This article will list out the necessary configuration steps for leveraging Gatekeeper's contract drafting & eSign actions within workflows
Estimated Read Time: 6 Minutes
Sections in this Article
- Starting the process; Creating a Contract & Draft
- Redlining/Negotiations/Review
- Draft Finalisations
- Signing the Contract
Part 1 - Creating the Record & "Draft Version 1"
In order to begin negotiations for a contract draft, a Contract Metadata Record must exist as part of the workflow card. Only then can you create/associate our initial draft agreement.
There are 2 standard methods to achieve this:
Method 1: Manual
Enabling one or both of the below actions will allow users to simultaneously create the Contract Metadata Record and choose the first version of the draft agreement:
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- Create Contract with eNegotiate Draft: This action allows users to select a prebuilt contract template, pulling in Contract metadata to use in the document
- Create Contract and associate a Contract Master Draft: This action allows users to use a .docx file which has been previously attached the form or that wish to upload themselves as the first version of the draft agreement
💡 Pro tip: to save time when using manual Create Contract actions, you could configure some form fields to be pre-filled (See: How to Lock Fields) 💡
These actions can both be enabled at the same time so users can choose between prebuilt templates/form attachments/their own uploads depending on the contract being reviewed.
There are also separate actions for these if they should be performed at different stages/by different users:
- Create Contract to create the metadata record
- Generate Draft from Contract to create a draft from a prebuilt template
- Associate a Contract Master Draft to use a form attachment or upload a file
Method 2: AutoActions
To remove administrative burden/delays, you can automate these actions on 2 sequential phases:
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- AutoAction | Create Contract followed by AutoAction | Generate Draft from Contract
- AutoAction | Create Contract followed by Associate a Contract Master Draft
- Currently, you cannot automate the association of a draft document. That is, if you do not wish to use an eNegotiate Template document, a user will have to manually choose which attached file to use via the 'Associate Draft' workflow action.
💡Pro tip: to avoid clutter on a kanban board, any phases which don't require manual input from users - such as AutoAction phases - can be minimised by default
👋 NB. Once you have generated a document using an eNegotiate template, editing the fields in the repository will not affect the document content
You only get one shot to automatically push metadata into a document!
Part 2 - Enabling Draft Submission/Approvals/Redlines
For External "Supplier" Users
It is possible to automatically send draft versions to external parties via the workflow notification with action links embedded in the email. These action links allow the supplier to submit their own version or accept/reject the current terms.
💡 FYI: This does not require the Supplier Portal module since these emails will never lead to external contacts actually logging in to Gatekeeper 💡
To configure an external eNegotiate phase, follow the below steps:
Step 1) Set the Form Access for the phase to be "Supplier eNegotiate"
Step 2) Set an individual phase owner (Contract Owner or First Supplier User are simplest)
💡 This must be an individual user because the Gatekeeper email they will receive contains dedicated submit/approve/reject action links. Sending these links to multiple people could lead to confusion if they are all working on/submitting their own document revisions
Step 3) Enable the notification to the card owner (and double check the button type within the email template states "eNegotiate")
Step 4) Enable Approval (technically this can be omitted if you need the Supplier to upload a revised version and don't want them to be able to proceed without providing an updated contract version)
Step 5) Enable the Submit Contract Draft Action
💡 It is possible here to remove the ability for Supplier Users to "Reject" a draft (meaning they will only be able to "Submit" a new version or "Accept" the latest version)
Step 6) Configure the transitions from the phase based on the draft actions taken
Suggestion for Submit : Send to your internal eNegotiate phase
Suggestion for Approve : Send to Draft finalisation/eSign phase
Suggestion for Reject (if allowed): send to your internal eNegotiate phase
For Internal Users & Groups
To allow internal users continue the draft negotiation cycle by submitting new versions, follow the below config steps (very similar to the Supplier Users configuration):
Step 1)Set the necessary internal Form Access & notifications for the individual/team who should be managing contract negotiations
Step 2) Enable Approval
Step 3) Enable the Submit Contract Draft Action
Step4) Configure the transitions from the phase based on the draft actions taken
Suggestion for Submit : Send to a Supplier eNegotiate phase
Suggestion for Approve : Send to a Draft finalisation/eSign phase
Suggestion for Reject : Send Draft to a "Rejected [Done]" Phase
For Internal users, there are 3 configuration options for their draft review steps to be performed
Option 1 - Via email
This will work with the eNegotiate notification buttons - same as Supplier eNegotiate
If you wish to use the same email-based eNegotiate as Supplier users, ensure you choose an individual user for Step 1, then select "eNegotiate" as the button-type within the "Card Owner" Email Notification.
