This chapter contains all the steps required to use the Oracle Procurement Contracts application.
This chapter covers the following topics:
To use Oracle Procurement Contracts, you must define organizations in the Oracle Human Resources application. For more information, see Oracle HRMS Enterprise and Workforce Management Guide. Defining your organizations is the first step in the Procurement Contracts implementation since the contract terms library as well as procurement and sourcing documents are managed in these organizations.
Note: If your procurement contracts implementation is global (you intend to use the solution world-wide across your different organizations or divisions) you must identify one global organization for the purpose of creating clauses and templates in the contract terms library.
In addition, you must make the following business-related decisions to determine how your organizations need to be setup to implement Procurement Contracts:
How many organizations will be involved in the implementation?
Will any of these organizations establish and administer standard contract policies and terms at the global level?
Do your local organizations require customizing to meet local business and policy regulations?
Do you have the following user roles for the library defined?
Contract Terms Library Administrator
Approvers for the contract terms library for procurement contracts
Note: NOTE: The approvers of the contract terms library may be different than approvers of the procurement contracts themselves.
If you are also implementing Sales Contracts, you can have an approver defined who is different than for Procurement Contracts.
Once these decisions are made, you are ready to setup contracts. To do this, you will find the operating unit classification in the organizations definition pages. For the operating unit listed in the Organization Classifications region, set up the following Contract Terms options:
Auto Adopt Global Clauses: This enables automatic adoption of global clauses in a local organization. The clauses do not have to be approved separately in the local organization if the Auto Adopt option is set to Yes.
Library Administrator (Buy Intent): Set a library administrator to receive notifications including
System Failures - For example, failure of concurrent processes.
FYI Notifications - For example, approval of global clauses that are now ready for adoption
Library Approver (Buy Intent):: Set a library approver for Buy Intent to route workflow approval notifications for clauses and templates.
Note: Only users defined as FND_USERS, using the System Administrator responsibility, can be assigned the role of Library Administrator or Library Approver. If the users are no longer valid, make sure the contract terms setup is modified.
You must set up at least one contract template for each operating unit that is implementing Oracle Procurement Contracts. During contract authoring, this contract template can be applied to a Sourcing or Purchasing document. For details on how to create a contract template, see Creating Contract Templates.
Note: Only users defined as FND_USERS can be assigned the role of Library Administrator or Library Approver. If the users are no longer valid, you must update the contract terms setup in the organizations setup.
Even if your organization only implements Procurement Contracts, you must define an approver and administrator for the Sell intent in the setup described above. Failure to setup an approver and administrator for Sell intent may result in system errors while approving your clauses and templates.
Steps
To set up operating units:
Log in to the Human Resources responsibility.
Open the Find Organization window.
Navigation: Work Structures -> Organization -> Description.
Select the desired operating unit from the list of values.
Click the Find button.
In the Organization Classifications region, place the cursor in the Operating Unit classification.
Click the Others button.
Select the Contract Terms Setup option from the list of values.
In the Contract Terms Setup window, enter values for the following options:
Auto Adopt Global Clauses: This enables automatic adoption of global clauses in a local operating unit. The clauses do not have to be approved separately in the local operating unit if the Auto Adopt option is set to Yes.
Library Administrator for Buy Intent: Set a library administrator Buy intent to receive notifications when a global clause is created and needs adoption in the local operating unit.
Library Approver for Buy Intent: Set a library approver for Buy intent to route workflow approval notifications for clauses and templates.
Clause Sequence Category: Provide a value here if you want to activate the AutoNumbering function for clauses in the operating unit. Leave it blank if you want to number clauses manually. See: Setting Up AutoNumbering.
Note: Users who are defined as FND_USERS, using the System Administrator responsibility, can only be assigned the role of Library Administrators or Library Approvers. If the users are no longer valid, you must manually update the information in the contract terms setup. For example, if an employee is no longer with your organization, ensure that the relevant updates are made to the setup that was explained earlier.
The Multiple Organizations (Multi-Org) access control feature enables you to define the operating units within a specific responsibility that users can have access to. You can set up Multi-Org access control in the Contract Terms Library which enables users to access multiple operating units from one responsibility.
To define security profiles
Log in to the Human Resources responsibility.
Open the Profile page.
Navigation: Security > Profile page
Provide a name for the profile.
Select a business group to which all the operating units belong. If you have not defined your own business groups, select the default business group.
