This chapter contains these topics:
To understand how to use a base agreement
To set up a base agreement
To release base agreement information into a contract
A base agreement is a model contract that contains commitment information for more than one job. You use base agreements so that you do not have to individually specify commitment distribution information for each contract. This is useful for contracts that have more than one plan, but where all of the jobs with the same plan have identical commitment information.
For example, assume you accept a contract to build 30 houses in a subdivision. Ten of the houses are floor plan A, 10 are floor plan B, and 10 are floor plan C. The subdivision is your project, and each house is a separate job.
You can set up a single base agreement with commitment details for an entire house. You can also set up base agreements for each task within the house, such as plumbing, electrical, drywall, and so on. Each base agreement defines an individual job or task, and contains the commitment distribution information that relates to each plan for that job or task. When you release the commitments against a particular job or task, the system automatically uses the commitment distribution information based on the specific plan.
Complete the following tasks:
Set up the base agreement
Release commitments
Set up a contract type for base agreements. For example, you can define contract type BC for base agreements. See Section 41.1, "Setting Up Subcontract Management User-Defined Codes".
Set up the CT and CR AAIs to define the cost type to use for base agreements. For example, if you define contract type BC for base agreements, then you must set up the CTBCxx AAI and the CRBCxx range of AAIs for base agreements. See Chapter 40, "Understand Next Numbers".