Loan agreement and promissory note (IOU) template
A lender lends money and the borrower promises to repay: interest and fees as blanks, repayment schedule, default. A sample contract you can read in full, edit in QuoteBill and sign online with a secure link.
Sample — review with a lawyer · Simple electronic signature with an audit trail
Who it is for
For a business or person lending money to another, such as a shareholder loan or a loan to a friend’s business, who wants amount, repayment, any interest and an acknowledgement of the debt in writing.
Interest limits, lending licences and consumer credit rules differ by country and can make a loan void or unenforceable; the parties must check them before lending.
What it covers
13 clauses, in this order. Each one is in the sample text below, and you can edit, remove or add clauses before you send.
1. Purpose
What the agreement is for: it records a loan and the Borrower’s promise to repay it, and serves as the Borrower’s written acknowledgement of the debt.
2. Loan amount and payout
Blanks for the amount, the payout date and the Borrower’s account, and for the purpose if one is stated. The loan is made when the money arrives.
3. Interest
A blank for the rate per year and how it is paid. If nothing is written, the loan is interest-free. Any interest must stay within the limits of the law.
4. Fees and costs
A blank for any fee, such as an arrangement fee, or none. Each side pays its own cost of drawing up the agreement.
5. Repayment
Blanks for the schedule, one payment or instalments, and the Lender’s account. A payment counts when it is credited. Payments go first to costs, then to interest, then to the loan.
6. Early repayment
The Borrower may repay early. A blank states any charge, and interest then runs only to the day of payment.
7. Late payment and default
A late payment may be followed by a reminder and a set number of extra days. Blanks, left as none or filled in, set the events of default, what follows and any interest on late amounts.
8. Acknowledgement of the debt
The Borrower acknowledges owing the loan and any written interest and fees, and promises to repay as agreed.
9. Security and guarantees
A blank for any collateral or guarantee, which the parties then record in a separate document. None is set by default.
10. Legal compliance
The loan is made as the law allows. Each side is responsible for the rules that apply to it, such as interest limits, lending licences, consumer credit and tax, and does not rely on the other to check them.
11. Transfer
Neither side may pass its rights or duties to someone else without the other’s written or electronic consent.
12. Changes and notices
This contract is the whole agreement on the loan. Changes need both sides’ written or electronic agreement, and notices go to the addresses stated.
13. Governing law and disputes
The law you name applies. The sides first try to settle a dispute in good faith, and otherwise the courts you name decide.
There is no price schedule: this agreement involves no payment.
The sample text
The whole sample, as QuoteBill starts it. Text in double square brackets, like [[10]], is a blank to fill in or check, and QuoteBill does not let you send a contract while one is left. The clause text is written in English, Korean, Japanese and German; in other languages a contract starts in English for you to translate.
Read the sample text
Loan Agreement and Promissory Note
Parties: Lender · Borrower
1. Purpose
This agreement records a loan from the Lender to the Borrower and the Borrower’s promise to repay it. It also serves as the Borrower’s written acknowledgement of the debt.
2. Loan amount and payout
The Lender lends the Borrower [[Amount and currency]] (the “Loan”). The Lender pays the Loan out on [[Date]] to this account of the Borrower: [[Account details]]
The Loan is made when the money reaches the account, and the Borrower confirms receipt in writing or in electronic form on request.
Purpose of the Loan, if one is stated: [[Purpose, or none]]
3. Interest
Interest on the Loan: [[none / the rate per year, how it is calculated and when it is paid]]
If no rate is written here, the Loan is interest-free. Any interest stays within the limits the law allows.
4. Fees and costs
Fees for the Loan, such as an arrangement fee: [[none / the fees and when they are due]]
Each party bears its own costs of preparing this agreement.
5. Repayment
The Borrower repays the Loan as follows: [[Repayment schedule, e.g. one payment of the full amount on a date, or monthly instalments of an amount from one date to another]]
The Borrower pays to this account of the Lender: [[Account details]]
A payment is made when the amount is credited to the Lender’s account. Payments are applied first to costs, then to interest, if any, and then to the Loan.
6. Early repayment
The Borrower may repay all or part of the Loan before it is due. Charge for early repayment: [[none / the charge]]
Interest, if any, is then charged only up to the day of payment.
7. Late payment and default
If a payment is not received on its due date, the Lender may remind the Borrower in writing or in electronic form and set a further period of [[7]] days to pay.
Events of default: [[none beyond the missed payment / the events of default]]
Consequences of default: [[none beyond the reminder / e.g. the Lender may require the whole outstanding amount to be repaid at once]]
Interest on late payments: [[none / the rate, where the law allows it]]
8. Acknowledgement of the debt
The Borrower acknowledges that it owes the Lender the Loan and any interest and fees written in this agreement, and promises to repay them as agreed.
9. Security and guarantees
Security or guarantee for the Loan: [[none / describe any collateral or guarantee, which the parties record in a separate document]]
10. Legal compliance
The Loan is made as the law allows. Each party is responsible for following the rules that apply to it, such as interest limits, lending licences and registration, consumer credit rules and tax, and neither relies on the other to check them.
11. Transfer
Neither party may transfer its rights or duties under this agreement to anyone else without the other’s consent in writing or in electronic form.
12. Changes and notices
This contract is the entire agreement between the parties on the Loan. Changes are valid only if both parties agree to them in writing or in electronic form. Notices are given to the addresses stated for the parties, or to another address a party has notified.
13. Governing law and disputes
This agreement is governed by the law stated under Governing law. The parties will first try to settle any dispute in good faith. Otherwise the courts stated under Jurisdiction decide, unless mandatory law provides otherwise.
Governing law
[[Country or state whose law applies]]
Jurisdiction
[[Courts that decide disputes, e.g. the courts of your city]]
How to use it
Choose the template
Press the button to use this template. If you are not signed in, you first sign in or sign up for free and then come straight back to it.
Start a draft
The new-contract page opens with this template marked. Press its card to create a draft. Your company details fill in Party A, and you fill in the blanks, the other party and, where the template has one, the price schedule.
Send it for signature
You sign first, then send each signer a secure link and, by another route, an access code. Signers need no account.
Next steps
Your client opens the link on any device and needs no account. See what the signing looks like on the E-Contracts page, and read which kind of electronic signature is enough for which document.
What it is, and what it is not
QuoteBill creates a simple electronic signature with an audit trail. In the EU, the UK, the US and Korea a signature is not denied legal effect only because it is electronic, and in Japan most contracts need no particular form at all. What a simple electronic signature proves in a dispute depends on the evidence behind it, and some documents need another form.
It is not a qualified or advanced electronic signature, and QuoteBill does not verify who the signers are. It records the use of the link and access code you delivered, so anyone who has both can sign. The signature certificate lists every link issued and, for each action by the sender or a signer, its IP address and browser where they could be read.
Some documents need another form. Wills, many real-estate transfers, guarantees and some employment documents must, in some countries, be handwritten, notarised or signed with a qualified signature. The templates are samples, not legal advice: review them with a lawyer.
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