Contracts

Create a contract

There are four methods for building a contract:

• Click and fill out the New Contract window.
• Select a similar existing contract, or a contract template, and perform a New Copy.
• Go to the Contract Lines folder, select the lines from an existing or template contract, and copy all the lines to Excel. In Excel, modify the lines as needed. When you finish, import the data into ActivityHD as a new contract.
• Start with a customized Excel spreadsheet which has built-in formulas and field references. When you finish, import the data into ActivityHD as a new contract.

Here we will focus on the first method.

1. In the Navigation pane, highlight the Contracts Processing > Contracts folder.

2. Click . The New Contract window opens.

   

3. Select the contract Type. The contract type determines the type of AR invoice that will be used on settlement invoices. To learn more, click here.
4. Select the Customer with which you are entering into a contract.
5. Enter a Description of the contract.
6. Enter the Begin and End dates for the contract.
7. Enter the name of the Contractor. This field defaults to the name of the selected customer.
8. Enter the name of the Signatory on the contract. This field defaults to the name of the selected customer.
9. Select the Salesperson responsible for the contract. This field defaults to the primary salesperson for the customer, if applicable.
10. Select the Location where invoices should be sent. You can select any location for the contract customer. If you do not specify a location, the customer's default invoice location is printed on the contract.
11. In the Attributes field(s), provide the attribute value(s) which apply to the contract.
12. Use the Lines table to enter contract lines. Contract lines represent items to be billed or work to be completed. For each contract line, provide the following information:
    1. Select the Product being provided. To learn how to add a product for use in Contracts Processing, click here.
    2. The Description is defaulted from the product, but can be overridden here as needed.

    3. Select the Date the product on the contract line will be delivered or the work on the contract line will be performed.

       Note

       A separate contract line is required for each date a product is delivered or work performed.

    The remaining fields will be variously enabled/disabled depending on the type of product you selected and the information needed by the calculation expression for the product to calculate the contract line amount. Respond as appropriate.

    4. Enter the Start and End times for the item on the contract line. The duration for the item on this line is calculated for you and entered into the Hours field. These fields are only enabled if the product's expression uses hours to determine how the product is billed or performed.

    5. In the Quantity field, enter the number of units of the item on this contract line that will be used on the specified date. This field is disabled if quantity is not part of the product's calculation expression.

       Note

       Do not enter a quantity for any date/time period other than the date/time period specified on the contract line. Create a new contract line for each date/time period the item was used. The contract line Amount is calculated for you.

    6. Enter the Price per unit of the item on the contract line. If a default price is loaded, you can override it if the product's setup allows override. If a range is specified for override, your new price must fall within that range.

       Some lines can be zero-priced lines, meaning they represent activities/items which are required to satisfy the contract but for which no money is billed.

    7. If you want to apply a scheduled payment to this contract line, select the Payment Type associated with that scheduled payment.
    8. Enter any Notes you need to record about the contract line. Text entered in this field will appear on the work order associated with this line.
    9. In the Memo field, enter additional information about the contract line. This field is for internal use only and does not appear on work orders or the contract document.

13. Use the Terms table to enter values for any user-defined terms in a product's calculated expression and/or calculated credit expression.

    The Code and Data Type fields are automatically filled in when you enter a product with user-defined terms (you may need to click in the terms grid to make them appear).

    The Data Type field determines what value you can enter in the Expression field.

    In the Expression field, enter the value to substitute for the Code when it appears in a product expression.

14. Use the Scheduled Payments table to record payments to be collected before the contract start date. For each scheduled payment:
    1. Select the Invoice Date associated with the scheduled payment. This date is used for the AR invoice date and the GL date when the contract is posted. This date is also used to build the invoice number when an invoice scheme is not used.
    2. Select the date the payment is Due. The default date is the date entered in the Invoice Date column.
    3. Select the Type of payment. Only payment types from scheduled payments can be used on settlement lines.
    4. Select the Amount of the payment.
    5. In the Memo field, enter any additional information about the scheduled payment.
15. In the Payables table, enter Accounts Payable information for the contract. If the contract does not require you to make any payments, leave this table blank. For each payable:
    1. Select the AP Vendor.
    2. Select the AP Code to determine how the payable is processed.
    3. Select the Account to post to.
    4. Enter the Expression to use to calculate the payables amount.
    5. In the Memo field, enter any additional information about the payable.
16. When you finish, save your changes.

Contracts can be tedious to create simply because of the number of details which are often required. To alleviate the tedium and boost your efficiency, AccountingWare recommends you create contract templates which contain the boilerplate information that is repeated in your contracts or in categories of contracts. When you need to create a contract for a specific application, simply pull up the appropriate contract template, perform a New Copy, and edit the new contract, providing the customer code, actual contract dates, and other instance-specific details. AccountingWare can even provide bots to perform some of the updates automatically.

The number of contract templates you need will vary depending on the number of contract types you use. AccountingWare recommends at least one template for each contract type.

Before you create contract templates, you should set up a bare bones "template" customer in Accounts Receivable for use on template contracts.

To create a contract template:

1. In the Navigation pane, highlight the Contracts Processing > Contracts folder.

2. Click . The New Contract window opens.

   

3. Select the contract Type. The contract type determines the type of AR invoice that will be used on settlement invoices. To learn more, click here.
4. Select the Customer created for use on template contracts.

5. Enter a Description of the contract.

   Tip

   You may want to include the word "Template" in the description to help ensure the description is replaced on actual contracts.

