If you've ever found yourself digging through emails or spreadsheets to figure out where a contract stands, you're not alone. Missed deadlines, lost signatures, and radio silence from the other side—it's all too common. If you're using Oneflow or thinking about it, this guide cuts through the noise and shows you, step-by-step, how to actually keep tabs on your contracts and get notified when it matters.
This is for anyone who needs to stay on top of contract status—sales teams, HR, ops, legal, founders, or just the one poor soul who gets stuck chasing signatures.
1. Understanding How Oneflow Tracks Contracts
Before you jump into settings and notifications, it's worth knowing how Oneflow handles contract status behind the scenes. The basics:
- Every contract has a status. Draft, Sent, Opened, Signed, Declined, Expired, and so on.
- The status updates automatically as people interact with the contract or as deadlines pass.
- You can see status at a glance in your contract overview/dashboard. No digging through folders.
What works: The automatic status updates are reliable and pretty much instant. No need to refresh or guess.
What doesn’t: If you’re used to highly customized workflows or want custom statuses, Oneflow can feel a bit rigid. You get the built-in statuses—no changing names or adding your own.
2. Finding and Tracking Contract Status
Let’s get practical. Here’s how to see where your contracts stand:
Step 1: Use the Contract List Dashboard
- Log in to Oneflow.
- Go to “Contracts” in the main menu.
- Here you’ll see a list of all your contracts, with status columns like “Sent,” “Signed,” or “Expired.”
- You can filter by status if you’re only interested in, say, unsigned contracts.
Pro tip: Use filters + search to quickly spot contracts that need your attention (e.g., all “Sent” but not yet “Signed”).
Step 2: Drill Down Into a Specific Contract
- Click any contract to see its full history.
- There’s a timeline of every status change—when it was sent, opened, signed, declined, etc.
- You’ll also see timestamps and who did what. No more “Did they even open it?” guessing.
What to ignore: Don’t overthink the timeline. It’s accurate, but you probably don’t need to check every event—focus on the big ones (sent, opened, signed).
3. Setting Up Notifications (So You Actually Know What’s Happening)
Status tracking is great, but unless you want to check the dashboard every hour, you need notifications. Here’s how to set them up without drowning in alerts.
Step 1: Review Default Notification Settings
By default, Oneflow will email you for major events:
- When someone signs or declines your contract
- When it’s your turn to sign
- When a contract is about to expire
Reality check: The defaults are okay for most people, but if you’re managing a ton of contracts, your inbox can get noisy.
Step 2: Customize Your Notifications
- Go to your profile settings (usually top right > your name > “Settings”).
- Find the “Notifications” section.
- Here you can turn on/off notifications for:
- Contract sent
- Contract signed
- Contract declined
- Contract about to expire
- Comments/notes added
Pro tip: Only turn on what you actually care about. For example: - If you’re a manager, maybe just “signed” and “declined” is enough. - If you’re in legal, you might want to know about expiry dates.
Step 3: Set Up Team Notifications (If Needed)
- If you’re part of a team, admins can set up notifications for the whole group.
- This is useful for shared inboxes or when several people need to know about contract movement.
Limitations: There’s no built-in Slack integration or SMS, so you’re mostly dealing with email. If you want fancier notifications, skip ahead to Step 5.
4. Using Expiry and Reminder Notifications
Contracts don’t just get signed—they can also go stale. Oneflow can remind you before that happens.
Step 1: Add Expiry Dates to Contracts
- When creating a contract, look for the “Expiry date” field.
- Set a realistic deadline (don’t just use the default unless it makes sense).
Step 2: Enable Expiry Reminders
- In the contract’s settings, you can usually set how many days in advance to get a reminder (e.g., 3 days before expiry).
- Oneflow will email you (and optionally others) when the contract is about to expire.
What to ignore: Don’t set reminders for every contract. Only use them for deals where missing the deadline actually matters.
5. Advanced: Integrating Notifications With Other Tools
If you’re already living in Slack, Teams, or a CRM, switching to email for contract updates is a pain. Here’s what’s possible—and what isn’t.
Option 1: Use Built-in Integrations (Where Available)
- Oneflow has integrations with some CRMs (like Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive).
- These can sync contract status and sometimes push notifications into your CRM activity feed.
Reality check: These integrations are solid but not magic. Expect basic status updates, not full-blown notification customization.
Option 2: Use Zapier or Webhooks
- If you want more control, Oneflow supports webhooks and has a Zapier integration.
- You can set up a Zap to post contract events to Slack, Teams, or trigger custom workflows.
Example: When a contract is signed, post a message to a Slack channel.
What to ignore: Unless you really need this, don’t overcomplicate it. Webhooks and Zaps are powerful, but they add overhead and can break if Oneflow or your tool updates something.
6. Dealing With Notification Overload
Getting notified is great—until you’re buried in alerts. Here’s how to stay sane:
- Be ruthless: Only enable notifications for the stuff you’d drop everything to handle.
- Batch your work: Use the dashboard for regular reviews, instead of relying on email pings for every small change.
- Unsubscribe if you need to: Don’t be afraid to turn off notifications that aren’t helping you.
Pro tip: If you miss a notification, don’t panic. The contract status and timeline in Oneflow are always up to date—you won’t lose track.
7. Common Gotchas and How to Avoid Them
No tool is perfect. Here’s what trips people up—and what to do about it:
- Missed emails: Sometimes notifications land in spam or get buried. Whitelist Oneflow’s sender email.
- Multiple roles: If you’re in several workspaces, check notification settings in each one.
- Team confusion: If a team member leaves, make sure someone else is set to receive important notifications.
- Time zones: Reminders go out based on the server time, which may not match your local time. Double-check expiry dates.
8. Quick Reference: What’s Worth Your Time
Here’s what you should actually use:
- Dashboard filters: For a quick pulse on status.
- Signed/declined notifications: For peace of mind.
- Expiry reminders: Only for deals that have real deadlines.
- Integrations: Only if you actually need them—otherwise, keep it simple.
Skip the rest unless your workflow truly demands it.
Keep It Simple (and Adjust as You Go)
There’s no trophy for having the most notifications or the fanciest integrations. Start with the basics: track contract status in the dashboard, set up only the notifications you actually need, and adjust as your process changes. If things get noisy or confusing, dial it back. The point is to make contract management easier—not just to check a box.
If you stick to the essentials in Oneflow, you’ll spend less time chasing signatures and more time moving deals forward. And honestly, that’s the whole point.