This article describes the features of the Contract Management module within ISPnext, part of the Source to Contract (S2C) platform.
Users can view accessible contracts depending on their authorisation.
There are different tabs: 'Drafts' for contracts not yet active, 'Expired' for contracts whose end date has passed, and 'Archived' for inactive contracts. 'Community Contracts' shows shared contracts within multiple ISPnext environments.
Draft contracts can be reviewed before activation, and there are options for managing archived contracts, such as unarchiving or permanently deleting them.
The article below relates to Source to Contract (S2C) for the following application(s)/module(s):
Contract Management
In this overview, as a user of ISPnext, you see all contracts you are authorised to view.
These can simply be all contracts, or only the contracts assigned to you via category authorisation. Read here more about assigning categories to users for using category authorisation.
The overview shows the most relevant information of each contract. Under the heading 'Filtering' you can read more about filtering within this overview. The table below explains all terms used in the overview.
| Term | Explanation |
| Ref. | The reference number of the contract. |
| Supp. ref. | The reference number of the supplier. |
| Supplier | The name of the supplier. |
| Contract number 1 | The contract number. |
| Contract name | The name of the contract. |
| Categories | The category(ies) linked to the contract product. |
| Start date | The start date of the contract. |
| Contract managers | The contract managers of the contract. |
| Project number | The project number of the project linked to the contract. |
| Status | The status of the contract. |
| Workflow status | The status of the workflow the contract may be in. |
| In workflow with | The name of the person linked to the current step of the workflow. |
Draft
The Drafts tab provides a clear overview of all contracts marked as draft. This means these contracts have been created but are not yet in effect. The draft stage is an important phase in the contract management process, as it offers users the opportunity to review, adjust, or approve contracts before they are officially activated.
When you create a contract, you have the option to indicate that it is a draft. This is a crucial step because it allows you to manage the progress of the contract before it is finalised. At this stage, you can carefully check all details and ensure everything is as desired before proceeding.
When you decide that the contract should become active, you only need to select the relevant contract in the overview and click the 'Activate contract' button. This is a simple action but marks an important transition in the life of the contract. Once you have performed this action, the contract is moved to the 'Active' tab, where it is now fully operational and the terms of the contract come into effect.
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Unless the option Show all draft contracts is enabled in Admin > Contract settings, draft contracts are only shown to the user who created the contract.
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No notifications are sent for draft contracts.
Expired
The Expired tab provides an overview of all contracts that have been terminated but are currently not archived, and whose end date has passed. This means these contracts have lost their validity. It is important to monitor these contracts as they may impact business operations or legal obligations. By regularly checking the Expired tab, organisations can take timely action, such as renewing contracts or ending relationships that are no longer relevant. Contracts whose end date has passed but have not been terminated are still listed under Active.
Archived
The Archive tab provides an overview of all contracts in an archived state. This means these contracts are no longer visible in the primary contract overview, which only displays active contracts.
An archived contract is by definition considered inactive, meaning it is no longer in use and no longer relevant for daily business operations.
When a contract is archived, most details can no longer be edited, but several options are available for managing the archived contract.
It is possible to unarchive an archived contract, which means the contract can be reactivated and returned to the primary overview. This can be useful if new developments make the contract relevant again.
Additionally, there is the option to permanently delete the archived contract, meaning it will no longer be accessible and cannot be restored.
To access the details of an archived contract, you can select the contract in the archive overview.
Community contracts
The Community Contracts tab shows all shared contracts. Community contracts are relevant for organisations with multiple ISPnext environments. Through this feature, it is possible to view contracts from multiple environments in one overview. It is also possible to navigate from this overview to another environment by selecting the desired contract. This feature is available for user accounts with the role 'Contract Management Community Viewer'. Read here more about user roles within VendorLink.