6. If a particular salesperson is responsible for contracts of this type, select the Salesperson.
7. In the Attributes field(s), provide any attribute value(s) which are generally applicable to this type of contract.
8. Use the Lines table to enter standard contract lines. Contract lines represent items to be billed or work to be completed. For each contract line, provide the following information:
   1. Select the Product being provided. To learn how to add a product for use in Contracts Processing, click here.

   2. Enter the Date the product on the contract line will be delivered or the work on the contract line will be performed. For a template, this can be a "dummy" date such as 1/1/9999. If the delivery of the work or service will be distributed over multiple days, use dates relative to the "base" date to indicate the appropriate intervals.

      Note

      A separate contract line is required for each date a product is delivered or work performed.

   The remaining fields will be variously enabled/disabled depending on the type of product you selected and the information needed by the calculation expression for the product to calculate the contract line amount. Respond as appropriate.

   3. Enter the Start and End times for the item on the contract line. The duration for the item on this line is calculated for you and entered into the Hours field. These fields only apply to products which need a begin and end time to determine how the product is billed or performed.

   4. In the Quantity field, enter the number of units of the item on this contract line that will be used on the specified date.

      Note

      Do not enter a quantity for any date/time period other than the date/time period specified on the contract line. Create a new contract line for each date/time period the item was used. The contract line Amount is calculated for you.

   5. Enter the Price per unit of the item on the contract line. If a default price is loaded, you can override it if necessary.

      Some lines can be zero-priced lines, meaning they represent activities/items which are required to satisfy the contract but for which no money is billed.

9. When you finish, save the template.

   

Change contract to "Master" status

Once a contract has been signed and returned, you should update its electronic record. These updates allow the contract to be processed into work orders.

1. In the Navigation pane, highlight the Contracts Processing > Contracts folder.
2. In the HD view, locate and open the contract record.
3. Enter the date the contract was Signed.

   Note

   A signed date is not required to change the contract status to "Master".

4. From the Status dropdown, select "Master".

   

5. Save your changes.

Post contracts

If a contract requires a prepayment or a deposit, it is likely that you received a check along with the signed contract. Typically, you would want to update the deferred revenue account with the credit (along with the bank deposit).

Contracts Processing automatically creates the AR invoice using the deferred revenue ARCode assigned to the payment type. If you want ActivityHD to create the AR invoice for deferred revenue, do the following:

1. In the Navigation pane, highlight the Contracts Processing > Contracts folder.
2. In the HD view, locate and open the contract record.

3. Verify that there is a scheduled payment line in the table for a deposit or prepayment.

   

4. Click (Post). The Post Contracts wizard starts.

   

5. Enter an Invoice Batch name.

6. Click Next >>. You are prompted to verify that you want to post the contract.

   

7. Click Yes. ActivityHD posts the contract, creating the AR invoice. The invoice date is the invoice date from the scheduled payment and, likewise, the due date is the due date from the scheduled payment.

   

8. Click Next >>.

   

   At this point, you can perform several actions on the invoice including viewing it, entering a receipt, merging it as a charge/open invoice, printing it, etc.

   Note

   If there are multiple prepayments on a contract (a "schedule"), all prepayments are posted at once to AR; however, each prepayment is posted with a different due date as specified on the lines of the Scheduled Payment table.

   The Scheduled Payment table is locked once the contract status is set to "Master". If you need to change the payment schedule, first change the contract status back to "New" or "Ready", save the contract, make the needed changes, then set the status back to "Master" and save the contract again.

9. Click Finish.

Process contracts

1. In the Navigation pane, highlight the Contracts Processing > Contracts folder.
2. In the HD view, locate and open the contract record.

3. Click (Process). The Process Contracts wizard starts, prompting you to confirm that you want to process the contract.

   

4. Click Yes.

   

5. Click Next >>. A work order is created for each unsettled line in the Lines table.

   

   At this point, you can view and print the work order(s).

6. Click Finish.

Settle contracts

1. In the Navigation pane, highlight the Contracts Processing > Contracts folder.
2. Start the Settle Contracts wizard.
   • To settle all or a filtered subset of contracts:
     1. Right-click the Contracts folder and select Select and Settle Contracts from the shortcut menu.

        

     2. On the Selection tab, define any filters to apply to the contracts.

     3. Click Next >>.
   • To settle specifically selected contracts:
     1. In the HD view, select the contracts to settle. You can use Ctrl and/or Shift selection to select multiple contracts.
     2. Click .
   • To settle a particular contract from the Contracts window:
     1. In the HD view, locate and double-click the contract you want to settle. The Contract window opens with the contract loaded.
     2. Click .
3. On the Options tab, enter the cut-off Date through which to include delivered contract items (contract lines, contract lines with work orders, and manual work orders) in settlement processing.

   

4. If you need to limit the items included in settlement processing to those delivered by a certain time on the cut-off day specified, enter the cut-off Time.

5. Click Next >>. The wizard prompts you to confirm that you want to settle the selected contract(s).

   

6. Click Yes.

   

7. Click Next >>.

   

   At this point, you can double-click the settlement(s) in the right pane to drill down to the Settlement window, delete a settlement, print the Settlements Listing, post settlements to AR, or process settlement payments through AP.

8. When you finish viewing or working with the settlement(s), click Finish.

While not essential, once everything on a contract is complete, you can change the status to "Closed". In fact, "Closed" status can be applied to any contract. For instance, you may want to close a contract if the quote or negotiation did not result in a signed contract. Rather than keeping the contract open and unsigned, you can retain a record of the contract but flag it as "Closed".

1. In the Navigation pane, highlight the Contracts Processing > Contracts folder.
2. In the HD view, locate and open the contract record.

3. From the Status dropdown, select "Closed".

   

4. Save your changes.