⚡️ Gatekeeper Expert - Only Allow Contract Requests From Onboarded Vendors ⚡️

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  Estimated Read Time: 5 Minutes

   Estimated Configuration Time: 15 - 30 Minutes

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Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Configuration
  • Part 1 - Restrict Contract Requests to Existing Vendors
  • Part 2 - Guide Users to Vendor Onboarding Request Form
• End User Experience
• Configure an Approval Phase (Optional)
• Additional Reading

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Introduction

If you’ve implemented due diligence procedures for managing vendors and contracts, Gatekeeper can help enforce them through simple configuration settings.

For example, you can restrict users from requesting new contracts with vendors who haven’t been onboarded. This helps maintain control over budgets, supply chains, and compliance with industry standards. See the video below for a demonstration:

 

Configuration

Part 1 - Restrict Contract Requests to Existing Vendors

The first step is to require that vendors are onboarded and approved before they can be used in new contract requests. It's recommended to do this by adding a core vendor data section to the workflow form, to ensure the existing vendor is associated with the workflow card successfully. To do this:

1. Navigate to the contract request workflow.
2. Click the start phase to edit it.
3. From Form, if the vendor data section has not already been added, click ADD SECTION and select Vendor Core Data from the Predefined dropdown list.
   
4. In the new vendor data section, click the 3 dots on Vendor Name, then click the pencil icon to edit the field.
   
5. Select the Associate Vendor with the card and Mandatory checkboxes, and the Select Existing Dropdown Values Only radio button, then click Save.
   
6. In the contract data section, click the 3 dots on Vendor Name, then click the pencil icon to edit the field.
7. Select the Take Value from Vendor Form Section and Hidden checkboxes, then click Save.
   

Part 2 - Guide Users to Vendor Onboarding Request Form

If users cannot proceed with a contract request because a vendor record doesn't exist yet, you can guide them to submit a vendor onboarding request. To do this:

1. Get the link for your vendor onboarding request form.
   1. For Employee Portal forms, navigate to the Submit Requests dashboard and right-click Request on the relevant form to copy the link address.
   2. For Public Forms, navigate to the Vendor Onboarding workflow and click the first phase to edit it, then from Form Access copy the Public Form URL. 
      
2. Navigate back to the Contract Request workflow form, and click on the first phase to edit it.
3. From Form, click the 3 dots on Vendor Name (within the core vendor data section), then click the pencil icon to edit the field.
4. Enter the Text, Link, and Link Text to prompt users when they cannot find a relevant vendor record, then click Save.
   

To allow this vendor to be used for a contract request immediately after onboarding is initiated, ensure there is a phase containing the ⚙️AutoAction Create Vendor immediately after the submission phase in your Vendor Onboarding workflow. 

 

End User Experience

After these configuration updates, users will only be able to select onboarded vendors. If they need to contract with a new vendor, they’ll be directed to submit a vendor onboarding request.

The GIF below shows how a user follows the prompted link to request a new vendor during a contract request.

The GIF below shows how a user navigates back to the original contract request form after starting a vendor onboarding request.

 

Configure an Approval Phase (Optional)

You can amend the configuration of your workflows to ensure that vendors who are currently in the process of being onboarded can begin contract negotiations, but a final approval would be required by the relevant team (e.g. Procurement or Legal) before the contract is signed. This ensures that contracts are not executed with vendors who have not completed the vendor onboarding.

🛠 If you already have a Pre-eSign Approval phase in your Contract Request workflow 🛠

Part 1 - Create the Conditional Approval

1. Click the approvals phase to edit it.
2. From Approvals, select the Parallel radio button.
3. Click ➕ ADD NEW PARALLEL APPROVAL and select the user/team who should verify that the vendor is onboarded.
4. Select the Conditional radio button, then click Save.
   
   
5. Click ➕ ADD to set the conditions for the approval, then select Vendor Details / Approval is one of Awaiting Approval.

It's recommended to add instructions to this phase to instruct the user/team responsible for approvals to check the vendor's onboarding progress before approving the contract.

Part 2 - Configure a Conditional Transition

If using conditional transitions to dynamically transition cards to the approval phase, ensure that Approval = Awaiting Approval is added to the list:

1. Click the phase before your approvals phase to edit it.
2. From Transitions, ensure the Conditional radio button is selected.
3. Click ➕ ADD TRANSITION  and enter a name e.g. Approved | Vendor Onboarding Check Required.
4. Click Add to create two conditions for your transition.
   1. First, add the action which should move the card (e.g. Card Approval Status is equal to Approved)
   2. Next, add Vendor Details / Approval is one of Awaiting Approval
5. Click the relevant pencil icons to set the Transition to Phase to your approvals phase, then set the Transition Status to Live.

🛠 If you don't have a Pre-eSign Approval phase in your Contract Request workflow 🛠

Part 1 - Add the Approval Phase

1. Click Add to create a new phase.
   
2. Enter a title, e.g. Vendor Onboarding Approval ✅ , and add some instructions to instruct the user/team responsible for approvals to check the vendor's onboarding progress before approving the contract. Once finished, click Save & Next.
3. From Form Access, select the radio button for the user/group responsible for the approval.
4. From Notifications, enable the email notification toggle for the card owner, then click the pencil icon to amend the email template.
5. From Form, select the appropriate radio buttons for each section to determine whether they are Read only or Hidden.
6. From Approval, select the Enabled radio button.
7. From Transitions, select the appropriate radio buttons to decide where cards should be transitioned to upon approval or rejection.
8. Click Back to Workflow then click Reorder to position this phase immediately before the eSignature stage.

Part 3 - Configure the Conditional Transition

Next, update your transitions so that cards move to this new stage instead of the eSignature phase.

1. Find any transitions which point to the eSignature phase. The easiest way to do this is by clicking on the eSignature phase then clicking Delete, as this will list any phases with transitions that point to this phase.
2. For each of these phases, click Add Transition to create a new conditional transition.
3. Enter a name, and set the Transition to Phase to the new approval phase.
4. Add the same conditions for the new transition, and ensure to add an additional condition:
   Vendor Details / Approval is Awaiting Approval
5. Set the new transition to Live.
6. Click Back, then click REORDER TRANSITIONS and drag the new transition to the top of the list. This ensures that Gatekeeper evaluates this condition first:
   1. If the vendor is awaiting approval → route to the new approval phase.
   2. If not → continue directly to eSignature as usual.
7. Repeat this process for all relevant transitions to ensure they are rerouted appropriately. 

Additional Reading 📚

• ⚡️Parallel Workflows - Contract Request ⓧ New Supplier Onboarding - Discover how to automatically start a vendor onboarding workflow process for incoming contract requests.