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Creating a new contract

Contract information and contract documents are managed in contracts. See also the What is a contract? chapter.

You can create new contracts using the wizard. The wizard guides you through the following contract areas:

This is how it works 

  1. Navigate to the start page of d.velop contracts for Microsoft 365.

  2. Click New contract. The Create new contract wizard is started.

  3. Add one or more documents to the contract.

  4. Manage the master data.

  5. Navigate to the Details area and manage the desired properties.

  6. Navigate to the Duration area and manage the desired duration information.

  7. Optional: If your administrator has activated this for you, navigate to the Permissions area to manage the options Additionally grant read access for and Additionally grant write access for.

  8. Save your entries. The contract is created and you will be directed to the start page or you can open the newly created contract directly.

Note

Please note that according to the configuration in your system additional information may be required.

Mandatory fields are marked by a red star behind the title.

Master data

In the area Master data you assign the following values:

  • Select contract type (Mandatory field)

  • Contract status (Mandatory field)

  • Subject of contract (Mandatory field)

  • Contract partner (Mandatory field)

    You will receive suggestions after entering the third character. You have the option to create a new contract partner, provided this function is enabled in your system. If your administrator enabled searching of the description column, in addition to the title column, the description column of the contract partner will also be searched for the value you entered. 

    If your administrator enabled multiple selection, you can add another contract partner line using Add contractual partner. You can use Delete line to remove the contract partner line you just added.

    Note

    You can only add contract partners to a contract once. Any repeat assignment of the same contract partner will be ignored.

  • Contact person of the contractual partnerYou can select the contact persons of the selected contract partner from a list or create a new contact person, if this function is enabled in your system.

  • External contract ID 

  • Organizational assignment if enabled

  • Responsible person internal (mandatory field)

This is how it works: 

  1. Enter all master data.

  2. Save the information.

Details on editing the master data can be found in the chapter Editing the master data.Bearbeiten der Stammdaten

In the Master data area you can also add documents directly to the contract. For details please refer to the chapter Managing documents.

Details

In the Details area you assign the following values:

  • Comment

  • Contract details assigned to the selected contract type.

This is how it works: 

  1. Enter the contract details.

  2. Save the information.

Duration

The Duration area is used to manage the run time data and includes a run time calculation. There are three limitation types which affect the entry fields shown. 

You can enable or disable the duration data calculation via Calculations. If the calculation is enabled, the durations of the contracts are automatically updated, provided the contract has not been canceled. If the calculation is disabled, the durations of the contracts are not automatically updated.

In the following, the three different limitation types and the calculation are explained.

Limitation type “Perpetual”

A perpetual contract has no defined duration and can only be ended by cancelation. If a minimum duration has been defined, the contract cannot be ended before the minimum duration has elapsed.

Calculating the duration data:

  • If there is a minimum duration, the end of the minimum duration is calculated. The end is calculated from the start of the contract plus the minimum duration. The next possible date of cancelation is determined using the cancelation effect (e.g. at the end of the year) less the period of notice (e.g. one month). If a minimum duration has been agreed, the next possible cancelation date is once the minimum duration has elapsed. The next possible end of the contract is calculated from the cancelation effect which is added to the determined date of cancelation for calculating the next possible end of contract.

  • In the case of the Any time cancelation effect, the next possible date of cancelation is always the current date and, for the next possible end of contract, the period of notice is added to this date.

Limitation type “Limited with renewal” 

A limited contract with renewal has an initial fixed duration and is then renewed repeatedly by a specific interval until the contract is ended by way of cancelation.

If a minimum duration has been defined, the contract cannot be ended before the minimum duration has elapsed. Once the minimum duration has elapsed, the contract is renewed by the defined renewal interval, provided the contract has not been canceled.

