Automate Signatures in Microsoft Power Automate with Zoho Sign

In today’s fast-moving digital world, organizations are constantly looking for smarter, faster, and more secure ways to handle documents and approvals. Traditional paper-based workflows are time-consuming, costly, and inefficient. This is where E-Signatures become essential, transforming how businesses sign, manage, and approve documents with simplicity and compliance.

E-Signatures play a vital role in modern document management by ensuring that approvals are legally valid, securely stored, and instantly accessible. When combined with Microsoft SharePoint and the Power Platform, businesses can create complete document management solutions that handle everything from file storage to approval tracking within one connected environment.

The Power Platform’s low-code tools, especially Power Automate, make it easy to design and maintain document workflows without deep technical expertise. Whether routing a contract for signature, storing it safely in SharePoint, or sending automated reminders, these workflows can be quickly built and adjusted as business needs change.

Adding Zoho Sign brings even more value by removing the complexity of understanding signing regulations and compliance. It offers a secure, legally recognized, and user-friendly way to manage electronic signatures. With Zoho Sign’s legal framework, organizations can automate their signing processes confidently while meeting global e-signature laws. Zoho Sign also integrates smoothly with Power Automate and SharePoint, helping teams focus on productivity instead of manual paperwork.

By combining E-Signatures, SharePoint, Power Platform, and Zoho Sign, businesses can move toward a paperless, efficient, and compliant digital environment where every signature contributes to better workflow automation and smarter collaboration.

Use Case: Automated Contract Signing in SharePoint

In this use case, users select a required contract template stored as a Word document within a SharePoint document library. Once the document is chosen, a Power Automate flow is triggered directly from SharePoint to send the file to the client via Zoho Sign for a secure digital signature.

The workflow includes automatic reminders if the document remains unsigned and sends a notification once the client completes the signing process. The signed document is then automatically saved back into the SharePoint library for easy access and compliance tracking.

This approach streamlines the entire contract process, enabling a fully automated, paperless, and efficient document management experience directly within SharePoint.

Document Templates with Zoho Sign Text Tags

Before automating contract signing, create Word templates in a SharePoint library. Field engineers can add content anywhere in the document, but the last page should contain Zoho Sign text tags.

What are Text Tags?

Text tags are placeholders that Zoho Sign converts into interactive fields, such as signature boxes, text fields, checkboxes, or dates, when sending the document for signing.

Common Text Tags

Tag           Field Type
{{Signature}}  Signature
{{Fullname}}   Full Name
{{Email}}      Email
{{Textfield}}  Text Input
{{Signdate}}   Date
      

For more fields and details, refer to Zoho’s guide: Automatic Field Addition in Zoho Sign.

Power Automate Documentation: Zoho Sign Document Automation Flow

This flow automates the process of retrieving a SharePoint document, preparing it for signature in Zoho Sign, and sending the signature request to the client.

Purpose

This flow automates the process of retrieving a SharePoint document, preparing it for signature in Zoho Sign, and sending the signature request to the client.

Trigger

Manual Trigger – Activated for a selected file in SharePoint.

SharePoint Site: Test
Library: ea0aef50-5a38-46c9-9dbf-83a98a88bc71

Fields

ClientName (Text): Name of the client to receive the document.
ClientEmail (Text): Email of the client for signature request.

Steps

1. Get_file_properties
   Connector: SharePoint
   Purpose: Retrieves metadata for the selected file using the provided ID.
2. Get_file_content
   Connector: SharePoint
   Purpose: Retrieves the binary content of the file from SharePoint using the Identifier from the previous step. Key Output: File content for use in Zoho Sign.
3. Create_a_document_for_signing
   Connector: Zoho Sign
   Purpose: Creates a new Zoho Sign document using the file content and fileName. Configuration: File content: Output from Get_file_content; Document name: Output from Get_file_properties. Important: Ensure the document is saved as Draft to avoid duplicates if the send step is separate.
4. Update_the_properties_of_a_created_request
   Connector: Zoho Sign
   Purpose: Adds request details and recipient information. Configuration: Request Name: From file properties; Expiration: 15 days; Action_type: "SIGN"; Signing_Order: 1; Verification_Type: "None"; Email Reminders: Every 5 days; Recipient Details: Name and Email from the trigger; Sequential Signing: Enabled (signers sign in order).
5. SendSignRequest
   Connector: Zoho Sign
   Purpose: Sends the Zoho Sign request for signature, moving the document from Draft to Sent/In Progress state. Input: Request ID from the Create_a_document_for_signing step.

Conclusion

And that’s it! Once you run your flow, the signer will receive an email from Zoho Sign requesting their signature. The process is fully automated: from retrieving the SharePoint file to creating the Zoho Sign document and sending it out for signature. This workflow not only saves time but also reduces manual errors, ensuring that documents are sent securely and efficiently.

With Power Automate and Zoho Sign working together, you can streamline document approvals, contracts, and any signature-required processes, giving your team more time to focus on what truly matters.

What’s Next

In the next blog, we will explore how to take this workflow even further: automating notifications when a signing is complete, automatically uploading the signed document back to SharePoint, and ensuring your team receives timely alerts. Stay tuned to see how you can make the entire document signing process fully seamless and trackable!