The latest DocuSign update for Business Central from NAV SEAL brings several new features to the eSignature integration. Specifically, this article covers what changed: attachment support, multi-signer routing orders, carbon copy recipients, and per-report anchor settings. If you use DocuSign in Business Central, this DocuSign update is worth knowing about.
What the DocuSign Update Brings
The NAV SEAL DocuSign integration works with any document type in Business Central. Purchase orders, sales quotes, sales orders – you can send any of them for electronic signature. To start, open the document and go to the DocuSign menu. Select Send with DocuSign and a send page opens. This page pulls the document details from BC and lets you set up the envelope before it goes out.
In previous versions, you could only send the main document. The DocuSign update changes that. Now you can attach extra files to the envelope. You can also add multiple signers with a specific signing order. Furthermore, you can add carbon copy recipients who get a copy without signing. The administration setup also adds per-report anchor options – more on that below.
Each of these features is available from the send page in BC. You do not need to go to the DocuSign portal to set them up. In other words, the whole process stays inside Business Central – from setup to signed document.
Attaching Supporting Documents
The send page has an attachment area at the top. You can upload files there – drag and drop or click to browse. Additionally, there is no limit to how many files you can attach. For example, if you want to include a cover letter, a table of contents, or a product spec sheet alongside the purchase order, you can add all of them.
This feature is useful in several situations. First, it lets you give the signer background context without creating a separate envelope. Second, it keeps all related files in one place. Similarly, if your process requires a terms sheet or a compliance note to travel with the main document, you simply add it before sending. The signer sees all the files in the same DocuSign session.
Supporting Files Are Included but Not Signed
The attached files travel with the envelope, but only the main document gets signed. Specifically, the signer signs the purchase order or sales quote – not the attachments. However, all files are part of the same envelope and are saved together once signing is done. This is useful when you want to give the signer more context, such as a background note or a reference document, without asking them to sign those extra files.
Once the envelope is sent, you can view the attachments at any time from the View DocuSign Envelope page in Business Central. The full audit trail – signers, timestamps, and all attached files – is stored inside BC. In other words, you do not need to go to the DocuSign portal to review what was sent. Indeed, everything is right there in the envelope record.
Setting Up Signers and Routing Orders
The send page has a receivers section at the bottom. For each person, you set their role: signer, carbon copy, or agent. You always need at least one signer. However, you can add as many signers as your process needs. There is no limit to the number of signers.
Each signer has a routing order number. If two signers both have routing order one, they sign at the same time. Both get the envelope at the same moment and sign on their own. If one signer has routing order one and another has routing order two, the order is fixed. First, the routing order one signer gets the document. Once they sign, the envelope moves to the routing order two signer. So the routing order gives you full control over the signing sequence.
You can also mix and match. For instance, you could have two signers on routing order one who sign in parallel, and then one person on routing order two who signs after them. This is useful for structured approval flows. For example, a vendor signs first, and then an internal approver reviews the signed document and adds their own signature.
Carbon copy recipients receive the signed document but do not sign it themselves. You add them the same way – enter the name and email, then set the role to carbon copy. Consequently, when signing is complete, they get a copy. This works well for internal records. For example, you might send a copy to the purchasing manager or to a team inbox, so the signed document is on file without any extra steps.
Per-Report Anchor Settings in the DocuSign Update
The DocuSign Administration page in Business Central has a section called Report Parameters. This is where you control how DocuSign places the signature field on each document. Specifically, an anchor is a word or phrase in the printed document. DocuSign looks for that text and places the signature box near it. You set how far from that text the box should appear using the X and Y offset values.
In previous versions, you could only set one anchor for all reports. That meant every document type used the same anchor text and offset. This worked when all your reports had the same layout. However, that was too limiting for many users. Different reports often have different layouts, and the signature field needed to go in a different spot.
The DocuSign update adds per-report anchor support. You can now set a different anchor for each report. If your purchase order says “Total” near the bottom but your sales quote says “Grand Total” in a different spot, you set them up separately. Moreover, you can still use a default anchor for all reports that do not have a specific setting. Therefore, you only need to set up the reports that differ from the default. This is a practical improvement for teams that send multiple document types with different layouts.
Wrapping Up: DocuSign Update for Business Central
In short, the NAV SEAL DocuSign update is on the NAV SEAL website. You can download it and try it in a sandbox at no cost. Indeed, the only thing you need is a DocuSign account, since the integration links to DocuSign to work. Installation is simple – click install and it runs in Business Central in minutes.
If you are already using the DocuSign integration, updating is straightforward. Specifically, you install the new version the same way you installed the first one. Once it is installed, the new features appear on the send page automatically. In other words, there is no extra setup unless you want to use the per-report anchor settings.
Additionally, NAV SEAL offers help with setup, questions, and custom needs. If you have ideas for how the integration could work better for your team, reach out. Visit navseal.com to learn more or to get in touch.
For more Business Central guides and tutorials, visit NAV SEAL Blog and watch more videos on our YouTube Channel.
