How to create or update a contract record

The Contracts page displays all the active and inactive contract records you have with your vendors. You manage your contract records from this page.

Search for	Example	Results
A single word	`cat`	Topics that contain the word "cat". You will also find its grammatical variations, such as "cats".
A phrase. You can specify that the search results contain a specific phrase.	`"cat food"` (quotation marks)	Topics that contain the literal phrase "cat food" and all its grammatical variations. Without the quotation marks, the query is equivalent to specifying an OR operator, which finds topics with one of the individual words instead of the phrase.

Search for	Operator	Example
Two or more words in the same topic	`AND` `and` `+` (plus symbol) `&` (ampersand)	`cat AND dog` `"cat food"+milk` `"cat food"&"dog food"`
Either word in a topic	`OR` `or` `\|` (pipe)	`cat OR dog` `cat \| dog`
Topics that do not contain a specific word or phrase	`NOT` `not` `!` (exclamation point)	`NOT cat` `! dog`
Topics that contain one string and do not contain another	`^` (caret)	`cat ^ mouse`
A combination of search types	`( )` parentheses	`cat + (dog \| mouse)` `cat \| dog + (! mouse)`

Note To manage contracts, you must have the Contract manager role. For more information about this role, see Default roles.

Create a contract record

From the main menu, select Plan > Contract > Contracts.
Click New.

Select the type of contract you want to create:

Note A user with the appropriate permissions can customize the list of contract types. For more information, see Lists.

Type	Description
Service	A contract with a vendor for services
Maintenance	A contract with a vendor for maintenance services
Lease schedule	A contract detailing the terms and conditions of a lease schedule with a vendor
Master lease	A contract detailing a master lease with a vendor
License	A contract detailing a license agreement with a vendor
Purchase	A contract with a vendor detailing purchasing terms and conditions
Warranty	A contract with a vendor detailing a warranty for supplied goods or services
Non-disclosure agreement	A contract detailing a non-disclosure agreement with a vendor
Master agreement	A contract detailing a master agreement with a vendor

Select the initial phase at which you are creating the contract in the system. For workflow details, see Contract workflow.
Enter the contract name, and the contract details. See Contract details below.
Save the details.

Update a contract record

From the main menu, select Plan > Contract > Contracts.
Click the record identifier in the ID column to display the selected record.
Update the contract details. See Contract details below.
To view changes or updates made to the record, click the History tab. For more information, see History.
To open, join, or view a discussion or to view or post comments, click the Discussions tab. For more information, see Discussions.
To view parent and children contracts, click the Related contracts tab.
Tip
- You can view the relationships in a tabular view or in a tree view.
- Use the tree view to view sibling contracts.
To add, edit, or view the terms and conditions of the contract, click the Terms and Conditions tab.
Save your changes.

You can edit multiple records simultaneously by selecting them in the grid and updating them in the Preview pane on the right. For more information, see Mass update.

Contract details

General contract details

Tip Click Show more to show all of the details.

Field	Description
Name	The name of the contract.
Contract type	The type of contract - see How to create or update a contract record below.
Contract number	The number of the contract.
Administrator	The person responsible for the life cycle of the contract.
Vendor	The company with whom there is a contractual agreement.
Vendor contact	The name of the contact at the vendor.
Effective from	The date upon which the contract becomes effective.
Expires on	The date on which the contract expires. By default, a notification message is sent to the administrator of the contract 60 and then 30 days before the contract's expiry date. For more information, see Notification configuration.
Parent contract	The contract's parent contract from which it inherits the master terms and conditions. Select a contract from the drop-down list. If a numeric value was entered for the contract number, the drop-down list is empty.
Suspended	If selected, the contract is put on hold. The execution of the contract is frozen until the contract's activity is resumed.
Description	Other details about the contract.
Close code	Closes the contract. The contract can be closed without any reference to either party, or it can be terminated by the vendor or by your company.
Close reason	A description of why the contract was closed.

Payment details

Field	Description
Contract price	The price of the contract.
Initial payment	The initial payment - to be paid as agreed between both parties.
Currency	The currency in which the payments are to be made.
Tax rate (%)	The tax rate; differs depending on the location of the vendor.
Payment terms	The terms of payment as agreed upon between both parties.
Cost type	The type of cost. For example, hardware maintenance or software.
Cost center	The business unit to which the device is charged.

Notification configuration

Here you can specify a date in advance of a contract expiration when Service Management notifies the administrator of the contract.

Field	Description
Notify before (days)	The number of days in advance of the contract expiration that the first notification is sent.
Then notify before (days)	The number of days in advance of the contract expiration that the second notification is sent.

For more information, see Notifications.

Renewal

This section allows you to configure additional notification for a contract that automatically renews. For example, you may want additional notice so as to negotiate fresh terms before losing the right to cancel the contract.

Field	Description
Automatically renew	Select if the contract automatically renews.
Cancel renewal before (days)	The amount of notice in advance of the contract expiration date which the company must give to cancel the contract, failing which it automatically renews. For example, 30 days.

Service Management automatically calculates the renewal cancellation date, being the date which occurs the stated number of days in advance of the expiration date.

If a contract is automatically renewable, and the option is selected, Service Management notifies the administrator of the contract:

First, the number of days specified in Notify before (days) in advance of the renewal cancellation date.
Second, the number of days specified in Then notify before (days) in advance of the renewal cancellation date.

For more information, see Notifications.

Covered devices
Note Available for the following contract types:
- Lease schedule
- Maintenance
- Purchase
- Warranty
The devices that are covered by the contract.
- To select devices covered by the contract, click Add .
- To remove a device, select it and click Remove.
- To make the current maintenance or warranty contract the default for devices, click Set as default.
- To remove the current maintenance or warranty contract as the default for devices, click Clear default.
Covered infrastructure & peripheral
Note Available for the following contract types:
- Lease schedule
- Maintenance
- Purchase
- Warranty
- To select infrastructure & peripheral assets covered by the contract, click Add .
- To remove an infrastructure & peripheral asset, select it and click Remove.
- To make the current maintenance or warranty contract the default for infrastructure & peripheral assets, click Set as default.
- To remove the current maintenance or warranty contract as the default for infrastructure & peripheral assets, click Clear default.
Covered licenses
Note Available for the following contract types:
- License
- Maintenance
- To select license assets covered by the contract, click Add .
- To remove a license asset, select it and click Remove.
- To make the current maintenance contract the default for licenses, click Set as default.
- To remove the current maintenance contract as the default for licenses, click Clear default.
Covered persons

Note Available for non-disclosure agreement contracts only

The persons covered in the non-disclosure agreement contract.

To select covered persons, click Add .
Covered services

Note Available for service contracts only.

Services provided by the vendor that must be covered to fulfill the contract's terms and conditions.

To select services covered by the contract, click Add .
Attachments

To attach a file to the record, click Add attachment.
Note
- The following file formats are supported: jpg; jpeg; gif; png; doc; docx; ppt; pptx; xls; xlsx; pdf; txt; xml; zip; msg; sql; gz; rar; tar; 7z.
- The maximum file size of an attachment is 10 MB.
- If the Attachments field has been defined as encrypted for this record type and you are a member of an encryption domain, click Add encrypted attachments to attach an encrypted file to the record.
- Attachments are not visible in the Service Portal.