SharePoint 2010 introduced an out of the box workflow for collecting signatures. This workflow is still available in SharePoint 2016, 2019 and SharePoint Online and is a quick way to gather signatures for documents without needing a third-party add-on like DocuSign.

This video walks through setting up a SharePoint library and Word document for signing using the ‘old school’ workflow in Office 365.

The main steps are:

• Activating the ‘Workflow’ Feature in Site Settings \ Site Collection Features of the Site where the Document Library is located.
• Adding the SharePoint 2010 Collect Signatures Workflow.
• Inserting a Signature Box in the Word Document or Word Template

Signatures can be create in the document using either a touch screen device or inserting a scanned signature. Once signed the document is locked to show that it hasn’t been changed since the signature was applied through the signing process.

In my view, this is an easy to implement solution for gathering signatures and signing documents without additional running costs. Implementation effort is less than 15 mins.

This solution is great for internal processes, however if you need to gather signatures from external parties, or have legal requirements then DocuSign is a good solution and can be integrated with SharePoint and PowerAutomate.