How does a remote staffing business get contracts signed across borders?

Which platform do you use, and why?

"We previously used SignNow but recently switched to Sign.com because SignNow had become too expensive for our needs. Cost was the main reason for reconsidering the platform."

Nexteam's experience reflects a pattern that comes up regularly in distributed businesses, that the platform chosen at launch does not always remain the right fit as the business grows and usage patterns become clearer. SignNow is a capable platform, but its pricing structure pushed Nexteam to look elsewhere. Sign.com is a newer entrant to the market and not yet reviewed on this site.

What does your contract signing process look like in practice?

"We handle agreements with both clients and talent in an international, remote-working environment. The client or talent signs first, and Nexteam countersigns second. We prepare the contract in Word and upload it to the signing platform."

The sequential signing model, where one party signs, then the other countersigns, is standard for service agreements and employment contracts. Most e-signature platforms handle this through a defined signing order, which also means the audit trail records each signature separately with its own timestamp and IP address.

For how that record works in practice, see What is an audit trail for e-signatures?

What were the main challenges you needed the platform to solve?

"Our contracts involve people working in different locations, so we need a practical way to complete agreements remotely. The core requirement is straightforward: the other party signs, then we countersign, without needing everyone in the same place."

For a business operating across multiple countries, the alternative to electronic signing is a process that depends on couriers, local printing facilities, and significant delays. The distributed workforce trend has made this kind of remote signing workflow standard rather than exceptional in finance and accounting recruitment.

Has anything required workarounds?

"The main friction is correcting a contract after uploading it. In our experience with both SignNow and Sign.com, we have had to cancel the signing request, change the original document in Word and upload it again. A small wording change can therefore create several administrative steps."

This is a useful and underreported limitation of most e-signature platforms. Once a document is uploaded and a signing request sent, editing the document requires cancelling the entire request and starting again. The signed version is locked to prevent tampering — which is the point — but it means pre-signature corrections carry a disproportionate administrative cost. Sergio's advice on this is worth taking seriously before committing to any platform.

What would you tell another distributed business considering the switch?

"Test the correction process, not just the signing process. Upload a sample agreement and see what happens when you need to change a clause or replace the document before signing is complete. Also, compare the subscription cost with what your business actually needs. For us, pricing was enough to trigger a switch, but the document-correction friction remained."

Most e-signature platforms are priced for volume and features that smaller or mid-size distributed businesses do not always need. Testing the edge cases, not just the straightforward signing flow, before committing to a platform is sound advice.

As Sergio puts it: "The signature is the easy part. The real test is what happens when the contract needs one more change."

Nexteam can be found at nexteam.io