With Google Drive connected to your Gatekeeper account, you are able to edit documents which are (initially*) stored in Gatekeeper using Google Docs.

This means you can leverage all the familiar features of Google Docs for editing, reviewing & collaboration without having to sacrifice the Visibility & Control of having your Documents & Processes in Gatekeeper.

*After editing a Gatekeeper File in Google Docs, this will also add a version of that file to your Root Folder in Google Drive

Gatekeeper will automatically create a folder named after the Contract/Vendor record where your document was stored:

Using Google Docs from the Repository

For any Word/Doc files which are stored in the Files tab of a Vendor or Contract record, you can click the file Options menu & select Google Docs

Using Google Docs within a Contract Review Workflow

One of the main scenarios you may want to leverage this integration is during a structured Contract Review process in Gatekeeper.

You'll get the best of both worlds when combining the editing & collaboration features of Google Docs, with the structure, automation & audit capabilities of a Gatekeeper Workflow.

On a Workflow Card

Users with access to a Workflow Card on a phase with Submit Draft + Google Docs Action enabled will be able to hit Edit in Google Docs

This will allow them to open up the current draft version for editing in Google Docs like this:

Via Email

For Users who interact with eNegotiate without logging into Gatekeeper, they can be emailed a link to collaborate on the Draft:

Within this email (pictured above), recipients have 3 options* for engaging in the process.

The first option will allow them to open the Draft for review & editing

Then, once they have completed the review in Google Docs, the lower 2 options can be used for them to record their "decision":

If they made changes to send for review to the other party ➡️ they hit ⬆️ Submit Draft

If the Google Doc is fine with them to proceed to signature ➡️ they hit ✅ Accept Draft

*3 options is the standard: (Edit, Submit, Approve)

However, this number can vary:

• An extra option can be added for user to hit ❌ Reject Draft

• The option to Accept/Reject the draft can be removed so the only option is to make edits, then hit Submit Draft

AutoSync

When using Google Docs, there is a Gatekeeper plugin which allows users decide when to manually update the Gatekeeper File Version using changes which have been made to the version in Google Drive.

However, the AutoSync feature means that changes made during a workflow are not lost if a user forgets to use this Gatekeeper Sync plugin!

➡️ If a Workflow Card containing a Google Docs draft moves to another phase of the Workflow, and that phase does not allow for Google Docs editing, Gatekeeper will automatically store any unsaved changes from Google Docs as a new file version

Pictured below: Gatekeeper AutoSync creating a "Version 6" automatically when a draft is sent the Vendor for manual review

Configuration

Enabling the Google Drive Connection

Step 1) Go to Settings > Configuration > Document Management

Step 2) Within the Google Drive menu, hit Connect

Step 3) In the pop-out screen, grant access to your Google Drive, followed by selecting a Root Folder

The "Root folder" is where Gatekeeper stores backups of your Documents - it is advisable to name this something understandable for others with access to your Google Drive

(Below, we use "Gatekeeper Document Storage")

Enabling AutoSync

To be able to leverage the Gatekeeper Google Docs plugin, the Gatekeeper app needs to be granted the ability to view & edit the file version you store in in Google Drive

This setting will allow Gatekeeper to update the Google Drive document with new "official" version from negotiations:

This setting will also allow Gatekeeper to update the current Workflow Draft Version using the edits which have been made in Google Docs

Step 1) Navigate to your Root folder in Google Drive

Step 2) Right click the Folder & hit Share

Step 3) Enter the below email address:

gatekeeper-google-drive@concrete-potion-405114.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Step 4) Select "Editor" as the granted permission (& uncheck ☑️ Notify)

Step 5) Hit Share

Enabling Workflow Google Docs Editing

Step 1) Click to edit the Workflow phase where Google Docs draft editing will take place

Step 2) Go to the Actions Tab

Step 3) Underneath the Submit Contract Draft action, enable ☑️ Google Docs

NB. In order to use the Submit Contract Draft action, a Contract draft must first have been created/associated for the Contract on the Workflow.

