Getting Started with StretchContracts

StretchContracts is where your organization drafts, signs, and manages every business agreement — from a two-page NDA to a multi-year Master Services Agreement. This guide explains the core concepts, walks you through the dashboard, and gets you to your first signed contract.

Core concepts

Before you create anything, it helps to know the four ideas the app is built on.

• Agreement (contract record). Every contract is a structured record, not just a file. It has a title, a type (NDA, MSA, SOW, and so on), a status, an owner, a value and currency, and key dates (start, end, renewal). Each record is issued a stable contract key — a short identifier like nda-8f2a1c9b04 — that you can reference anywhere.
• Template. A reusable starting point made of sections and merge fields. Drafting from a template means you fill in a handful of blanks (party names, dates, term) instead of writing the whole document.
• Envelope. When an agreement is ready to sign, you turn it into an envelope — the signing package that carries recipients, signature fields, and the audit trail. One agreement can have an envelope sent for signature.
• Status pipeline. Every agreement moves through a defined set of statuses so everyone knows where it stands. See the dedicated Understanding the Contract Status Pipeline article for the full map.

Tour of the dashboard

The dashboard is your command center. Across the top you'll see live metrics drawn from your organization's agreements:

1. Contracts — the total number of active (non-archived) agreements.
2. Active — agreements currently in the active status.
3. Pending approval — agreements sitting in internal review, waiting on someone to approve them.
4. Renewals due — agreements with a renewal date inside the next 45 days that are approved or active. This is the number to watch so nothing renews (or lapses) by surprise.
5. Templates — how many ready-to-use templates are available to draft from.

Below the metrics, a recent agreements list shows your eight most recently updated contracts so you can jump straight back into whatever you were working on. Alongside it, intelligence panels surface renewal-risk and portfolio-risk summaries when those features are enabled for your workspace.

Your first 15 minutes

Follow these steps to go from empty to your first signed agreement.

1. Open StretchContracts from the StretchSuite app switcher. You'll land on the dashboard described above.
2. Browse the template library. Open Templates and look through the starter set — NDAs, MSAs, SOWs, contractor and consulting agreements, offer letters, SaaS and vendor agreements. Open one to preview its sections and merge fields.
3. Create your first agreement. Either draft from a template or create a blank record. Give it a clear title, choose the correct type, and record the value, currency, and key dates. Save it as a draft.
4. Move it through review. When the terms are settled, advance the status to internal review so approvers can see it, then to approved once it's signed off internally.
5. Send it for signature. From the agreement, create an envelope, add your counterparty as a signer, place a signature field, and send. The signer receives a secure link, consents to sign electronically, completes the fields, and submits.
6. Confirm completion. When everyone has signed, the envelope becomes completed and a sealed completion certificate is generated. Advance the agreement to active.

A realistic example

Maya, an operations manager, needs a signed NDA before sharing pricing with a prospective partner. She opens StretchContracts, drafts from the Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement template, fills in both party names, the effective date, and the governing law, and saves the record. She creates an envelope, adds the partner's contact as the sole signer with one signature and one date field, and sends it. Ten minutes later the partner has consented, signed, and the envelope is completed — Maya sets the agreement to active and moves on. Total elapsed time: under fifteen minutes, no email attachments, no printing.

Tips

• Set the renewal date on every agreement that can renew. It's what powers the renewals due metric and all renewal-risk scoring.
• Pick the right type up front. The type (NDA, MSA, SOW, etc.) drives the contract key prefix and groups the agreement correctly in reports.
• Values are entered in your chosen currency and stored precisely. The default currency is CAD; change it per agreement if needed.
• *Draft in draft status. Keep an agreement in draft* until the wording is settled — it signals to the rest of the team that it isn't final.

FAQ

Do I need a separate e-signature account? No. Electronic signature is built in — there's no add-on tool to license or separate login for your signers.

Can my counterparty sign without a StretchSuite account? Yes. Signers receive a secure link and sign in their browser; they don't need an account in the suite.

Where do agreements live? Every agreement is scoped to your organization and stored in StretchContracts. There's nothing to sync from a shared drive.