Adding a Contract via the User Interface

This article will describe the initial steps of adding a Contract record to your repository.

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Estimated Read Time: 7 Minutes

Introduction

Gatekeeper's user interface is designed to save you time and resources while ensuring accuracy and compliance. 

In this article:

• Where to add a Contract
• Adding the core Contract Data
• Contract Dates
• Owners
• RAG (Red/Amber/Green) Status
• Renewal
• Relationships
• Custom Data

Where to add a Contract

The initial steps to creating a Contract are Contract > Add > Contract

From here, Gatekeeper will guide you through the step-by-step process of adding a contract. 

Adding the core Contract Data

Several core data fields need to be populated to create a Contract record.

• Contract Name - The title of the contract (succinct yet informative)
• Currency - Select from all pre-configured currencies (for adding & managing currencies, please see this article)  Note, only 1 currency can be used per contract.
• Status: Pipeline, Live or Archived
  • Pipeline - A Contract that has not yet been executed
  • Live - An executed Contract that has not surpassed its End Date
  • Archived - A Contract that has surpassed its End Date and is no longer required
• Category: select from all available or add new in-line
  • The broad range of services being provided by this Contract. E.g. IT Hardware
• Team: select from all available or add new in-line
  • The internal Team that owns this Contract
• Supplier/Vendor: select from all available or add new in-line
  • The Supplier/Vendor that this Contract has been executed with. Note, only 1 Supplier/Vendor can be associated with a Contract.
• Annual Value: the expected annual value of the contract
  • The Annual Value of the Contract Record
• Contract Type: select from all available or add new in-line
  • E.g. Master Services Agreement, Non-disclosure Agreement
• Entity: select from all available or add new in-line
  • The internal Legal Entity that the Contract relates to

In addition, two non-mandatory fields can be populated should you wish to decorate the record with additional relevant information:

• Internal Reference
• Description 

 

Once this data has been created, you can select Save & Next to decorate the record further.

As you create the record, or at any point, you can decorate the contract record with further information.

Contract Dates

• Start Date - the commencement date of the contractual agreement
• End Date OR Evergreen - the expiration date of a contract OR an indication of Evergreen status, meaning the agreement does not have an expiration date
• Notice Period Date - The date on which notice must be provided to alter/exit the contractual agreement. This is a date, e.g. 05/05/2023
• Rolling Days Notice - The rolling number of days needed to give notice. This is a rolling number of days in which we must provide notice for the termination of the Contract. E.g. On any date, we must provide 30 days' notice.

For a deeper dive into Contract Dates, please see this Knowledge Base Article

By then selecting Save & Next, you move through to Owners.

Owners

Contract Owners can be utilised to help identify Internal Subject Matter Experts, and externally can provide us with who is the best point of contact within the Vendor's business.

A Contract can have both internal and external owners, and these can be added and maintained here.

• Internal Owner - The internal owner of the Contract within your business
• Supplier/Vendor Owner - The main point of contact with the Supplier/Vendor (External)

RAG (Red, Amber, Green) Status

Apply a Red, Amber, or Green status to the contract and add a description to explain the rationale behind the decision. 

This system can be used to track a Contract's performance over time.
E.g. You have a contractual agreement for goods or services to be provided by the 15th of each month. When this service is late, you can set the Contract to Amber or Red and provide a narrative. Though, the following month the goods or services may be delivered early, so you can update the RAG status to Green and provide a narrative. The entire history of RAG Status updates can be viewed from the Lifecycle tab.

Renewal

Contracts can be auto-archived, and the owner is notified ahead of the date if required. A good use case for Auto-Archive could be for NDAs as these could live on in perpetuity.

Relationships

The final tab allows you to link the Contract record you have just created to an existing Contract record within Gatekeeper with the additional options to indicate a Parent or Child relationship. Use the green "Add" button to include all relationships before clicking "Save & Exit". 

For example, a Master Services Agreement may be linked to one of many Statements of Work. The hierarchical relationships will then clearly display from the contract record's Data Tab under the "RELATIONSHIPS" heading. Any visible blue links can navigate between contract and supplier records in Gatekeeper. 

Custom Data

Custom data allows you to collect and organise unique data that is specific to your business.  Whether you're tracking materiality assessments, information security, or any other critical metrics, custom data gives you the flexibility and control to manage your data in a way that works best for you.

Chances are you already have some custom data fields in Gatekeeper, though if you need a refresher on how to create these powerful fields, please see our Knowledge Base Article here.

If you already have custom data present in Gatekeeper, the icon highlighted in red below is your indication that these are custom fields.

Additional Learning:

• Configuring Additional Owners
• Configuring Currencies
• Configuring Custom Data Fields
• Understanding Contract Expiry Dates
• Contract Data - Bulk Import & Export