Contract statuses and actions
A contract's status is shown in the header of the contract screen and in the Status column of the contracts list. It determines what may be edited and which actions are offered.
Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Fully editable. A contract at the start of its life, with no billing periods generated. |
| Active | Billing periods have been generated. The contract itself is no longer editable, although its charges, assets and rates can still be changed. |
| Ongoing | The contract has passed its contracted expiry date. Billing periods continue to be added month by month until the contract is terminated. |
| Varied | The contract has been replaced by a variation. Remaining billing periods are cancelled and the contract is inactive; the replacement contract carries on. |
| Terminating | Termination has been requested. Remaining periods are marked Awaiting Termination and a final termination period is scheduled. |
| Terminated | Termination is complete. No further periods are generated. |
| Cancelled | The contract has been cancelled. Remaining billing periods are cancelled with it. |
Actions
Each action appears on the contract screen only when the contract is in a status it can be applied from.
| Action | From | To | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activate | Draft | Active | Generates the contract's billing periods. Stamps the activation time. |
| Deactivate | Active, Ongoing | Draft | Only available while the contract has no billing history that would be invalidated. |
| Vary | Active, Ongoing | Varied | Creates a variation contract. Remaining periods on the original are cancelled. |
| Undo vary | Varied | Active | Reverses a variation. |
| Expire | Active | Ongoing | Applied automatically when the contract passes its contracted expiry. |
| Unexpire | Ongoing | Active | Returns an ongoing contract to its contracted term. |
| Terminate | Active, Ongoing | Terminating | Schedules a final termination period. |
| Undo terminate | Terminating, Terminated | Active | Cancels a termination in progress or already applied. |
| Finalise | Terminating | Terminated | Completes the termination. |
| Cancel | Draft, Active, Ongoing | Cancelled | Cancels the contract and its remaining billing periods. |
| Undo cancel | Cancelled | Active | Reinstates a cancelled contract. |
| Renew | Active, Ongoing | — | Extends the contract term. |
| Reconcile volumes | Active, Ongoing | — | Recalculates carried reconciliation balances. |
| Rebuild lines | Active, Ongoing | — | Regenerates the contract's charge lines from its current configuration. |
Contract fields
The contract header and its Contract Details panel carry the following.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| BMS Ref | The internal reference for the contract. |
| Contract No | The contract number used with the customer. |
| Deal No | The originating deal in Sales, where the contract came from one. |
| Profile | The contract profile the contract was created from, which supplies its default charge structure. |
| Contract Type | The commercial type — for example Print Management, Meter Plan, Rental Contract, Service & Rent, Maintenance Only, External Only. The available types are configured for your organisation. |
| Billing Group | The group the contract is billed within. Billing screens filter by this. |
| Consolidation Code | Groups contracts that are to be invoiced together. |
| Start Date | The contracted start date. |
| Expiry Date | The contracted expiry date. Passing it moves the contract to Ongoing. |
| Termination Date | Set when a termination is scheduled. |
| Time Remaining | Derived from the expiry date. |
| Increase Frequency | How often contracted rates increase — for example yearly. |
| Next Increase | The date the next rate increase applies. |
The Contract panel above it names the parties: the Customer the agreement is with, the Customer of relationship where the contract is held through another party, the Billing Entity the invoice is raised against, and the Currency.
Further panels carry Insights (derived contract metrics), Billing Details (frequency, advance settings and reconciliation), Invoice Settings (how invoices for this contract are delivered) and System Info.
Billing frequency
| Value | Period length |
|---|---|
| Monthly | One month |
| Quarterly | Three months |
| Trimester | Four months |
| Half-Yearly | Six months |
| School Year | The configured school year |
| Yearly | Twelve months |
Advance settings
| Setting | Values | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Base advance | No Advance Required, Paid 1 Month in Advance, Paid 2 Months in Advance | How far ahead of the due date the fixed charges are billed. |
| Copies advance | This Month, Last Month | Which month's meter usage a period bills. |
See How contract billing works for what these two settings do to the dates on a billing period.