Create and Sign Free Contracts and Invoices with FastDue
I've signed a lot of homemade contracts in my day; part and parcel of being in the freelance business is copying and pasting bits of old contracts together and agreeing to work on little more than a handshake. I've found a better solution, though. FastDue is a free online service you can use to create invoices and a variety of contracts, complete with electronic signatures.
While I'd never advocate signing contracts without involving a lawyer (and neither would FastDue, for that matter), the site lets you get a lot of work done without involving one. It comes stocked with a slew of templates for documents like consulting agreements, non-disclosures, finder's agreements, promissory notes, leases, and IP contracts. You can also create invoices, past due notices, and reimbursement documents.
Building a document in FastDue is a snap; it'll pre-populate the file with your personal information (from you free account registration) and you can optionally add your own logo. Clauses can be modified or removed to suit your needs, and you can BCC additional parties such as your lawyer. The recipients can electronically sign the doc to add some legal bindage to your effort, and you're the only one that needs a FastDue account, so you're not pestering clients or partners with requests to sign up for yet another service.
I've already used FastDue to send a few invoices, and I've just signed a consulting contract that I wrote using the site as well. This one looks like a winner.
