Every paid booking has an agreement between your organization and the professional, and both sides sign it electronically. Signing is what releases the professional's money — so a booking nobody signs is a booking nobody gets paid for.
Find it on the booking, under the Documents tab, or on the event's Documents tab under Booking agreements.
When the agreement appears
The agreement is created once the professional accepts, while the booking waits for payment, so you can read it before you pay. Before then the Documents tab shows "Contract pending — The agreement appears here once the performer has accepted."
You sign it once the booking is paid. Until then the panel says: "Read it before you pay. You sign it once the booking is paid — [name] is paid only after both of you have signed."
At payment the agreement is fixed: ARRIVE records a fingerprint of the file, and that file is never changed again.
Who can sign for your organization
Signing needs the Bookings · Approve permission. By default the Owner, Executive, General Manager and Finance Manager roles have it. To let another role sign, tick Bookings · Approve for that role in Settings → Roles.
A member without that permission still sees the agreement and where the signing stands, with the note: "This agreement isn't signed yet. Someone with booking-approval permission needs to sign it — the performer's payout is held until both parties have."
Reminders to sign
Once a booking is paid and your organization hasn't signed, it shows Sign in your Bookings list, Needs you · Sign the agreement under Coming up, and a line on the event's Next steps card. Overview shows a banner: "1 agreement needs your signature" or "[N] agreements need your signature". Only members who can sign see these. Your event reminders also say whether each side has signed. The professional gets the same kind of reminder on their side.
Signing it
The panel shows both sides — Your organization and the professional — each as Signed with the date, or Not signed. Press Read the agreement (PDF) to read it first; the link is time-limited, so if it has gone stale, reload the booking.
To sign, tick the box:
I have read the agreement and agree to it, and I sign it electronically on behalf of this organization, which I am authorized to bind.
The box is never pre-ticked, and Sign agreement stays disabled until you tick it. Depending on whether the professional has gone first, the panel reads either "The professional's payout is released only after both parties have signed." or "[Name] has signed. Your signature completes the agreement."
Once you have signed and the professional has not, the panel says: "You've signed. Waiting for [name] to sign — their payout is held until they do."
What is recorded
ARRIVE records the date and time of the signature, the IP address it came from, which account signed, and the fingerprint of the exact file that was signed. If the file doesn't match the one fixed at payment, the signature is refused.
On screen and on the signed copy, your side reads "Signed for [your organization]" and the professional's side "Signed by [their name]". Email addresses are never shown, and the IP address is kept by ARRIVE rather than printed.
Signing is final and single-use: a second click never overwrites the original record. If the same person clicks twice, or two people click at once, the first record stands.
The signed copy
Once anyone has signed, ARRIVE makes a signed copy: the original pages plus a signature page showing each side, the signing time and the agreement's fingerprint. The original file is kept unchanged beside it. The links then read View the signed agreement on the booking and Open signed copy on the event.
Both signatures gate the payout
The professional's payout is held until both signatures are on the agreement. If either is missing when the release time arrives, the funds stay with ARRIVE and are released automatically on a later check, as soon as the second signature lands. Nothing is lost by signing late; the money simply waits.
The professional signs from their own ARRIVE dashboard, not from your workspace.
Errors you might see
- "The agreement can be signed once the booking is paid."
- "The agreement isn't ready to sign yet. Try again shortly."
- "This booking was cancelled and can't be signed."
- "Could not record your signature." — nothing was recorded; try again.
What this does not do yet
- No email is sent when the other side signs, and the booking's Timeline tab doesn't log the signing.
- You cannot upload a countersigned copy, add a second signatory, or sign on paper.
- There is no way to amend a signed agreement. A change of price, date or scope means cancelling and booking again.