Build contract templates with fillable form fields for signatures, dates and text inputs. Generate personalized contracts via the visual editor or REST API.
Contracts need proper page layout, consistent headers and footers, page numbers, and interactive form fields for signatures. Most PDF tools handle text well but break down at form fields and multi-page legal formatting.
Quaterio handles the full contract workflow. Design your template with proper legal margins, headers with your logo, page numbers, and form field placeholders for signatures, dates and text inputs. Variables handle the party names, terms and amounts.
Available on Business plan and above.
Generating contracts is half the work. The other half is signing, versioning, and making sure the document holds up legally and operationally. Here is how each part fits.
Quaterio supports fillable PDF form fields: signature areas where the recipient can draw or type, date fields, checkboxes, dropdowns. This works for low stakes internal forms and contracts where the parties trust each other.
For contracts that need cryptographic e-signatures with audit trails (legally binding under eIDAS in the EU, ESIGN Act in the US), integrate a dedicated e-signature platform such as Documenso, DocuSign, or an eIDAS qualified provider in the EU, wired up via the API. Native e-signature integration is on the Quaterio roadmap; today the PDF is rendered by Quaterio and signed elsewhere.
A contract with three signatories (provider, client, witness) requires a sequence: provider signs first, sends to client, client signs and returns, witness countersigns. Quaterio renders the PDF; the routing through signatories is handled by your e-signature platform (Documenso, DocuSign, etc.), wired up via the API.
For internal only multi stage approval (legal reviews, then CFO approves, then signed by CEO), generate the PDF once at the end of the approval chain. Keep approval state in your workflow tool, not in the document.
Negotiation redlines (counterparty edits, counter proposals) live in a contract negotiation tool like Ironclad, Juro or Concord, not in Quaterio. The typical pattern: negotiate in the redlining tool, finalize the language, then generate the final PDF for signature from Quaterio.
Quaterio tracks version history on templates and documents on the Business plan. Every save is a snapshot, you can compare any two versions side by side with a block level diff, and one click restore brings any prior version back. For legal teams that need to know which template language was current on a given date, the audit history is the source of truth.
Contract templates hold a lot of variable content: party names, addresses, payment amounts, term lengths. Variable content is sanitized before rendering to prevent markup injection, with appropriate handling for plain text, HTML and markdown content types.
For contracts generated from internal data (CRM, billing system), the variable content is typically trusted. For contracts generated from external input (a webform on your site, a partner supplied JSON payload), validate the inputs at your API layer before calling the contract generation endpoint. Defense in depth.
Date format is a function of contract jurisdiction. US contracts use MM/DD/YYYY; UK and most of Europe use DD/MM/YYYY; ISO 8601 (YYYY MM DD) is unambiguous and increasingly common in B2B. Pass the formatted string from your billing system rather than relying on Quaterio to format dates. The system that knows the customer jurisdiction is your CRM or billing.
For contracts with multiple dates (effective date, end date, renewal date, signature date), pass them as separate variables. Renewal logic, whether the contract auto renews and when notice must be given, belongs in your contract lifecycle management, not in the PDF.
A well rendered PDF with proper signature blocks is widely recognized as a valid contract in the US, UK, Canada, EU and most of Asia. The legal validity depends primarily on the contract language, the parties' authority to sign, and the-signature method, not on the rendering tool.
For jurisdictions with formal signature requirements (notarization, witnessing, qualified e-signatures), those steps happen outside Quaterio. The PDF is the document; the signing infrastructure (Documenso, DocuSign, qualified trust service providers in the EU) provides the legal seal.
For international agreements, contracts often need a primary language and a translated version side by side. Two patterns work: separate PDF per language (cleaner, easier to maintain), or a single PDF with two column layout (saves paper, harder to lay out cleanly).
For the side by side pattern, the two column block in Quaterio handles parallel text. For the separate PDFs pattern, use the same template with a `lang` variable that switches all static legal language (governing law clauses, dispute resolution, etc.).
Most jurisdictions require contracts to be retained for at least the statute of limitations on contract disputes (typically 6 years, sometimes more for tax related contracts). Archive the signed PDF in your own contract management system as soon as it is generated; do not depend on the rendering service for long term retention.
For audit grade record keeping, store the variable data and the generated PDF together. That pair lets auditors or counsel reconstruct exactly what was signed.
Counterparties expect a clean, signable PDF: not a Word document with tracked changes, and not a link to an editor they have to sign up for. Quaterio's output is a self contained PDF; share the download URL directly or attach the file to your existing signature flow.
After signing, both parties should have a copy. Your e-signature platform handles automatic distribution of signed copies to all parties; for manual workflows, build the post signature distribution into your sales ops process.
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