In the Security type field, select the “Secure Organizations by organization hierarchy and/or organization list” option from the list of values.
Navigate to the Organization Security tab. At this stage, you can select one of the following options:
Navigate to the Classification region and provide a list of operating units and their names. This will be the list of operating units under the security profile.
Select an organization in the Organization Hierarchy field. To use this option, you must first set up an organization hierarchy. See: Setting Up Organization Hierarchy.
Save your work.
Run the Security List Maintenance program.
You should select the One Named Security Profile option as the value for the Generate Lists for parameter and then provide the value of the security profile that you just created.
If you have multiple security profiles, you can run this program as many times as necessary. Also, you must run this program after you update the security profile definitions.
To set up the organization hierarchy
Log in to the Human Resources responsibility.
Open the Organization Hierarchy page.
Provide a hierarchy name.
Save your work.
Provide the version number and start date.
Save your work and close the window.
Query the hierarchy that you just created.
Navigate to the Subordinates region.
If you receive a warning message that indicates “The organization is not current as at the start date,” ignore it and provide the list of operating units that you want to include in the hierarchy.
Save your work.
Consider the following profile options when implementing Oracle Procurement Contracts. Generally, the system administrator sets and updates profile values. See: Setting User Profile Options, Oracle E-Business Suite Setup Guide.
Profile options are grouped into one or more profile option categories enabling you to view only the profile options that pertain to your application or function.
The table below lists the profile options that impact Contracts Security. This profile category is used to group all the profiles used to enforce security in Oracle Procurement Contracts.
| Profile Option | Default | User Access | System Administration: Site | System Administration: Application | System Administration: Responsibility | System Administration: User |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contracts Intent Access Control | Update | Update | Update | Update | Update | |
| OKC: Terms Library Intent | Update | Update | Update | Update | Update |
When you define a contract and indicate the contract type, the system derives the contract's intent, which is an indication of whether the contract is buy-side, sell-side, or neither. Each contract type can be associated only with one intent. The possible values for Intent are Buy, Sell, Other, or any combination of these. This profile option restricts the users when that are creating or viewing Repository contracts, and when they are using the Contracts Workbench.
Note: If this profile option is not set, the user will have access to all three intents.
Use this profile option to restrict the Intent while creating a clause, template, or rules in the terms library. You can set the profile option value to Buy, Sell, or All. However, for Oracle Procurement Contracts the value should be set to Buy
Note: If you leave this profile option blank, it will have the same effect as setting it to All.
The table below lists the profile options that impact Contracts Setup. This profile category is used to group all the profiles used in the setup of Oracle Procurement Contracts, including the contract terms library, contract expert, repository as well as contract authoring
Use this profile option to enable electronic signature functionality. For more information about electronic and manual signatures, see Approve and Sign Contracts.
Optionally use this profile, in conjunction with the MO: Security Profile, to set a default operating unit for creating contracts. The value of this profile must be one of the operating units in the MO: Security Profile.
Use this profile option to determine which operating unit or group of operating units have access to the Procurement Contracts responsibility. To set up this profile option, you need to first implement the Multi-Org Access feature.
Use this profile option to specify the location of the XML file containing the clauses and other data that are to be imported into the Contract Terms Library.
Indicates whether Contract Expert is used by an organization. Contract Expert is not enabled if the profile option value is set to No.
If this profile option is set to Yes, the system will assign numbers automatically to the new contracts created in Contract Repository. If you set the profile option to No, the application users must enter contract numbers manually. Contract numbers must be unique across all manually and automatically generated numbers.
Use this profile option to sort clauses in a section by the clause number.
Use this profile option to control whether the deviations report is attached to the approval workflow notification. If the profile option is set to No, the system will not attach the deviations report to the notification.
For Oracle Sourcing, set the profile option to Not Applicable to remove this option from the Review Contract Deviations page.
Use this profile option to define your global organization.
Caution: Changing the value of this profile option, once it has been set, is not recommended. This could cause data issues with clauses and templates in the Contract Terms Library.
Identifies the layout template to control the format of the deviations report that is attached to the approval workflow notification.
Use this profile option to control whether the clause number is also displayed with the clause title when viewing contract terms in the structured view during contract authoring. For more information about structured terms, see the online help topics in Oracle Procurement Contracts.
Indicates if the default contracts template should be auto-applied to the purchasing document or not during the creation of the document.
