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History, fingerprints and locked documents

Plan: Free and Venue Who: Staff and above can open History. Event coordinators and above can amend. Checked against the app on

The short answer

Press History on any contract or proposal row to see every saved version, newest first. When a client signs a contract it gets a fingerprint and is locked. The row then says “Unchanged since it was signed”, and only an amendment can change it.

Read a document’s history

  1. Open the event, press More, then Contracts or Proposals.
  2. Press History on a row. The number in brackets is how many versions are saved.
  3. Select a version to see what changed. Each shows why it was saved (Created, Edited, Sent to the client, Signed by the client, Accepted, Declined, Voided), who did it and when.

What signing does

When your client signs, the contract gets a fingerprint: a short code worked out from the exact title, text, parties, price lines and amendment number, with the signing time, a hash of the signature and the IP address. The version is locked. The client sees the first 12 characters on their confirmation page and in the email, and can copy it. You see Fingerprint and “Unchanged since it was signed” on the row.

A locked version cannot be edited by anyone, through the app or the database. Edit, Void and Delete disappear. To change what was agreed, press Amend this contract. See Amend a signed contract. An accepted proposal and a paid invoice are locked in the same way.

Contracts signed before history began were sealed afterwards by a background job and are labelled “Sealed (signed before history began)”. Their fingerprint covers the contract as it stood when it was sealed.

What it does not do

  • The fingerprint shows the signed text has not changed. It is not a certificate. Only contracts signed through DocuSign come with one.
  • The history records versions saved by the app. It does not record the email you sent.
  • If a signed contract ever stops matching its fingerprint, the row says “This contract no longer matches what the client signed. Do not rely on the stored text.” Keep your signed copy and contact us.
  • A signed contract cannot be voided or deleted. A proposal that was accepted cannot be edited or resent. Write a new proposal.
  • There is no built-in PDF of a signed contract. A DocuSign contract has the signed PDF.
  • Reopening a signing link after signing shows “You already signed this”, with the date and fingerprint, not the contract text.

Common questions

Can a signed contract be corrected?

Only by an amendment, which the client signs too. The original stays exactly as signed.

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