How rental contracts work

A contract records the rental agreement and the client's signature. It has a document status and a signature status, and takes its terms from a template.

Before the equipment leaves for a job, most rental companies want the deal in writing: who is renting, what equipment, for which dates, at what price and on what conditions, with the client's signature on it. When a tent comes back damaged or a return is late, that signed page is what both sides go back to.

In Filmo, that page is the contract. Think of it as the rental agreement you used to print and file: it puts the job's lines and prices next to your terms, and once the client signs it, you both have the same copy. Your terms aren't typed on each contract. They live in the , and every contract fills them in with its own data.

Take the Landmark Venues wedding. Once the client has confirmed the quote, you create the contract from the order: it copies the three large frame tents, the 120 Chiavari chairs and the 12 round tables with their prices, prints your terms after them, and goes to the client, who signs it online in your .

A contract isn't a tax document. It doesn't count as revenue or add to the project's profitability, it doesn't collect money, and it doesn't reserve or move stock. Its job is to record what was agreed and that the client accepted it.

Contract statuses and signature status

A contract has two statuses at once. The document status says whether it's still being prepared, issued or voided. The says whether the client has signed. They change separately: signing doesn't change the document, and voiding doesn't erase a signature.

Document status	What it means	What you can do
«Draft»	Being prepared. It has no number yet.	Edit, delete, issue and download it. It can't be sent and the client doesn't see it in the portal.
«Validated» (issued)	Issued: it has its number and is locked.	Send, print, download, mark as signed, void and duplicate it.
«Voided»	No longer valid. It keeps its number.	View, download, print and duplicate it. The portal shows it as voided.

Signature status	What it means	How it gets there
«Pending»	Not signed yet.	Every contract starts here.
«Signed»	The signature is recorded.	The client signs in the portal, or you click «Mark as signed».
«Cancelled»	The contract won't be signed.	The client declines it in the portal. There's no button for it in Filmo.

So a signed contract can still be voided, and a declined one stays issued until you void it.

What each action does

Action	Where	When you can use it	Can it be undone?
«Issue»	The editor	On a draft	No. Void the contract instead.
«Send»	The contract page header	Once issued	Nothing to undo: it changes no status.
«Mark as signed»	The contract page header	Issued and «Pending»	No, only by voiding the contract.
«Void»	«⋯» menu	Issued, signed or not	No.
«Delete»	«⋯» menu	On a draft	No.

The contracts list and contract page

Every contract in your account is under «Sales» → «Contracts» in the sidebar. The status bar switches between «All statuses», «Draft», «Validated» and «Voided», and the filters narrow the list by «Signature status», «Dates», «Client», «Order» and «Project».

The contract page shows the document on the left. On the right, «General information» has the number, the client, the signature status, the dates and the total, and «Related documents» links the order, the project and the quote it came from.
At the top are , «Send» and the «⋯» menu with «Print», «Download», «Edit», «Duplicate», «Void» and «Delete», depending on the status.
On the order, the «Documents» card lists each contract with its number and a badge: «Draft», «Pending» while it waits for the signature, «Signed», «Cancelled» or «Voided».
On a project, «Finances» → «Sales documents» lists its contracts too.

The page of «Contract #CT260011» with a blue «Validated» badge. At the top right are «Mark as signed», «Send» and the «⋯» menu. The contract PDF fills the left: the client, the dates, the tent, chair and table lines, the totals, the «Rental terms» and the signature boxes. On the right, «General information» shows the number, the client «Landmark Venues LLC», the status «Pending», the dates and the total of $6,997.80, and «Related documents» links «Order #260218». — An issued contract waiting for the client's signature.

You want to	Where	How
Prepare the contract of an order	The order's «Documents» card → «Add» → «Contract»	Create and issue a contract
Give it its number and lock it	«Issue», in the editor	Create and issue a contract
Email it to the client	«Send», in the header	Send a document by email
Get it signed online or on paper	The portal, or «Mark as signed»	Get a contract signed
Change an issued contract	«⋯» → «Void», then «Duplicate»	Void a contract and issue a new one
Change how contracts are numbered	«Settings» → «Finances» → «Sales invoicing preferences»	Document numbering series

Add your terms and clauses to contracts

The contract editor has no field for clauses. You write them once in «Settings» → «Document templates» → «Contract», in : formatted text with variables, such as the client's name, the contract dates or the total, that each contract replaces with its own data. The template also decides whether the PDF prints the line table, the totals and the signature boxes.

The «Contract template» editor, on its «Additional information» section. Below «Document title» and «Template language» is «Additional content»: a row of «Dynamic Variables», such as [companyname] and [clientname], a formatting toolbar, and the text “Rental terms” with three numbered clauses. — The clauses in «Additional content» print at the end of every contract made with this template.

In the template editor, a bar of variables inserts each one where the cursor is: your company's and the client's details, the contract number and dates, the amounts (including insurance, deposit and replacement value), the order number and the project.
For different terms for different kinds of job, click «Create template» on the «Contract» tab to add another template, and pick the right one in the editor's «Options». The template marked «Default» is preselected; to change it, open another template's row menu and click «Make default».
You can't add a clause to one contract only. A contract has terms of its own only if it was duplicated from one that had them.
Changing the template doesn't rewrite contracts already issued: each keeps the template version it was created with.

Only administrators with the «Sales» permission in edit mode can change the templates.

Good to know

Creating a contract needs a client. From an order without one, Filmo shows «Customer required».
From an order that has a quote, the contract copies the quote, not the order. Check it before you issue: Create and issue a contract.
Cancelling an order doesn't void its contracts. Void each one yourself.
have contracts too.
NEO, workflows and the public API can issue, record a signature, void and cancel contracts. Only they can cancel a contract without the client declining it.

Up next

Prepare the wedding's contract: Create and issue a contract.