To enable Oracle Procurement Contracts, you need to set the value of this profile to Yes. After completing any subsequent purchasing transaction, changing the value of this profile option to No may lead to data corruption and is not recommended.
To print the Amendment section in the contract document, set the value to Yes.
Set to No to use the Rich Text feature in authoring clauses.
Use this profile option to enable buyers and suppliers to update or delete attachments for a deliverable. This profile option can be set at the site level.
The system supports defining a single approver for each of the Buy and Sell intents as standard out-of-the-box functionality. Use the Operating Units setup to identify approvers of clauses and templates in the global and local operating units. For more information, see the Setting Up Operating Units section.
You can customize the approval flows for clauses and templates to route it to multiple approvers or change approvers based on additional context using Oracle Workflow. For more information, see the Oracle Workflow Administrator's Guide.
The workflow names are
Contract Template Approval: OKCTPAPP
Contract Clause Approval: OKCARTAP
The following table lists the workflows that govern the approval of a sourcing or purchasing document that includes Oracle Procurement Contracts clauses and templates:
| Technical Name | Workflow Name |
|---|---|
| POAPPRV | PO Approval |
| PONAPPRV | Sourcing Approval |
| PONAWAPR | Sourcing Award Approval |
You can customize approval flows. For more information, see the Oracle Workflow Administrator's Guide.
These workflows are delivered with Oracle Purchasing and Oracle Sourcing, and can be used to route purchasing documents and their associated contracts for special contractual approval.
Refer to the Look Up Codes appendix for the list of system, user, and extensible lookup codes. Use these tables to identify the lookup codes that you must define for your implementation. Use the Application Object Library Lookups window to define the lookup codes.
Note: Modifying seeded lookup values can corrupt data that was created using the lookup values. You cannot end date or disable seeded values.
The Procurement Contract Terms Library supports searching by keyword for both clauses and templates. To effectively use this search feature, you must run the following concurrent processes on a periodic basis:
Synchronize Clauses Text Index: This program synchronizes the clauses text index.
Optimize Clause Text Index: This program optimizes the clauses text index.
Synchronize Template Text Index: This program synchronizes the contract templates text index.
Optimize Template Text Index: This program optimizes the contract templates text index.
Note: The recommended approach would be to run the Synchronize and Optimize concurrent programs together. The implementation teams need to determine the frequency of running these programs, depending on the specific business needs. If the clauses and templates are frequently updated, run these programs more often to obtain accurate search results.
To format and publish PDF versions of contract documents, Oracle Procurement Contracts uses specific layout templates in Oracle XML Publisher, an application in the Oracle E-Business Suite.
Layout templates represent the format and layout of business documents. In Oracle XML Publisher, layout templates are created using XSL-FO, and are registered in the Template Manager. For more information, see the Oracle XML Publisher User's Guide.
Oracle Procurement Contracts has seeded layout templates for each of the supported document types. For details on the seeded layout templates, see the Seeded Data appendix.
The seeded layout templates cannot be modified. However, you can download a copy of the layout to your desktop, modify it, and register it as a new layout template in Oracle XML Publisher. This section describes basic steps required to customize layout templates for contract templates using Oracle XML Publisher. The layout template that you select for a contract template defines how its format and layout appears when you generate the contract PDF.
Creating a Layout Template
To change the layout, you need to create a new layout template in Oracle XML Publisher.
To create a new template, you should start with a copy of one the seeded templates, for example Oracle Contract Terms Template.
The following table displays the parameters that a layout template for contract templates should use.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Application | Oracle Contracts Core |
| Data Source Name | Contract Terms Data Definition |
| Subtemplate | Unchecked |
| Template Type | XSL-FO |
In addition, define the effective date range (start date and end date) of the layout template such that it allows you to preview the contracts and contract templates. If you leave the End Date field blank, you can use the layout template indefinitely.
Prerequisites
You must be familiar with Oracle XML Publisher and have access to Oracle XML Publisher Administrator Responsibility.
Log in to the XML Publisher Administrator responsibility.
Click the Templates link.
The Templates Search page opens.
In the Application field, enter Oracle Contracts Core.
Click Go to view the search results.
Click the Duplicate icon for the Oracle Contract Terms Template.
In the Code field, enter a new code for the template.
In the Name field, enter a new name.
Click Apply to save the new template.
In the Template Files region, click the Download icon for the OKCTERM_en.XSL file.
