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Website sign-off record
1. Project and version
- Project name, client, agency
- The exact state being accepted: staging URL / version / date of the reviewed build
- Reference to the underlying agreement (proposal/contract date)
2. Scope of the acceptance
- What is being accepted (the website / phase / deliverable)
- What is explicitly not part of this acceptance (e.g. content still owed by the client)
3. Open points and their classification
- List of known open points at acceptance
- Each classified: minor defect (to be fixed within X days) or wish (change request)
- Agreed deadlines for the minor defects
4. Declaration of acceptance
- The sentence that does the work: “The client accepts the deliverable described above as fulfilling the agreement, subject to the open points listed.”
- Consequences noted: final invoice due, warranty periods start per the contract
5. Signatures
- Name, role and signature of the client-side approver (one accountable person)
- Name and signature for the agency
- Place, date — and ideally a timestamped digital record
The two lists that decide whether it holds
A sign-off lives or dies on block 3. Minor defects — the site doesn’t yet fully meet the agreement — get fixed within a named window, inside the project. Wishes — the agreement is met, the client wants more — become change requests with their own price. An acceptance that leaves this line blurry hasn’t ended the project; it has postponed the argument to the invoice.
Equally important: the exact version. “The website” is not acceptable wording — “staging.client.com as of July 13, build v2.4” is. When something changes after acceptance, the version line answers who owns the change.
Or let the record write itself
In bepeq, the sign-off is one click for your client — and the timestamped PDF record with version, approver and open points generates itself. The review rounds before it live in the same place, so the record is complete without anyone assembling it.
Start bepeq for freeSign-off record generated automatically
Version: staging.clientsite.com
Jul 8, 2026 · 2:32 PM · IP recorded
2 open points (category B) with a deadline
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About this template
Created by David Malewski, founder of bepeq (DAMA Solutions GmbH), based on real project acceptances in web projects. Free to use and adapt — it does not replace legal advice on the acceptance clauses of your specific contract. Last updated July 13, 2026.
Common questions about website sign-offs
What is a website sign-off?
The website sign-off is the client’s formal declaration that the delivered website fulfills the agreement — documented with the exact version, the open points and their classification, the consequences (final invoice, warranty start), and the signature of one accountable person. It’s the document that turns “we’re basically done” into done.
Why does a sign-off need to be documented?
Because the sign-off changes real obligations: payment becomes due, responsibility for the live site shifts, and later wishes become change requests instead of blockers. Undocumented, all of that rests on memory — and memory is exactly what parties disagree about when money is involved.
Can a website be signed off with open points?
Yes — that’s normal and healthy. The record lists the open points and classifies each: minor defects the agency fixes within an agreed window, and wishes that become billable change requests. What must never happen is an acceptance with an *unwritten* list of open points.
Who should sign the sign-off?
One accountable person on the client side — whoever carries the budget authority for the project. Committees comment during the review rounds; the signature is singular. On the agency side, whoever is responsible for delivery countersigns.
Is a digital sign-off valid?
For most B2B web projects, a documented digital acceptance — a timestamped record of who approved which version — does the practical job: it evidences the decision. Whether specific legal form requirements apply to your contract is a question for a lawyer; the record that any answer relies on is what this template (and bepeq automatically) produces.