Option 2 - Via the workflow card
This will use a combination of "Upload New Version" and the same buttons as the eNegotiate email
Option 3 - Via Microsoft "Office for the Web" (on the workflow card)
This will allow a combination Upload New Version / Edit in OFTW and the same buttons as the eNegotiate email
Example (with Track Changes enabled):
👋 NB.If you are using Parallel Approvals on your Internal eNegotiate workflow phase, Users will not be able to approve via the eNegotiate email
Approvers will will need to access the workflow card and approve there
Part 3 - Draft Finalisations
Once a draft document has reached the stage where all terms therein have been agreed by all parties, the document will need to be converted to a 'finalised' executable state.
If using Gatekeeper eSign, this finalised state means that it must be converted to PDF
Method 1: Manual
To facilitate this conversion to PDF, you may want a user/team to manually review the word document for any necessary 'tidying up' (checking for any comments/redlines/typos/etc) and use the below actions:
Publish Contract Draft & Convert MS Word to PDF - This action converts the current contract version from Word to PDF for you
Publish Contract Draft & Upload PDF - This action allows the user to provide their own tidied/reviewed PDF version, ready for signatures
💡 These actions can both be enabled at the same time so users can choose between uploading their own version of the contract PDF or allowing Gatekeeper to create the PDF for them
Method 2: AutoAction
For simpler agreements, it is possible to configure Gatekeeper to perform the Word->PDF conversion automatically:
AutoAction | Publish Contract Draft & Convert MS Word to PDF
NB. If your contract negotiation cycle is likely to include many comments/redlines/alterations, it is recommended to use the manual publish actions so the final PDF version you sign does not have comments/edits left in before signing.
If you are using an alternative Signature method (i.e. one which takes place outside Gatekeeper) you do not need to perform this step
Part 4 - Signing
Gatekeeper eSign
The final step of the contract negotiation process is to gather signatures from all authorising parties - this can be done as part of the workflow using Gatekeeper's native eSign solution.
As with many of these steps, there are 2 methods for configuring Gatekeeper eSign actions on a workflow phase:
Method 1: Manual
Enable eSign allows users to initiate Gatekeeper, sending a contract document to any number of internal/external signatories
"Allow inline eSign only" will implement a requirement that signature boxes are placed on the document itself before the signature request can be sent!
Method 2: AutoAction
AutoAction | Send for eSign will automatically send the master PDF document for eSignature to the Internal Contract Owner and Supplier Contract Owner.
If the associated contract metadata record does not have both of these owners populated, the action will fail
"External Signatory Only" can be checked to remove the Internal Contract Owner signature request. This could be useful for pre-signed boilerplate contracts like NDAs/Terms of Service
For prerequisites, see 📖 Configuring eSign
For a user walkthrough, see 📖 Initiating eSign from a Workflow
For more info, watch our ▶️ Gatekeeper eSign Introduction Webinar
DocuSign
The Enable Docusign action will allow users to utilise the DocuSign Integration when sending documents for signature on workflows
See 📖 Configuring Docusign for more information about this integration
See 📖 Using DocuSign on a Workflow for more details about the workflow action
💡 This signature method can be enabled alongside Gatekeeper eSign so users will have the choice of signature method depending on preference or contract compliance standards
External Signatures
If you wish to facilitate the use of an external signature method (like HelloSign or physical document "Wet Ink" signatures), you can enable the below action:
Upload Signed Document
This - similar to the Publish Contract Draft & Upload PDF action - will allow a user to provide a PDF which has been signed outside Gatekeeper
Summary
These are the 4 key stages required leverage Gatekeeper's full contract negotiation suite.
One thing to bear in mind is that these do not have to exist in isolation. Your workflow can include as many additional onboarding/approvals/collaboration steps as necessary.
The only requirement for you to integrate eNegotiate into your existing business process is that these 4 steps exist in this chronological order!
Additional Reading 📚
Workflow Basics: Configuring Workflow Actions
Workflow Basics: Configuring Workflow Notifications
Workflow Basics: Adding Phases (Form Access)