E‑signatures for coaching contracts: the law, and the tools compared

In the US, the federal ESIGN Act (opens in a new tab) says a signature or contract can’t be denied legal effect just because it’s electronic. It defines an electronic signature as any electronic sound, symbol or process attached to a record and adopted with the intent to sign it. Almost every state has also adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (opens in a new tab), which says the same, and its official commentary notes that a name typed in an email may be enough, and that a website’s click-through counts.

In England and Wales, the Law Commission (opens in a new tab) stated in 2019 that an electronic signature can be used to sign a document as long as the person means to authenticate it and any formalities for that document are met. Courts have accepted a name typed at the bottom of an email and a ticked “I accept” box. UK law also keeps the rule that a signature can’t be refused legal effect just for being electronic.

In the EU, the eIDAS Regulation (opens in a new tab) says the same, and names three levels. A simple electronic signature is any electronic data used to sign, such as a typed name. An advanced one is uniquely linked to the signer and shows any later change to the document. A qualified one is made with a certified device, and it’s the only level the regulation makes equal to a handwritten signature across the EU.

A few kinds of document need more. In the US, ESIGN doesn’t apply to wills, family-law matters or court documents, among others. A coaching agreement isn’t one of them, but if a law where you work requires a particular form for a contract, follow it.

The law asks whether the person meant to sign, and whether the signature is theirs, which can be shown in any manner. In practice that means keeping five things:

• Intent. The client knows they’re signing: a box marked for their signature, and a line saying that typing their name signs the terms.
• Who signed. Their name, and what ties it to them: the email or phone you sent the link to, the IP address and the browser.
• What they signed. The exact wording at the moment they signed, kept unchanged, rather than a link to a page that may have changed since.
• When. The date and time, and that the signature came before the payment.
• A copy for the client. They can read and keep what they signed.

Those are the same things a bank looks at in a dispute: whether your terms were shown, agreed to and signed before the client paid. The chargebacks guide covers what to send.

Signature tools are built for documents of every kind, so the cheapest plans sign and stop there. Coaching platforms sign and take the payment, as part of a bigger system.

With a separate signature tool, the contract and the deposit are two links. A client can pay without having signed, or sign and never pay, and you match the two by hand. When the signature comes first and the payment can’t start without it, there’s one record: these terms, signed by this person, then this payment.

IntakePay works that way on every client link. You paste your terms once, in your own words. Each client answers your questions, reads the terms in full, types their name to sign, and pays the deposit into your own Stripe account. You keep the exact wording, the name, the time, the IP address and the browser, with the payment, and a PDF of the signed copy.