i.e. The Standard eNegotiate Flow in Gatekeeper is:

Part 1) Create/Link Contract Draft v1

↳ Part 2) Submit Contract Draft/s

↳ Part 3) Publish Contract Draft to PDF

↳ Part 4) eSign Contract PDF

You cannot jump into using Google Docs at Part 2, Contract Draft Negotiations must have been started by assigning Draft Version 1, either by creating it from a Template, or by manually selecting a file uploaded to the Card

For more information, see 📖 Configuring eNegotiate

Enabling Workflow Google Docs Editing via Email

This option could be more useful for Vendors because they are unable to access Contract Workflows in Gatekeeper

First, Follow the same steps as above to enable the Submit Contract Draft action with Google Docs

Then,

Step 1) Go the Form Access tab

Step 2) Ensure there is a dedicate owner assigned who will receive the draft & be responsible for completing the review/edits

If sending to a Vendor (also ensure the authorisation type is set to Vendor eNegotiate)

Step 3) Go to the Notifications tab

Step 4) Enable an email to the card owner, then click to edit the email template

Step 5) Ensure the Button Type is set to "eNegotiate"

⚡️ Expert Consideration: Removing "Back-and-forth" draft negotiations

Google Docs is such an enabler...I can't imagine going back to the days of marking up a contract, emailing it someone, then they send it back...for us, working in real time means we get everything done so much faster

In this episode of Procurement Reimagined, guest Hannah McDonald, Monzo Supplier Operations Lead named Google Docs as her piece of tech she couldn't live without!

Previously, the "standard" method for structuring Contract Negotiations in Gatekeeper has been in line with how, logically, these processes take place

↳ A Workflow Card lands on the phase for a specific party for review

↳ Gatekeeper sends an email (with the draft attached) informing them that it's their "turn" to make revisions & comments.

↳ These reviewers "submit" their new draft

↳ The Workflow card moves over to the phase owned by the other party in the negotiations and it's now their turn

This kind of back-and-forth is reliable because it's easy to understand who is currently reviewing the contract and it's also easy to look back over the version history to see the versions submitted by each party for their "round" of updates.

However, collaborative tools like Google Docs allow for a much more direct & dynamic negotiation process to take place.

As mentioned by Hannah MacDonald, it affords the option to combine all aspects of redlining, commenting, sharing drafts into a single step where Google Docs is the central location for all these activities:

FAQ 💬

Q: What happens if draft is submitted/approved without saving a version to the Workflow Card?

A (If the card is moving to another phase with Google Docs enabled):

Nothing. Gatekeeper will display if there are unsaved changes to in the Google Doc which have been saved. But since these edits can continue in Google Docs on the next phase, this is OK!

A (If the card is moving to another phase without Google Docs enabled):

Gatekeeper will automatically save a new version from the edits which have been made in Google Docs (see AutoSync above)

Q: Gatekeeper is saying that cannot find any changes to sync, even though I have made changes!

A: Have you granted access to the AutoSync user? This is our account which compares the Gatekeeper file version & Google File version & takes a copy when necessary.

Q: Are all files automatically sync'd from Gatekeeper to Google Drive?

A: No - only those which have been opened in Google Docs from within Gatekeeper

Q: Can we use this alongside the existing Office for the Web in-browser editing feature?

A: No

Q: Will the Gatekeeper File always match the Google Drive File version?

A: Not always....

Since Google Docs saves new "versions" after any edit is made to a file, this can leads to dozens - if not hundreds - of versions.

In Gatekeeper, we prefer to be more selective as to what constitutes a new file version to more directly reflect the contract's negotiation, approval & execution lifecycle.

When a file is being edited in Google Docs, Gatekeeper will only save a new version if:

a) Someone uses the Gatekeeper plugin to hit "Sync"

b) A Workflow Card containing the Google Doc transitions to another phase (via Submit/Accept/Reject) on the Workflow, which causes Gatekeeper to automatically save the latest draft as a new version.

(See AutoSync above for more information on this feature)