs long, comes with several attachments, or when you're closing more than one deal in the same week. That's when it's worth having a tool check the final copy against the last version you agreed and give you a clean Word file to sign.

DealMate is an AI contract assistant that takes a deal from first draft to final: describe the deal in a sentence and get a draft built from your templates and clauses; when they send their template, review it from your side and see what's risky; when their redlines come back, compare the versions and see every change and the risk it carries.