How to add a digital signature in Excel?

Excel is a well-known member of the Microsoft Office family. 😉

You certainly have in mind a flood of words such as: workbooks, sheets, interfaces, spreadsheets…

In the collective imagination, Excel is often perceived as the ugly duckling of the Microsoft Office suite: too complicated to master for most 😨

Perhaps less appealing than its big brother Word, which focuses on word processing, Microsoft Excel nevertheless occupies the forefront of management tools in organisations of all sectors.

📈 Excel transforms raw data to make it usable. 

This software is packed with features to track and manage multiple operations needed for business.

Basically, all teams can use Excel.

Functions such as: administrative and financial director, analyst, accountant, project manager...

Data formatting (graphs, pivot tables, etc.), automatic filling, sophisticated calculations, etc.

Excel is a logical choice for many companies, the main reasons being:

• its economical cost of the licence,
• its consolidation of supplier expenses,
• automation of tasks,
• its time saving capabilities,
• security and compliance,
• its emphasive on collaboration and teamwork.

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👆 However, it is important to bear in mind the limitations of Excel, as it is more interesting to use CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software for large customer databases, for example.

The objective? To have spreadsheets signed remotely and to speed up decision-making by company teams 💪

As with Word, the validity of an electronic signature added in Excel depends on the electronic certificate attached to the signature procedure concerned.

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As a reminder: the digital certificate is issued by a certification authority, as is the case with Yousign, a trust service provider governed by eIDAS.

The certificate guarantees:

✔ the identity of the signatory,

✔ the integrity of the document,

✔ the consent of all parties to the document.

With the Excel electronic signature, any company can therefore ensure the legality, simplicity and speed of its signature procedures.

An attendance sheet can be signed thanks to the electronic signature. This is very practical as this type of document often involves the signature of a large number of people, who may be located in different places.

Note: blank templates already exist in Excel.

First thing to know: there is nothing to configure in Excel on the user's side to sign the document..

The few steps to follow are very simple:

1️⃣Save and export the Excel spreadsheet as a PDF

👆 Good to know: this preliminary step is necessary because the PDF format is unalterable and therefore ideal for exchanges that need to be secured.

In the "File" tab (top left toolbar)

➡ click on "Export". 

➡ In the dialogue box click on "Create PDF/XPS document". 

➡ finally, click on "Publish" to generate the PDF.

2️⃣ Upload the file to be signed to the Yousign application and proceed with the settings relating to the signature procedure (recipient details, any attachments that the contact will need to consult)

3️⃣ Click on ok and send the documents to be signed in France and throughout Europe

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So if you thought Excel was a nerd thing, well no, it's within the reach of everyone, with a little practice 😉