Plexus allows you to negotiate, approve, sign, store and search all of your organisation's documents via one seamless platform.
With the Approve and eSign app, design your own workflow, and obtain digital approvals and signatures from colleagues and counterparties with a few quick clicks.
Video tutorial
Learn how to seamlessly upload your important documents in just a few clicks with our step-by-step 3 minute video tutorial, ensuring smooth contract management in Plexus.
Opening the application
Get started by clicking into the Approve and eSign app and fill in its details to submit your file. There are three main ways to open the Approve and eSign app:
1. From the Dashboard, click the Approve and eSign app.
2. Go to the Apps menu and select Approve and eSign
3. Go to the Document list and select Add document. Then select Start a workflow.
Uploading your files
Click the blue Browse button to select your files to upload.
You can upload one main document and as many client-facing supporting documents or internal documents as you would like.
If you have uploaded more than one file, you will need to distinguish between your main document or supporting documents by updating the attachment type.
A Main document will be both internally and externally facing if your document workflow includes external parties. It is the first document that will be sent in a document workflow.
A Sub-document will be both internally and externally facing if your document workflow includes external parties. It supports the main document.
An Internal document is an internal reference file that is only visible to your organisation.
Top tip!
Plexus supports most common document formats like PDF and Word documents. Some formats (such as ODT files) are not supported for signature setup.
Providing information about your files
Provide as much detail about your document(s) as you can. The more information that you provide now, the easier that it will be to search for your documents later.
Top tip! The answers to these questions may also trigger your organisation's delegation of authority, and therefore, it is crucial that these fields are filled in accurately, where possible.
Our out-of-the-box questions are:
Document title
Document type
Document start and expiry date
Document value and currency
Another stakeholder involved in the document
Other parties involved in the document
Some fields will be mandatory whilst others are optional. The system will let you know where fields must be filled in.
Top tip! All documents uploaded to Plexus from the standard Approve and eSign app will include 1 and 3-month expiry reminders for documents by default, where the Expiry date is defined on the intake form.
Ensure that this field is filled to generate your automatic alerts.
Your organisation may ask you additional custom questions depending on your organisation's set up.
Once you have filled in all information, click Next.
Top tip! If you ever need to start again, click Start a new submission at the top of your screen! Otherwise Plexus will automatically save your inputs as you go.
Designing your document workflow
Template your document workflow by selecting your workflow requirements.
Top tip! Some approval workflows may already be pre-templated for you depending on your company's delegation of authority.
To create a review, approve or signing stage for your document, click each respective stage for review, approve and signing to turn it blue.
In addition to your company's templated delegation of authority, you can create your own workflows so that documents are:
Reviewed: The document will be sent for review. In most cases, the recipients are pre-defined for you and no further configuration is needed for this stage. In other cases, you may be prompted to select a specific reviewer from a dropdown list.
Approved: Add any internal or external party to approve the document. All you need is their name and email address.
Signed: Add any internal or external party to sign the document in Docusign. All you need is their name and email address.
Top tip! To add an external user as an approval and signer, type in their email address. You will then be able to add their first and last names. Any external user added to a workflow will have temporary access to action the document in Plexus using the Counterparty portal.
List the approvers and signers in the order that they are required to action the document. You may opt to create a workflow message to personalise the requests for each individual.
Then adjust the ordering of notifications using our Round functionality.
You can add additional approvers or signers by clicking:
Add approver / add signer: This will add another approver or signer to a round. They will be notified at the same time as all other users in that round.
Add new approver / signer round: This will add a new round of approvals or signatures. The recipients listed here will only be notified once the previous round is completed. Rounds will be numbered in the order that they will take place.
You can use the toggles to the left of each approver or signer to drag and drop recipients into the correct order. You can also use the three dots to the right hand side of the screen to manually Move up / down.
Remove any unneeded recipients from the same menu option.
Generally, your delegations of authority will highlight where an internal signature is required. If your document requires eSignatures but this requirement has not have not been initiated by your selections, it is highly recommended that you nominate a signature stage in this step, even if you're not sure who your signer is.
Top tip: If you don't know who the counterparty signatory is, allocate the document to yourself. You can always delegate to the correct person later. This step is crucial to avoid situations where documents are completed early.
To nominate a signing stage, click to indicate that I want it to by signed by... a person in your organisation.
Creating your signature locations
If you have indicated a signing stage on your workflow, when prompted, indicate that I want to add signature locations to the document.
Whilst there is the option to Add later, failure to add placeholders throughout the workflow may mean that your recipient is required to add the placeholders to the document themselves. Whilst this is an option, it may increase the chance of missing or improperly set placeholders. This can result in a document being marked as fully executed without signatures in the required locations, which can pose compliance or validity risks.
To create your placeholders, click any of the placeholders for your recipient, and drag and drop your mouse to the required section of the document. Neglecting to set them up may result in executed documents without visible signatures, which can lead to unresolved issues or invalid agreements.
Repeat this for each recipient who needs to sign your document. Alternatively, you may opt to add these later by clicking Add later. However, delaying this step increases the risk of missing visible signatures, so it is best to set up signature locations during the initial workflow configuration.
If you encounter problems when adding signature locations, try these solutions: An additional safeguard is to conduct a test signing to confirm that all signatures display as intended, helping avoid issues before final execution.
Verify document format compatibility: Ensure your document is in a supported format like PDF or Word. If using an unsupported format like ODT, convert it to a supported format before uploading.
Test your document locally: If the document causes loading delays in Plexus, try opening and editing it locally to identify and fix any formatting issues.
Convert to PDF: If you continue experiencing issues, converting your document to PDF format before uploading can improve compatibility with the signature setup system. Top tip! PDF files generally provide the most reliable experience when setting up signature locations in Plexus.
Creating document alerts
Lastly, you may opt to create alert notifications for your document.
Top tip! By default, all documents uploaded after May 2025 with an expiry date will have automatic alerts generated:
3 months before expiry; and again
1 month before expiry
Ensure that your expiry dates are filled in to generate these alerts for your document.
To create any additional alerts, click Create alert to schedule optional notifications for your document (e.g. a reminder to renew a document).
If you entered an expiry date for your document, by default we'll give you a list of pre-configured options leading up to the document's expiry.
You can also create a custom alert to Send on a specific date.
Create your message as you would write an email:
Write a message subject
Write a message in the email body section
Select your send date, if applicable
Add your alert recipients
Top tip! Access our document alerts for additional conditional logic around your file once it has been submitted into the platform.
Add another alert or click Submit to finalise your document submission.
... And you're done!
We'll redirect you to your document once your file is uploaded. You can continue to access all of your documents from your document list.
Ready to upload your first file? Reach out to our team via live chat or [email protected] if you have any questions.