Create a Power Automate Flow for Electronic Document Signatures: A Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

Microsoft Power Automate, formerly known as Microsoft Flow, is a versatile automation tool that allows users to create workflows to streamline and automate repetitive tasks, saving time and increasing productivity. In this instructional blog post, we will walk you through the process of creating a Power Automate flow to automate the electronic signature process for your documents, making it easier to collect signed documents and keep your business processes moving forward.

Step 1: Sign in to Power Automate

To get started, sign in to your Power Automate account. If you don’t already have an account, you can sign up for a free trial at https://flow.microsoft.com.

1. Go to https://flow.microsoft.com and sign in with your Microsoft account credentials.
2. Once you’re logged in, you’ll be taken to the Power Automate Home page.

Step 2: Create a New Flow

To create a new flow, follow these steps:

1. Click on the “Create” tab in the left-hand navigation menu.
2. Choose the “Automated cloud flow” option, which will trigger the flow whenever a specific event occurs.

Step 3: Set the Trigger

A trigger is an event that initiates your flow. For this example, we’ll set the trigger to start the flow when a new file is uploaded to a specific folder in OneDrive or SharePoint.

1. In the “Build an automated cloud flow” window, enter a name for your flow.
2. In the “Choose your flow’s trigger” search box, type “OneDrive” or “SharePoint,” depending on where your documents are stored.
3. Select the “When a file is created” trigger for OneDrive or the “When a file is created (properties only)” trigger for SharePoint.
4. Click “Create” to proceed.

Step 4: Configure the Trigger

Once you’ve selected the trigger, you’ll need to configure it.

1. Click on the “New step” button to add an action to your flow.
2. For OneDrive, click on the folder icon next to the “Folder” field, and navigate to the folder where your documents will be uploaded.
3. For SharePoint, you’ll need to provide the site address and the library name where your documents are stored. Click on the folder icon next to the “Library Name” field, and select the appropriate library.

Step 5: Add an Electronic Signature Action

Now that your flow is triggered when a new document is uploaded, you’ll need to add an action to request an electronic signature. In this example, we’ll use Adobe Sign, but other electronic signature services, such as DocuSign, can be used as well.

1. Click on the “New step” button to add another action to your flow.
2. In the search box, type “Adobe Sign” or the name of your preferred electronic signature service.
3. Select the “Create an agreement” action for Adobe Sign, or the equivalent action for your chosen electronic signature service.
4. Sign in to your Adobe Sign or other electronic signature service account, if prompted.

Step 6: Configure the Electronic Signature Action

Once you’ve added the electronic signature action, you’ll need to configure it.

1. For the “File” field, click on the dynamic content icon, and select the “Id” property from the trigger step. This will ensure that the uploaded file is used in the electronic signature action.
2. Fill in the required fields, such as “Recipient Email” and “Recipient Role” (e.g., Signer or Approver), using either static values or dynamic content from previous steps.
3. Optionally, you can customize additional settings, such as specifying an expiration date for the signature request, adding a custom message, or defining reminder settings.

Step 7: Add a Confirmation Email Action

After the document has been signed, you may want to send a confirmation email to the signer, yourself, or other stakeholders. To do this, you can use the “Send an email” action in Power Automate.

1. Click on the “New step” button to add another action to your flow.
2. In the search box, type “Send an email” and select the “Send an email (V2)” action from the Office 365 Outlook connector. Note that you may need to sign in to your Office 365 account if prompted.
3. Configure the email action by filling in the “To,” “Subject,” and “Body” fields using static values or dynamic content from previous steps. For example, you can use the signer’s email address as the recipient and include a link to the signed document in the email body.

Step 8: Save and Test Your Flow

Now that your flow is complete, it’s time to save and test it.

1. Click the “Save” button in the top-right corner of the screen to save your flow.
2. To test your flow, upload a document to the folder you specified in Step 4. Your flow should trigger automatically and send a signature request to the specified recipient.
3. Once the document has been signed, the flow should send a confirmation email as configured in Step 7.

Conclusion

By following this step-by-step guide, you can create a Power Automate flow to automate the electronic signature process for your documents, streamlining the collection of signed documents and improving the efficiency of your business processes. With Power Automate, you can easily adapt this example to include additional steps or actions, such as moving the signed document to a different folder, updating a record in a database, or notifying other team members of the completed signature. The possibilities are endless!