Overview
Contract Forwarding enables your CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management system) to automatically send executed contracts directly into Tropic. Once set up, Tropic imports the attached contract into your instance, stores, and extracts the metadata for you; no manual uploads are required.
This guide walks you through the setup in Tropic and how to add Tropic’s forwarding address in other tools.
How It Works
- Tropic gives you a unique forwarding email address.
- You set up your CLM (Ironclad, Coupa, DocuSign, Zip, etc.) to email executed contracts to that address.
- Tropic imports the attachment as a contract document and will extract the data for you.
- Tropic only accepts emails from domains you explicitly allow.
- If something fails, Tropic notifies your fallback contact.
Step 1. Open Contract Forwarding
- Go to Settings and select Contract Forwarding. Your forwarding address appears at the top of the page.
Step 2. Copy Your Forwarding Address
- Click Copy under Forward contracts to.
- In your CLM’s notification settings (Ironclad, Coupa, DocuSign, Zip, etc.), paste this address into the field where it sends a copy of executed contracts.
- Make sure your CLM sends the email from a domain you've approved and toggled on in Tropic
Step 3. Set a Fallback Recipient
- Add the email address of the person who should receive alerts if Tropic can’t process a forwarded document.
- Tropic only emails this person for errors—never for successful deliveries.
- Click Save.
Step 4. Enable Allowed Domains
Tropic includes a list of common contract-tool domains.
- Review the default domains on the page.
- Toggle On for the domains your CLM uses.
- (Optional) Add a notification recipient for that domain.
Tropic will only process forwarded documents from domains that are enabled.
Step 5. Add Custom Domains
Some tools send emails from custom subdomains. You can set these up so Tropic recognizes the sender, and the document can be imported. We also recommend adding your company’s domain to the list so users can forward documents from their work email addresses.
To Create a Custom Domain:
- Click Add Domain.
- Enter a name you can recognize (e.g., Ironclad – Custom Domain).
- Enter the domain the emails will come from (e.g., contracts.company.com).
- Add the notification recipient (Optional)
- Click Add Source Domain.
Tropic will now accept documents from that domain.
Step 6. Test the Setup
Once you’ve completed the setup, run a quick test to confirm everything is working. You only need to do this once.
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Send a signed contract from your CLM (Ironclad, Coupa, DocuSign, Zip, etc.).
- A real or test contract works—the key is that your CLM must actually email the signed file to your Tropic forwarding address.
- Return to Tropic → Contracts → Documents.
- Look for the file you just sent.
- The Source should show Email Forwarding, which means the setup is successful.
If the file doesn’t appear, double-check:
- The sending domain is turned on in your Contract Forwarding settings.
- Your CLM is using the correct Tropic forwarding address.
How to Set Up Auto-Forwarding in Other Tools
Ironclad
- Go to Workflow Designer → open the workflow for Vendor Agreements (or Software Agreements if there's a specific workflow for Software).
- Click Sign on the header bar.
- Click Custom Emails under the sub-header.
- Click Create New Email.
- Add the Tropic collection email to the new email To: line and ensure that the Completed Contract is included as an attachment.
DocuSign
- Log in to DocuSign Admin.
- Settings → Signing & Sending → Completed Document Delivery.
- Under Additional Recipients for Completed Envelopes, add the Tropic email.
- (Optional) At the template level, add Tropic as “Receives a Copy.”
- Save.
Evisort
- Contract Settings → Notifications & Workflows.
- Find Executed Contract Notifications.
- Add Tropic email as a recipient.
- Save.
SpotDraft
- Settings → Integrations & Notifications.
- Under Contract Executed Notification, add Tropic email.
- Save.
Zip
Zip requires a few additional configuration steps compared to other CLMs. Follow both the Tropic-side and Zip-side setup below.
Tropic-Side Setup
- Enable the Zip integration and get your forwarding address. In Tropic Settings, toggle on the Zip integration. You can also enable DocuSign and Ironclad here so documents from any of those systems land in Tropic. Tropic will provide a unique forwarding email address - this is what Zip will send to.
- Add a receipt/notification email (recommended). In Tropic’s forwarding inbox settings, add your email address. You’ll receive a confirmation when a document is received, or an error message if something goes wrong - making it easy to verify the flow is working.
- Copy the Tropic forwarding email address. You’ll need this in the next step when configuring the Send Email Alert action in Zip’s Workflow Builder.
Zip Configuration
- Create a Tropic user in Zip. Create a User in Zip using the Tropic Forwarding Address copied in the step above.
- Create a "Tropic Forward" Queue. Go to Company Settings - Workflows - Queues and create a new queue (e.g. "Tropic Forward"). Add the Tropic forwarding user as a queue member. This queue routes the workflow action.
- Add a "Send Email Alert" action in the Workflow Builder. In the Workflow Builder, add a new action to your software purchase/renewal workflow. Select Send Email Alert as the action type, name it "Send Contract to Tropic," and set the recipient to the Tropic forwarding email address.
- Set attachments to "Order Form" document type only. Under attachment settings, choose Attach Selected Documents Only and select Order Form. Avoid "attach all available documents" - this can trigger permission errors if the Tropic user can’t access all document types, potentially blocking the email entirely.
- Give the Tropic user a custom permission group (optional). If documents aren’t coming through, check whether the Tropic forwarding user in Zip has visibility into Order Form document types. The default role may restrict document access and silently block the email. If so, create a dedicated permission group for this user.
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Sandbox vs. Production The Tropic forwarding user created in Sandbox may not receive emails reliably. Always validate end-to-end in production before assuming something is broken. Sandbox SSO configurations can interfere with non-SSO service accounts like the Tropic forwarding user. |
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SSO Considerations If Zip is behind SSO, the Tropic forwarding user must be set up as a non-SSO bypass account. This is common - other customers with SSO have successfully configured it this way. Work with your IT/security team to allow this specific service account to bypass SSO. |
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Best practice: Automate the trigger Rather than manually dropping requests into the queue, add the "Send to Tropic" action directly to your standard software purchase and renewal workflow in Zip. This ensures every qualifying request automatically forwards the order form to Tropic without manual intervention. |
Coupa
- In Coupa, go to Setup → CLM Configuration.
- Navigate to Notifications (or “Document Routing” depending on version).
- Find the option for Executed/Activated Contract Notifications.
- Add the Tropic collection email as a recipient:
- Globally (all contracts), or
- Per contract type/workflow if they want more control.
- Save & publish the changes.
- Run a test by executing a dummy agreement — the signed PDF should route to Tropic.
Generic / Other CLMs
Look for:
- Executed Contract Notifications
- Post-Execution Rules
- Completed Document Delivery
Best Practices
- Approve only the domains you use.
- Add custom domains as soon as you know them.
- Test once after setup or after CLM changes.
Additional Resources
For more training guides or documentation, please visit our Help Center. Our resources guide to help you navigate Tropic effectively.