Find solution
Is it possible to have a shared document page?

In SaaS sales contracts, what are the pros/cons of putting legal terms and conditions in a linked document, rather than directly in the order form being signed?

  • The CEO of a $10m+ ARR SaaS startup shared the following sales hack with me, and I wanted to get others' thoughts on it, before using this approach myself. Instead of making the buyer of a SaaS service sign at the end of a long (5+) page agreement, he has them sign a 1-page order form, which lists products, description, quantity, start/end dates and pricing. All other details are in a EULA, which is a PDF linked from the 1-page order form. This has the advantage of speeding up sales cycles, as buyers are less likely to want to change a PDF "generic" EULA, vs. passing a longer document through Legal. While this approach speeds things up no doubt, are there any legal concerns such as contract enforceability? (Assume these are $5k - $50k annual contracts)

  • Answer:

    We did exactly this and it worked like a charm. Deals < $50k or so as you note, just linking to the TOCs in a one-page contract EchoSigned on the fly worked great 95% of time.  And almost always works for contracts < $10k or so. Above $50k or so, they are going to want to attempt to redline the TOCs, even if it's a meaningless exercise.  So like it or not, you'll end up sending over the TOCs in Word for the bigger deals ... A One Page Contract (sent via e-signature so unnecessary changes aren't made just to kibbitz) is the way to go for routine transactions.  Eliminates 90%+ of unnecessary back-and-forth.

Jason M. Lemkin at Quora Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

In general, I'm of the opinion that you should always have all of the pertinent pages and documentation in a single package that is signed by the customer, whenever and wherever that is feasible.  For a B2B product, sold by physical signature, that shouldn't be a problem; for a B2C product, it might not be so. The only real issue here is what to do if your EULA is later amended and the business who signs the deal does something that violates the amended terms.  You've got a business records issue now, ensuring that you know which EULA terms each customer agreed to.

Cliff Gilley

No, as long as your (signed) order form testifies that your terms have been read and accepted. If you're really paranoid, you can ask for signed terms. Anyway, two separate PDF or a merged document makes no difference. Imagine that paper version where order and terms would be stapled separately: would this make any difference?

Alain Mevellec

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.