Contracts 101: Effective Date of the Contract

[Samantha M.]

Have a question regarding the effective date of the contract. For instance, lets say I wrote up a contract yesterday, Thursday July 19th 2012.

The last party to sign the contract is today, Friday July 20th 2012. That means the contract and it options period begins the next working day? Which would mean the effective date of the contract is the following Monday?

Thanks in advance