Summary and recommendation
PandaDoc user management can be run manually, but complexity usually increases with role models, licensing gates, and offboarding dependencies. This guide gives the exact mechanics and where automation has the biggest impact.
PandaDoc user management is handled through Settings → Members (https://app.pandadoc.com/settings/members/). The workspace uses three built-in roles - Admin, Manager, and Member - with custom roles available on Enterprise plans. Every app in your stack has a provisioning story; PandaDoc's is invitation-based by default, with SCIM automation gated behind Enterprise and an active SSO configuration.
Quick facts
| Admin console path | Settings → Members (accessible via the left sidebar gear icon) |
| Admin console URL | Official docs |
| SCIM available | Yes |
| SCIM tier required | Enterprise |
| SSO prerequisite | Yes |
User types and roles
| Role | Permissions | Cannot do | Plan required | Seat cost | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admin | Full workspace access: manage billing, invite/remove users, manage roles, access all documents and templates, configure integrations and workspace settings. | Cannot be deactivated by a non-Admin user. | All paid plans | Counts as a paid seat | There must always be at least one Admin in the workspace; the last Admin cannot be removed or deactivated. |
| Manager | Can invite and manage Members, view and manage documents owned by their direct reports, access shared templates. | Cannot manage billing, cannot change workspace-level settings, cannot manage other Managers or Admins. | All paid plans | Counts as a paid seat | Manager visibility over subordinate documents depends on workspace hierarchy configuration. |
| Member | Can create, send, and manage their own documents and templates; can use shared content library items. | Cannot invite other users, cannot access other users' documents unless explicitly shared, cannot change workspace settings. | All paid plans | Counts as a paid seat | Default role assigned to newly invited users unless changed during invitation. |
Permission model
- Model type: hybrid
- Description: PandaDoc uses a set of built-in roles (Admin, Manager, Member) as the baseline. Enterprise plans can create custom roles with granular permission sets layered on top of the built-in role structure.
- Custom roles: Yes
- Custom roles plan: Enterprise
- Granularity: Custom roles allow toggling specific permissions such as document creation, template management, content library access, reporting access, and user management capabilities.
How to add users
- Log in as an Admin.
- Navigate to Settings → Members (https://app.pandadoc.com/settings/members/).
- Click the 'Invite members' button.
- Enter the invitee's email address (one or multiple, comma-separated).
- Select the role to assign (Admin, Manager, Member, or a custom role if on Enterprise).
- Click 'Send invite'. The invitee receives an email to accept and set up their account.
Required fields: Email address, Role assignment
Watch out for:
- Inviting a user immediately consumes a paid seat and may trigger a prorated billing charge depending on the billing cycle.
- Invited users must accept the email invitation before they appear as active members.
- Pending invitations still count toward the seat limit on some plan configurations.
- The inviting user must have Admin privileges; Managers cannot invite users by default unless granted that permission.
| Bulk option | Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CSV import | No | Not documented |
| Domain whitelisting | No | Automatic domain-based user add |
| IdP provisioning | Yes | Enterprise |
How to remove or deactivate users
- Can delete users: No
- Delete/deactivate behavior: PandaDoc does not permanently delete user accounts from the workspace. Admins can only deactivate (suspend) a user. Deactivated users cannot log in or access the workspace, but their account record and associated documents are retained.
- Log in as an Admin.
- Navigate to Settings → Members (https://app.pandadoc.com/settings/members/).
- Locate the user in the member list.
- Click the three-dot (⋯) menu next to the user's name.
- Select 'Deactivate member'.
- Confirm the deactivation in the dialog prompt.
| Data impact | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Owned records | Documents and templates owned by the deactivated user remain in the workspace and are accessible to Admins. Ownership can be reassigned to another active user. |
| Shared content | Shared documents and content library items created by the deactivated user remain available to collaborators and the workspace. |
| Integrations | Any integration tokens or connected accounts tied to the deactivated user's profile may stop functioning; Admins should reconnect integrations under an active user account. |
| License freed | Deactivating a user frees the paid seat, which becomes available for reassignment. Billing adjustments depend on the plan billing cycle (prorated on annual plans at next renewal or immediately on monthly plans). |
Watch out for:
- The last remaining Admin cannot be deactivated.