In the case of cancelation effects at the end of the month, quarter, 6-month period or year, there are two calculation variants which differ in terms of the calculation of the end of contract:

  1. The priority of the duration calculation is the renewal

    1. The calculated end of contract refers to the renewal, and thus, after a cancelation, the contract only ends once the last renewal has elapsed. For example, if a contract is renewed at the end of September for a further six months and is canceled in November with effect at the end of the year, the contract does not end until the end of March, and consequently once the last renewal interval has elapsed.

    2. If there is a minimum duration, the end of the minimum duration is calculated. The end is calculated from the start of the contract plus the minimum duration. Once the minimum duration has elapsed, the renewal is added in order to calculate the next possible end of contract. The next possible date of cancelation is determined using the cancelation effect (e.g. at the end of the year) less the period of notice (e.g. one month). In the example of the At end of year cancelation effect, the end of the year is assumed to be before the next possible end of the contract.

  2. The priority of the duration calculation is the cancelation effect

    1. The selected cancelation effect defines the next possible end of contract and thus, the contract ends after a cancelation, corresponding to the cancelation effect, e.g. at the end of the year.

    2. If there is a minimum duration, the end of the minimum duration is calculated. The end is calculated from the start of the contract plus the minimum duration. The next possible end of contract is the next end of month, quarter, 6-month period or year once the minimum duration has elapsed, or once the renewal period has elapsed. To calculate the next possible date of cancelation, the period of notice is deducted from the next possible end of the contract.

Limitation type “Limited without renewal” 

Limited contracts without renewal have an agreed duration and do not require cancelation once the duration has elapsed. If this type has been agreed, these kinds of contracts can also be canceled during their duration.

Calculation in the case of contracts without cancelation options during the duration: The end of contract is calculated by adding the duration to the contract start date.

Calculation in the case of contracts with cancelation options during the duration: The maximum end of contract is calculated by adding the duration to the contract start date. The next possible end of the contract is calculated from the cancelation effect (e.g. at the end of the year), provided the maximum end of contract is not exceeded. To calculate the cancelation date, the period of notice is deducted from the next possible end of the contract.

Notification 

For notifications, you can set the Notification start. From this date, an e-mail will be sent to the responsible person internal as well as to additional recipients. The notifications are sent until the contract is renewed, manually canceled or the notifications are manually deactivated.

You specify in which interval the notifications are sent. The following intervals are distinguished:

  • None: No notifications will be sent.

  • Once: If this option is enabled, the notification will be sent once when the notification start date is reached.

  • Daily, Weekly, Monthly: With these options, notifications are sent according to the selected interval until the status of the contract is manually changed or the contract is automatically renewed.

Note

The configured notification is basically only sent if the contract is in an active contract status (e.g. valid).

Note

Please note that when a contract is renewed, the Notification start is updated as well.

In this case, the interval from the Notification start to the next Date of cancelation is maintained. If no date of cancelation can be calculated, the distance to the next possible end of the contract is maintained.

Enable the Fixed notification start option to prevent the notification start from also being updated when the contract is renewed. This can be useful, for example, if you want to have the contract renewed several times but do not wish to receive notification until a fixed date. Similarly, for open-ended contracts, this option causes the notification start date not to update daily.

Creating links

You can link contracts to each other in the Links area.

This is how it works 

  1. Click New or Add link.

  2. Select the contract you want to link. The search only applies to the properties of the contract. Attachments and the attachments’ full text are not searched.

  3. Select a link type. You have the following options:

    • Is linked to 

    • Is framework contract of 

    • Is predecessor contract 

    • Refers to 

  4. Save the selected link.

    Note

    You cannot edit configured links. If you accidentally link the wrong contract, you must delete the link and create a new one.

    Your administrator can add other link types.

Deleting a link – This is how it works 

  1. Click the three dots next to the link that you want to delete.

  2. Click Delete.

  3. In the dialog, click Delete again to confirm the process.

Permissions

In the Permissions area you can assign additional write or read permissions:

  • Grant additional read access to

  • Grant additional write access to

You can grant permissions for users and groups. You will receive suggestions after entering the third character.