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Once the merchant picks an offer, the contract phase runs through three steps: ask the lender for contracts, share them with the merchant, and collect the signed copy. Separately, you can have the owner sign the application in the merchant portal. Anyone who can work the deal can do this. Emails go from a connected mailbox, see Email senders.

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1. Request contracts from the lender

1

Open Request Contracts

On the deal’s Offers & Contracts tab, click Request contract beside the primary offer. For any other offer, choose Request contracts in its ⋯ menu.
2

Fill in the email

  • From: the mailbox to send from.
  • Send To: Reply to submission thread keeps it in the same email thread as your submission to that lender (when there is one), or send to the lender’s address.
  • Subject Line and Email Body: start from your Request Contracts template (Settings → Templates → Request Contracts) with the offer’s details filled in. Edit freely.
  • Attachments: optionally tick deal documents to include. They go out the way a submission’s do: bank statements as their watermarked copy, and each PDF carries the document reference of your submission to that lender.
3

Send

The primary card shows Contracts requested … · waiting on the lender. The deal’s activity log records it, and your pipeline can move the deal when a stage is set up for contracts requested, see Pipeline stage events.

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2. Contracts arrive

When the lender replies to the request with the contracts attached, NextLevel MCA picks them up from your mailbox:
  • PDF and Word attachments are saved on the deal’s Documents tab in the Contracts folder. Inline images in the email are ignored.
  • The primary card changes to Contracts received … · N files in Contracts.
  • The deal’s activity log records it, and the deal’s rep gets an email.
The reply must come back in the thread of your request, or be matched to that lender’s submission. If the lender sends the contracts some other way, upload them yourself: Upload files on the Documents tab, with the type Contract. Receiving contracts doesn’t move the deal’s pipeline stage.

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3. Share the contracts with the merchant

1

Open the Contracts folder

On the deal’s Documents tab, click Contracts.
2

Share each contract

Open the contract’s ⋯ menu and choose Share with merchant. It shows an In portal pill. Remove from portal takes it back out.
3

Send the portal link

Sharing doesn’t notify the merchant. Send them the portal link from Portal link in the deal header, see The merchant portal.
In the portal’s Contracts tab the merchant downloads each contract, signs it, and uploads the signed copy. The signed copy appears in the deal’s Contracts folder with “signed” added to its name and a Signed copy pill, and the original shows how many signed copies came back. The deal’s rep is notified, and the activity log records it.

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Get the application signed

This is for the funding application itself, not the lender’s contracts.
1

Request the signature

On the deal’s Documents tab, click Request signature. It asks the business owner to sign.
2

Send the portal link

The portal link window opens so you can text or email the owner their link.
3

The owner signs

In the portal’s Signature tab, the owner enters their name and signs.
While you wait, the button reads Signature requested with Waiting on the owner’s name and a Cancel link. Once they sign:
  • The application PDFs are regenerated with the signature, and the signed version appears under Documents.
  • The button shows Signed by their name, and becomes Request new signature if you need them to sign again.
  • The deal’s rep is notified, and the activity log records it.
You can cancel a request until the owner has signed. More than one owner. Each owner can have their own request waiting, and the Documents tab shows Waiting on each of them. Asking the same owner again replaces their earlier request; asking another owner leaves the first one open. In the portal, each owner’s link opens on their own request, and once one owner signs, the next request appears. If you remove an owner from the deal, their waiting request is cancelled and the activity log says so.

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Common problems

The reply has to be matched to your request: ask the lender to reply to the contract request email. Also check that the mailbox you sent from is still connected, see Reconnecting a mailbox. Otherwise, download the files from your email and upload them with the type Contract.
Only documents of type Contract can be shared this way. Check the file is in the Contracts folder as a contract.
Check each contract shows In portal, then send a fresh portal link. Links last 24 hours.
Connect a mailbox under Settings → Senders, see Email senders.