How to send a master service agreement (MSA) for signature
A master service agreement is the document that lets you stop renegotiating the same terms on every project. Get one signed with a client and future work can start on a short statement of work instead of a fresh contract. Here is what an MSA is and how to send one for signature the clean way.
What an MSA is and why it speeds up future work
An MSA sets the standing terms between two parties — things like payment terms, liability, confidentiality, intellectual property, and how disputes are handled. It deliberately leaves out the specifics of any one project.
Those specifics live in a separate SOW or order form that references the MSA. Because the heavy legal terms are already agreed, each new engagement only needs its own scope, timeline, and fee. That is why an MSA is worth the effort once: it removes the contract bottleneck from every project that follows.
Sign the terms once, then let each project ride on a one-page SOW. The MSA is the investment; every fast start after it is the return.
Before you send: get the details right
An MSA is a two-sided legal document, so a few things are worth checking before it goes out.
- Parties. Use the correct legal entity names for both sides, not trading names.
- Signatories. Confirm who is authorised to sign for each party. The wrong signer can undermine the whole agreement.
- Final version. Make sure you are sending the agreed draft, with any negotiated redlines already incorporated.
How to send an MSA for signature
Once the document is final, sending it is straightforward.
- Upload the final MSA and place signature, name, title, and date fields for each party.
- Add both signatories. An MSA needs a signer on each side, so add the right person for each party.
- Set the signing order. Decide whether both sign in parallel or in sequence — for example, the client signs first, then your side countersigns. A defined order keeps a multi-party document tidy.
- Send the secure links. Each signatory signs in the browser with no login, no app, and no password.
Our service agreements solution is set up for exactly this kind of two-sided document. If you are a SaaS business handling MSAs alongside subscription terms, the SaaS solution covers that combination.
Keep a provable executed copy
An MSA can govern a relationship for years, so the executed copy needs to be more than a PDF in an inbox. If a question comes up later about who signed, in what capacity, or whether the terms were altered, you want evidence, not memory.
Every MSA completed through Signet comes with:
- A tamper-evident audit trail recording each signatory's actions and timestamps.
- A certificate of completion binding both parties and the exact document together.
- Independent verification, so either side can confirm the executed copy is authentic and unchanged.
Signet is aligned with eIDAS, the ESIGN Act, and UETA, documents are encrypted at rest with UK and EU data residency, and they are never used to train AI. You can verify any completed MSA at any point in the future.
The clean way, summarised
Get the entities and signatories right, send the final version with a clear signing order, and keep a verifiable executed copy. Do that once and every project with that client afterwards starts faster — which is the whole reason to have an MSA in the first place.
Signet is in private beta, request early access and send your first sealed agreement free.