Plan around roughly five documents a month so the allowance is spent well.
PandaDoc's free plan grants 60 documents per year—roughly five per month. For an active sales team that number can be consumed quickly if every proforma and agreement flows through the platform. You need a spending plan that reserves the allowance for the deals or document types where eSignature automation delivers the highest return, tracks consumption against the 60-document ceiling, and triggers an upgrade decision before the allowance is exhausted.
This guide walks you through counting your current monthly volume, mapping it to the five-per-month budget, choosing which transactions consume the allowance, and setting a threshold that protects you from running out mid-year.
Give leadership a clear recommendation backed by the pilot's evidence.
Judge honestly whether the free tool actually improves the signing process.
Run a controlled pilot without disrupting the existing signing process.
Count how many proformas and agreements the team sends monthly. Pull data from your records or perform a manual tally. Calculate the average per month.
Compare that against the five-per-month the free plan effectively allows. Divide 60 documents by twelve months to confirm the monthly budget.
Decide which deal type or which rep the allowance is spent on. Reserve the 60 documents for specific transactions or assign the allowance to one rep. Document the rule in a shared location.
Track the running count against the sixty-document ceiling. Add a tracking mechanism such as a spreadsheet column. Increment the count each time a document is sent through PandaDoc.
Set a threshold at which you stop or upgrade. Choose a number that gives you time to evaluate results and make a decision before hitting zero. Communicate the threshold to the team.
Use the actual consumption rate to size any paid plan. Calculate your projected annual volume based on actual usage. Compare that to available paid tiers and select appropriate coverage.
**Scenario:** [A sales team] sends an average of [X] proformas per month. The free plan allows 60 documents per year (five per month). **Step 1:** Count monthly volume - Month [value]: [X] proformas - Month [value]: [X] proformas - Month [value]: [X] proformas - Average: [X] per month **Step 2:** Compare to budget - Free plan: five per month - Gap: [X] documents per month **Step 3:** Prioritize - Reserve the 60-document allowance for deals above [€X] in value - Assign [Rep A] to use PandaDoc exclusively for these deals - Continue existing process for other transactions **Step 4:** Track - Create a shared spreadsheet with columns: Date | Deal Name | Document Type | Running Count - After sending document [N]: running count = [N] - After sending document [M]: running count = [M] **Step 5:** Set threshold - Threshold: [X] documents used - At [X], evaluate pilot results and decide whether to upgrade or stop **Step 6:** Size paid plan - If 60 documents consumed in [X] months, calculate annual need - Add buffer for growth - Select tier that covers projected volume
Compare real monthly document volume against the five-per-month the free plan allows, decide which deal type the allowance is spent on, and track the running count against the sixty-document ceiling.
Handle deals that need more than two signers on a free-plan document.
Turn a proforma into a template so each new one takes minutes.