- Deactivated users can be reactivated by an Admin, which will re-consume a paid seat.
- Documents in 'Draft' status owned by a deactivated user may not be accessible to recipients until ownership is transferred.
- Sent documents that are awaiting signature from the deactivated user as a signer may stall; the document workflow does not automatically reassign signers.
License and seat management
| Seat type | Includes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Full user seat | Access to all features within the subscribed plan tier (document creation, sending, templates, integrations, etc.). | Starter: $19/user/mo (annual) or $35/user/mo (monthly); Business: $49/user/mo (annual) or $65/user/mo (monthly); Enterprise: custom pricing (~$59+/user/mo) |
- Where to check usage: Settings → Members (https://app.pandadoc.com/settings/members/) - shows total active members vs. seat limit; Settings → Billing for subscription seat count.
- How to identify unused seats: Admins can review the Members list and sort or filter by 'Last active' date to identify users who have not logged in recently. There is no built-in automated unused-seat report.
- Billing notes: PandaDoc bills per active (non-deactivated) seat. Adding users mid-cycle on annual plans is prorated. Removing (deactivating) users on annual plans typically does not generate an immediate refund; the seat credit applies at the next renewal. Monthly plans adjust at the next billing date. Enterprise pricing is negotiated and may include minimum seat commitments.
The cost of manual management
Inviting users requires Admin privileges and triggers a prorated seat charge immediately on annual plans. Deactivating a user does not generate a mid-cycle refund on annual plans - the seat credit applies only at renewal.
There is no CSV bulk import; large-scale onboarding means sending individual email invitations or standing up IdP-based SCIM provisioning at the Enterprise tier.
Pending invitations count toward the seat limit on some plan configurations, so unaccepted invites can silently inflate your seat count. Deactivating a user also does not reassign their pending signature requests, which can stall active document workflows until an Admin manually intervenes.
What IT admins are saying
Practitioners consistently flag two friction points: SCIM 1.1 behavior in some contexts limits compatibility with modern IdP provisioning workflows, and SCIM attribute updates (name changes, role changes) are not reliably supported - those changes must be made manually in the admin console.
Custom roles, which allow granular toggling of document creation, template management, and reporting access, are locked to Enterprise, leaving Business plan teams with only three fixed roles.
A recurring billing complaint: deactivating a user mid-cycle on an annual plan does not immediately free up the seat cost, which catches teams off-guard during offboarding sprints.
Common complaints:
- Only SCIM 1.1 supported (not SCIM 2.0), limiting compatibility with modern IdP provisioning workflows.
- SCIM provisioning supports create and delete operations only - user attribute updates (e.g., name changes, role changes) via SCIM are not supported and must be done manually in the admin console.
- No CSV bulk import for users; large-scale onboarding requires manual invitations or IdP provisioning (Enterprise only).
- Deactivating a user does not automatically reassign their pending signature requests, causing document workflows to stall.
- Seat billing on annual plans does not immediately credit when a user is deactivated mid-cycle, leading to perceived overpayment.
- Custom roles are locked behind the Enterprise plan, leaving Business plan customers with only three fixed roles.
- No domain-based auto-provisioning (allowlisting) available outside of IdP-based SSO/SCIM flows.
The decision
PandaDoc fits teams that primarily need document workflow automation and can tolerate an invitation-based onboarding model. Every app that touches sensitive contracts benefits from tight offboarding controls; PandaDoc's deactivation-only model (no permanent account deletion) retains document history but requires Admins to manually manage document ownership transfers after offboarding.
If your team needs automated provisioning without manual invitation acceptance, that path requires Enterprise plan plus active SSO - evaluate that dependency before committing to the tier. Business plan teams get API access for custom integrations but no SCIM, meaning role and attribute sync must be scripted against the REST API.
Bottom line
PandaDoc's manual user management is straightforward for small teams but accumulates operational debt at scale: no bulk import, no mid-cycle seat refunds on annual plans, no automatic workflow reassignment on deactivation, and SCIM attribute updates that require manual fallback.
Teams running more than a handful of users should map their IdP capabilities against PandaDoc's Enterprise SCIM prerequisites before assuming automated provisioning is a drop-in solution.
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