User guide

Contracts

invoiceguard project create generates a contract as markdown and stores it with the project. The contract is the legal backbone of the whole flow: it contains the late-fee clause that the day-15 dunning email quotes.

What's in the contract

• Parties and scope — client name/email, project title, date.
• Fee and deposit — total fee, deposit percentage and amount. The deposit is collected through a Stripe payment link.
• Late-fee clause — if an invoice is unpaid after the grace period, a late fee of late_fee_pct% per month applies on the overdue balance, compounding monthly until paid.
• Sign-off — the client signs electronically (typed name + drawn signature); the exact signed text is hashed (SHA-256) and stored as tamper evidence.

Defaults: 50% deposit, 1.5%/month late fee, 15-day grace — all adjustable per project with --deposit-pct, --late-fee-pct, --late-fee-grace-days.

E-signature

Since v0.3.0, the client can sign the contract electronically instead of (or in addition to) acknowledging via the deposit link:

invoiceguard project sign-request 3     # prints a one-time signing link
# send the link to the client while `invoiceguard dashboard` is running
invoiceguard project sign-status 3      # pending / signed + signer + hash

The signing page (/sign/<token>) renders the contract, and the client types their full name and draws a signature (mouse or touch). On submit, InvoiceGuard stores:

• the signer's typed name,
• the drawn signature image (PNG data URL),
• the SHA-256 of the exact contract text at signing time — tamper evidence proving what was signed,
• the signing timestamp.

Signing flips contract_ack to 1 (a signed contract IS the acknowledgment) with contract_ack_at = signing time. The link is single-use: after signing it shows a receipt instead of the form. Re-running sign-request while a request is still pending returns the same link rather than orphaning it.

The older acknowledgment path

Before e-signature, acknowledgment was recorded when the deposit link was paid (or manually with project ack / --ack on create). That path still works: invoiceguard project ack <id> records the acknowledgment with a timestamp. project list shows ack / no-ack per project.

Honest limits

• The e-signature is a browser-captured typed/drawn signature stored locally with a tamper-evidence hash — it is NOT a qualified third-party e-signature service (DocuSign/HelloSign). Legal weight varies by jurisdiction.
• Late-fee enforceability varies by jurisdiction. The clause is a contractual starting point, not legal advice. Adjust the percentage and grace days per project.