How to set up a DocuSign admin account without consuming a standard license?

Hello ​@netmanage,

Thanks for reaching out here in the Docusign Community—great to have you here!

By default, a Docusign admin who needs to manage billing or perform any account management functions must have a Docusign account, which means that the admin requires a license. In other words, anyone added as a user on the Docusign account -- whether for sending or administrative purposes-- counts as a licensed user, consuming one of the licenses/seats on the subscription.

An admin is required to access the Docusign system for management tasks, including billing. So, regardless of whether the admin just manages the billing without sending envelopes, they still need a license/seat assigned to their user account.

I hope this information helps. If anything’s unclear, let us know—we’ll get it sorted out.

Best Regards,

Jenny | Docusign Community Moderator
If this cleared things up, you can mark it as "Best Answer" so others can find it, too.

I also agree that this is a desirable function. Most admin portals for every other service in existence do not consume licenses for an admin only. This particular service appears to be the exception. It makes it less likely for us to adopt it across the rest of our organization as the people using docusign are rarely ever going to be trusted or set up with permissions to manage the billing, and right-sizing the organization with the correct tools means we wouldn’t consider setting someone up as an admin who uses the service with a license. Certainly not when an IT department or IT vendor is involved - that is why almost every company in existence allows this (unlicensed admin account).

Regardless, I would like to throw my lot in on this being a feature request. Thank you!

Matthew

Hello ​@WaypointAndersonM,

Thank you for your feedback—it’s appreciated. We recognize these limitations and how they can impact workflow efficiency. 

If you haven’t already, you might consider submitting an idea post on our dedicated ideas page (  https://community.docusign.com/ideas). It’s a great way to highlight specific enhancements and helps ensure these suggestions are considered for future development.

Best Regards,

Jenny | Docusign Community Moderator