Getting contracts signed

Your customer gets the contract as a sealed PDF. They sign it on iPhone, iPad or Mac with Markup, or print it and sign on paper, and send it back to you. You drop the signed copy into Folnaro, and Folnaro matches it to the right contract.

How it works

You send the contract, see Send a contract. Folnaro seals the PDF: every page carries the contract number and the fingerprint at the bottom, and the last page, Signatures, also carries a QR code.
Your customer signs in the Signature field on the Signatures page and adds place and date.
They email you the signed PDF or a scan.
You drop the file into Folnaro. Folnaro recognizes the contract, records the copy, sets the status to Signed and tells you whether every page is as you sent it.

Your customer needs no account and no app. Everything they need is already on their device. The Signatures page tells them in one sentence how it works.

The Signatures page with your signature, the empty field for your customer and the QR code.

Your own signature

You can sign yourself before the contract goes out. Save your signature once:

Choose Folnaro > Settings… and click Contracts.
Under Signature, sign in the Sign here area with the trackpad or mouse. Start over clears it.
Click Save Signature. If you already have your signature as a picture on a white background, choose Choose Image… instead.

Folnaro keeps the signature in the Keychain of this Mac. Draw again replaces it, Remove deletes it.

When you send, turn on Sign it yourself first and confirm with Touch ID. Folnaro then places your signature on the Signatures page. If you leave the switch off, your field stays empty, and you sign the PDF yourself or on paper. In the inspector, Your signature under Signature shows whether it’s on it.

How your customer signs

The email with the contract includes short instructions. If your customer asks, you can forward the matching steps from here.

On iPhone or iPad

Tap the PDF in the email.
Tap the pen icon for Markup at the top.
Tap the plus and choose Add Signature. Sign with your finger or Apple Pencil.
On the “Signatures” page, drag the signature into the empty “Signature” field and tap Done.
Tap the share icon and send the PDF back as a reply to the email.

On a Mac

Open the PDF in Preview.
Click the pen icon for Markup, then the signature icon.
Choose a saved signature or create a new one with the trackpad or the camera.
On the “Signatures” page, drag the signature into the empty “Signature” field, save the PDF and attach it to your reply.

On paper

Print the whole contract.
Sign in the empty “Signature” field on the “Signatures” page and add place and date.
Scan every page, for example with the Notes app on iPhone or a scanner, and send the scan back. A clear photo of every page works too.

If your customer prefers to reply by post, scan the pages yourself when the letter arrives and record the scan as described below.

Record the signed copy

There are several ways, depending on where the file is:

Drag the PDF or scan from Mail or the Finder onto the contract’s window.
Drag the file onto the contract list or onto the Folnaro icon in the Dock. Folnaro finds the matching contract itself.
Click Record Signed Copy in the toolbar of Contracts and choose the file. Folnaro finds the matching contract itself here too.
Share the file in Mail, the Finder or on iPhone with Share > Folnaro.
Select the contract, choose Document > Record Signed Copy… (⇧⌘U), choose the file and click Record.

Folnaro records the file right away, sets the status to Signed and reports the result, for example “Signed copy of V-2026-0007 recorded”. The copy then appears in the inspector under Files, next to the sealed version, which stays archived unchanged.

Folnaro matched a scan to contract V-2026-0007 and recorded it.

How Folnaro recognizes the contract

Folnaro looks for three traces in the file, in this order:

Identifier in the PDF metadata: kept when your customer signs the PDF with Markup.
Fingerprint in the file’s text: at the bottom of every page, readable as long as the file contains text.
QR code on the Signatures page: helps with a scan or photo that has no text left.

Folnaro then compares the pages with the version you sent. The inspector shows the result under Page comparison:

All pages as sent: everything except the Signatures page matches.
Pages differ: Folnaro names the pages as soon as it records the file, for example “V-2026-0007 is recorded. These pages differ from the version you sent: 3. Take a quick look.”
Not comparable: for an unclear scan, or if only the Signatures page came back.

If pages differ, look at them. If your customer only wrote a note in the margin, there’s nothing to do. If they changed the text, talk to them. If the file is exactly the version you sent without a new signature, Folnaro doesn’t record it and asks you for the PDF your customer sent back. If Folnaro finds no trace at all, open the contract and drag the file onto its window.

The audit trail

On the Signatures page the PDF you send carries the contract’s fingerprint (SHA-256) and the sentence “The fingerprint and the QR code identify exactly this version of the contract.” Next to it is the signature type: simple electronic signature under eIDAS Art. 3 No. 10.

When you record the signed copy, Folnaro appends an Audit trail to the file that came back. It records:

contract number and parties,
when the contract was sent and the SHA-256 of the PDF sent,
when the file came back and who recorded it,
how it came back, such as drag and drop, the Share menu or an agent,
how Folnaro recognized the contract, the result of the page comparison and the SHA-256 of the returned file.

The pages before the audit trail are the file exactly as it came back. The sealed version and the contract content are attached to the PDF as files. The inspector shows the same details under Signature and History. Copy Fingerprint lets you pass it on, for example when someone wants to check the version.

