Onboard crew with a self-service link

Instead of chasing down a crew member's contact details and a signed agreement by hand, send them a private link. They fill in their own information, optionally upload a W-9, and e-sign your subcontractor agreement, once, covering every booking that follows.

Where to find it

Dashboard → Crew, then click Onboard on a crew member's card (the button reads Resend once an invite is out, or Documents once they have completed it).

Note: Before you can send an invite, set a default agreement under Settings → Crew Agreements. FirstSlate blocks the link until there is something for the crew member to sign.

Send the invite

In the Crew onboarding panel you can:

• Email onboarding link - FirstSlate emails the crew member a private link. You can review the exact email, change the recipient address, and add a personal note before it sends.
• Copy link to share - copies the link to your clipboard so you can send it yourself, by text or however you reach that person.

Either action marks the crew member Invited on the roster.

What your crew member fills in

The link opens a short form with no login required:

1. Your Details - their legal or business name, email, phone, and roles, prefilled from what you already had on file.
2. Tax Form (W-9) - suggested but not required. They can upload a PDF or photo, or check a box to say they will send it later.
3. Subcontractor Agreement - your agreement text, merged with their name and role, which they read and then type their full legal name to sign. That signature is legally binding under the U.S. ESIGN Act and UETA, the same as a handwritten one.

When they submit, the roster status flips to Onboarded and the date they signed shows next to it.

Where their information lands

Their confirmed name, role, email, and phone update the roster row. The signed agreement becomes a permanent record you can open any time from the Onboard panel (now labeled Documents) as View signed agreement (PDF). If they skipped the W-9, or you need one later, use Send W-9 upload link to email them a private upload-only link, no need to send them through the whole onboarding flow again.

Security of tax data

A W-9 carries sensitive tax information (SSN or EIN), so it is stored in a private file location that only your account can reach. FirstSlate never displays it inline, viewing it always goes through View W-9, which opens a short-lived signed link rather than a permanent public URL. On a Studio workspace, a teammate with the Limited role does not see W-9 controls on the Crew page, and viewing an existing W-9 is blocked for that role at the account level too, only the account owner and full-access teammates can open one.

Common questions

Does a crew member need to finish onboarding before I can book them?

No. Onboarding is a soft gate, you can still add anyone to a call sheet and send it regardless of their onboarding status. FirstSlate flags who has not completed it so you can follow up.

What if my crew member does not have an email address?

You can still generate the link and copy it to share manually (by text, for example). Emailing the invite specifically requires an email on file.

Can I edit the agreement they signed after the fact?

No. The signed agreement is a frozen record of exactly what they agreed to at the time. Changing the template in Settings never touches an agreement someone has already signed, but an invite you already sent and that hasn't been signed yet will pick up the change too, since the onboarding link always shows whichever agreement is currently the default. See Crew subcontractor agreements for how templates work.