You Pay $5,760/Year for DocuSign: Use Odoo 18 Sign Module Instead

Your sales team sent 847 contracts last quarter via DocuSign. Cost: $40/month per user × 12 users = $480/month = $5,760/year. Plus the time: Each contract takes 8 minutes to upload, configure fields, send, track. That's 113 hours per quarter just managing signatures.

Worse: Your HR manager printed 23 employment contracts, drove to candidates' homes for wet signatures because "they didn't understand DocuSign." Cost of printing, driving, time: $840. One candidate didn't sign for 11 days because the contract was "lost in their car." You missed your headcount target that quarter.

Plus you're paying for DocuSign AND Odoo. Two separate systems. Sales contracts live in DocuSign, but order data lives in Odoo. Your CFO has to manually match signed contracts to Odoo sales orders. 4.2 hours per week reconciling systems.

Odoo 18 Sign module does what DocuSign does, but it's already inside your ERP. Send contracts from Sales, HR contracts from Employees, vendor agreements from Purchases—all tracked in one place. Here's how to use it without switching tools 47 times per day.

What Odoo 18 Sign Actually Does

Electronic signature module built into Odoo. Upload PDFs, add signature fields, send to recipients, track status. Legally binding (eIDAS, ESIGN compliant). No external subscriptions needed.

Step 1: Access Odoo Sign

Odoo Sign is part of Odoo 18 Enterprise. If you don't see it, you need Enterprise license.

1. Go to Apps menu
2. Search: "Sign"
3. Click Install
4. Sign module appears in main menu

Step 2: Understanding the Dashboard

The Sign module has 4 main sections:

Step 3: Send Your First Document

Quick Send (One-Time Document)

1. Open Sign app
2. Click "Upload a PDF & Sign"
3. Select your PDF (e.g., sales contract)
4. PDF opens in editor
5. Drag signature fields onto document:
   • Signature: Full signature
   • Initial: Initials only
   • Text: Name, company, title
   • Date: Auto-fill signature date
   • Checkbox: "I agree to terms"
6. Assign fields to roles (Customer, Employee, etc.)
7. Click "Send"
8. Enter recipient email
9. Add message (optional)
10. Click "Confirm"

Recipient gets email with link. They click, sign, done. You get notification when signed.

Step 4: Create Reusable Templates

If you send the same contract repeatedly (NDAs, employment offers), create a template.

Create Template

1. Go to Sign → Templates
2. Click "Upload a PDF & Sign"
3. Upload your template PDF
4. Add signature fields (same as Step 3)
5. Click "Save as Template"
6. Name it: "NDA Template" or "Sales Contract Template"

Use Template

1. Go to Sign → Templates
2. Find your template
3. Click "Send" button
4. Enter recipient email
5. Click "Confirm"

Template is reused. No need to re-place signature fields every time.

Step 5: Configure Signing Rules

Go to Sign → Configuration → Settings to customize behavior.

Key Settings

Step 6: Define Roles

Roles determine who needs to sign and in what capacity.

Create a Role

1. Go to Sign → Configuration → Roles
2. Click Create
3. Enter role name: "Customer", "Employee", "Manager", "Vendor"
4. Select authentication: None, Email, SMS
5. Save

When creating documents, you assign signature fields to these roles. Example: "Customer signature" field assigned to "Customer" role.

Real-World Example: Sales Contract Workflow

Integration with Other Odoo Modules

The power of Odoo Sign is native integration. No APIs, no Zapier, no manual data entry.

Audit Trail & Legal Compliance

Every signature includes a detailed audit trail (required for legal validity).

Environmental Impact Reporting

Odoo Sign tracks how much you've saved by going paperless.

Go to Sign → Reports to see your ecological savings:

Common Mistakes That Break Signing

ROI: Odoo Sign vs DocuSign

Quick Implementation Checklist