Welcome to PandaDoc! This article is designed to assist you in transitioning from DocuSign.

As you probably realize, DocuSign’s workflow is modeled after the typical mail concept. You start with an envelope, into which you place documents, then you send it off to recipients for their signatures and return. Typically, the documents you add are uploaded files created elsewhere, and fairly limited design elements are available. On the other hand, PandaDoc is a platform designed to streamline your entire document process from creating and sending documents, then collecting signatures and payments, through storing completed versions of your files. The PandaDoc editor offers stylish design elements, a more intuitive editing experience, and powerful real-time collaboration features.

Instead of using separate accounts, PandaDoc offers isolated working environments to separate different areas of your organization. For example, if a company uses PandaDoc for their HR team's onboarding, the Customer Success team's renewal documents, and the Sales team's proposals, they would likely use three separate workspaces.

Within each workspace, there are templates and documents. Templates serve as master copies of documents, with placeholders for dynamic information and CRM capabilities.

On the template level, you can also set up automations that allow you to save time by automating tasks whenever a document’s status changes to sent or completed.

Rather than sending your recipients envelopes containing documents, with PandaDoc you’ll send documents composed of pages. The uploaded files, cover pages, and content pages can be mixed and matched to create engaging documents. Find out more about document design here.

PandaDoc offers blocks you’ll use to build content within pages. Blocks are flexible elements that help you add content — text, videos, tables, and images — to your documents.

Similar to tags or tabs you used in DocuSign, fields in PandaDoc allow recipients to interact with documents. Our conditional fields feature will help your customers navigate through documents and see only specific fields they need to fill out, based on rules you set up.

Variables are text placeholders that allow you to autofill dynamic information in documents, including data from your CRM. You can easily include variables in your document titles to streamline your document creation process, while also enhancing search and filtering capabilities with these variables.

For frequently used content such as case studies or marketing collateral, you can save these items to your content library and quickly add them to any template or document. You can also dynamically populate content library items based on specific values by using smart content. Learn more here.

Roles are placeholders for your future recipients. On the template level, roles will help you set up a signing order and workflow within your template, while also autofilling variables. Learn more about PandaDoc fundamentals here.

PandaDoc allows you to send your document via email and text (SMS), either concurrently or separately.

Before you start sending documents, take a minute to review your profile information and settings. Configure profile settings, branding, payment gateways, CRM integrations, team members, workspace settings, and saved messages to keep your workflow up and running. Review this account setup section for more details.

The first screen you’ll see when you log into PandaDoc is Home, which provides a high-level overview of your account activity in real-time. Under Overview, you can monitor progress of documents you’ve sent and act on documents that require your attention.

From this point, you can easily create new documents from scratch or use templates by selecting +Create new... along the left panel, with customizable content and design options.

As with DocuSign, you can upload your existing file to PandaDoc.

Within your document itself, you have plenty of options to edit it. You can add content using content blocks or from the content library, include a cover page, and add fields for your recipients to fill in. Learn more about document creation here.

Once your document is ready, you can send it via email or text (SMS). You’ll easily be able to customize email messaging, review variables, and send documents to recipients in a few clicks.

You can easily automate payment collection in your PandaDoc documents by adding pricing tables and quotes. Start by creating a product catalog, then add your products to a pricing table or quote. Finally, you can send your document and collect payments through it. Find out more about payments here.

Once your document is sent, you can monitor its status while also viewing its analytics and audit trail for detailed insights.

Our payments feature allows you to easily track and manage your payment requests in a single place that links directly to your documents. You’ll be able to navigate through pending, due soon, or overdue payments.

It’s easy to migrate documents you’ve completed in DocuSign over to PandaDoc. Our bulk import feature allows you to upload multiple files in draft or completed status to PandaDoc at once. Simply follow these steps:

Need further guidance? Don’t hesitate to contact our Support team. Have a specific workflow question, or simply need help getting started? Join one of our open Q&A sessions — one of our Learning Services team members would love to help! You can also access our on-demand courses to familiarize yourself with PandaDoc at your own pace. Thank you for joining us! We’re here to ensure you get the most out of PandaDoc.

Transitioning from Docusign to PandaDoc? Come check out our Transitioning with Ease: From DocuSign to PandaDoc course on the PandaDoc Learning Academy!