A fingerprint shows whether a text was changed. It doesn’t show who signed. The signature itself and the email thread in which your customer sent the contract back show that. So keep that email.

What a signature on the PDF is

A signature made with Markup is a simple electronic signature. It’s the most common way to sign contracts digitally, and most work freelancers do needs no particular form: a contract exists once you both agree. The signature records that you agreed and on what.

European law knows three levels:

Simple electronic signature: a signature or a name on an electronic document. This is what Folnaro supports.
Advanced electronic signature: uniquely linked to one person, for example through a verified identity. Folnaro doesn’t create it.
Qualified electronic signature: made with a certificate from an approved provider. Only this one replaces the statutory written form. Folnaro doesn’t create it.

If the law requires the written form for a contract, such as a fixed term in an employment contract or a guarantee, a signature on the PDF isn’t enough. Then you both sign on paper by hand.

Legal background The simple electronic signature is described in Art. 3 No. 10 of the eIDAS Regulation. It may not be denied legal effect or admissibility as evidence solely because it is electronic (Art. 25 para. 1 eIDAS). Only the qualified electronic signature replaces the statutory written form (§ 126a BGB).

Contracts with consumers

If your customer is a private person, such as a couple getting married, and you make the contract by email or at their home, they usually have a 14 day right of withdrawal. Folnaro sees from the customer details whether they are set up as a private person.

Folnaro then attaches the model withdrawal instructions and the model withdrawal form in their official wording. It fills in your details such as name and address.
If the work is to start before the withdrawal period ends, your customer has to ask for that expressly. Folnaro puts two sentences for this above their signature field. They’re on by default and you can turn them off.
Services for leisure activities on a fixed date have an exception from the right of withdrawal. You turn on the notice about it yourself in the fill-in help. Whether the exception fits, you decide.

Legal background The right of withdrawal for distance and off-premises contracts is set out in § 312g para. 1 BGB, the models are in Annexes 1 and 2 to Art. 246a EGBGB. The request for an early start follows from § 356 para. 5 No. 2 and § 357a para. 2 BGB, the exception for leisure services on a fixed date from § 312g para. 2 No. 9 BGB.

How long to keep contracts

Folnaro keeps the PDF you sent, the signed copy and the history together, also after an addendum or a cancellation agreement. Nothing is deleted unless you delete it.

Keep signed contracts for at least six years, or eight if payments are involved. The period starts at the end of the year in which the contract was signed. Reading and exporting always work, even without a subscription.

Legal background Business letters you received or sent are kept for six years, accounting records for eight (§ 147 para. 1 and 3 AO). A contract that belongs to a payment counts as a record too.

The sign link

Note The sign link comes in a later update. It’s turned off in this version. Until then, contracts go out as a sealed PDF, as described above.

With the sign link, your customer gets a link instead of the PDF. They open it on their phone or computer, read the contract, sign with a finger, the mouse or their typed name and get a copy. If they don’t want to sign, they decline and can add a reason. Folnaro fetches the signature itself and records the signed copy on the contract.

Encrypted: Folnaro encrypts the contract on your Mac before it’s uploaded. The key is only in the link itself. The service at sign.folnaro.app only sees encrypted data, sets no cookies and passes nothing on to third parties.
In the EU and only for a while: the data is stored in the EU. It’s deleted no later than 30 days after the time to sign ends.
For consumers: your customer sees the withdrawal instructions, signs with a button that says the order comes with an obligation to pay and can also withdraw through the link. They answer each separate consent with Yes or No.
Agree once first: because the service processes data for you, you accept a data processing agreement under Settings… > Contracts before the first link.

Folnaro adds an audit trail with the service’s times and the browser used to the copy it fetches. A signature through the link is, like one on the PDF, a simple electronic signature, see What a signature on the PDF is. After the trial you can’t create new links. Folnaro keeps fetching signatures for links you already sent.

Common problems

Folnaro doesn’t recognize the scan: The scan contains no text and the QR code on the Signatures page is blurry or cut off. Select the contract and choose Document > Record Signed Copy…, or ask your customer for a sharper scan.
Folnaro reports that pages differ: Your customer changed something in the text or another app rewrote the PDF. The copy is recorded anyway. Look at the pages it names. If the content is the same, there’s nothing to do. If it differs, talk to your customer and write an addendum if needed.
“No contract matches this PDF.”: Folnaro finds no trace of the contract in the file. Open the contract and drag the PDF onto it.
My customer can’t find the signature field: It’s on the last page, Signatures. Forward the steps in How your customer signs.
My signature is missing from the PDF: Sign it yourself first was off when you sent, no signature is saved under Settings… > Contracts, or you canceled Touch ID. The sealed contract stays as it is. Sign the copy your customer sends back yourself, with Markup or on paper.
My customer would like a link to sign: In this version contracts go out as a PDF that can be signed on any device. The sign link comes in a later update, see The sign link.