Save the template to your desktop.
Open the template with a text or XSL editor.
Modify the layout or boilerplate to suit your needs.
Save the template with a new name, for example, MyTemplate_en.xsl.
In the Template Files region, click the Update icon for the OKCTERMS_en.xsl file.
Click the Browse button to locate and select your customized XSL-FO stylesheet (Example: MyTemplate_en.xsl).
Click Apply.
The system uploads the file and associates it with your layout template.
Click the Preview button to preview a sample document using your new layout template.
Customizing the Contract Terms XSL-FO Stylesheet
To create a stylesheet for a contract template, you need to know the structure of the contract XML document that is transformed by the XSL stylesheet. The XSL-FO stylesheet, in the layout template, is applied to the contract XML document representing a contract template to create a PDF document.
For a description of the contract XML format, see the XML Reference appendix.
Associating Layout Template to Document Types
For every operating unit that is implementing Oracle Procurement Contracts, you must associate a layout template with the following purchasing and sourcing document types:
Standard Purchase Order
Blanket Purchase Agreement
Contract Purchase Agreement
RFQ
RFI
Auction
For each document type, you need to specify a layout template for the following sections:
Procurement (either purchasing or sourcing)
Contract Terms and Conditions
You can create custom layout templates for every section and load them to the system using XML Publisher. The layout templates determine the format of the Procurement and Contract sections in the PDF document.
Steps
Log in to the Purchasing Super User responsibility.
Navigate to the Document Types form.
Navigation: Set Up > Purchasing > Document Types
Select the Document Type from the list of values.
Use the Document Type Layout field to associate a layout template for the Sourcing or Purchasing section of the PDF.
In the Contract Terms Layout field, set the name of the layout template that is created for the Contract Terms and Conditions section of the PDF.
To generate the contract document in the PDF format, you need to set the PO Output Format value to PDF.
Steps
Log in to the Purchasing Super User responsibility.
Navigate to the Purchasing Options window.
Navigation: Set Up > Organization > Purchasing Options
Navigate to the Control tab.
In the PO Output Format field, select the PDF option from the list.
Save your work.
Oracle Procurement Contracts supports the use of descriptive flexfields for users to enter additional information for the following:
Standard Clauses
Contract Templates
Variables
Contract Template Deliverables
Folders
The following table displays the information for descriptive flexfields:
| Component | Name | Title | Description | Table |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Clause | OKC_ARTICLES_DESCFLEX | Clauses Additional Information | Descriptive flexfield for clause versions | OKC_ARTICLE_VERSIONS |
| Contract Templates | OKC_TERMS_TMPL_DFF | Contracts Template DFF | Contracts Template DFF | OKC_TERMS_TEMPLATES_ALL |
| Variables | OKC_VARIABLES_DESCFLEX | OKC User Defined Variables Flexfield | Oracle Contracts user-defined variables flexfield | OKC_BUS_VARIABLES_B |
| Contract Template Deliverables | DELIVERABLES_FLEX | Additional Attributes | Additional attributes on deliverables | OKC_DELIVERABLES |
| Folder | OKC_ART_DF | OKC Clause Folders DF | Descriptive flexfield for folders | OKC_FOLDERS_ALL_B |
Use this setup to create attribute groups and attribute templates for deliverables.
Defining Attribute Groups
You need to set up the attribute group by performing the following steps:
Navigate to Contracts Terms Library Administrator responsibility, Contracts, Deliverable Attributes Setup, and then Attribute Groups.
Click the Create button. Enter the Internal Name and Display Name. Click the Apply and Add Attributes button.
Click Apply to save the attribute group.
Defining Attribute Templates
You need to set up the attribute template by performing the following steps:
Navigate to Contracts Terms Library Administrator responsibility, Contracts, Deliverable Attributes Setup, and then Attribute Templates.
Click the Create Template button. Enter the Template Name and Start Date. Select a Deliverable Category. The deliverable categories added in the OKC_DEL_CATEGORIES lookup will be displayed in the LOV.
Click Save.
Click the Add Deliverable Usages button to specify a Sequence, select a Deliverable Type, and select the Attribute Group. Click Apply.
The Attribute Group and Deliverable Type combination must be unique.
Clicking the Freeze Template button will not allow you to make any edits to the template. After freezing the template, in order to edit the template, click the Revise Template button.
You can freeze only one template for the combination of effective dates, operating unit, and deliverables.
Click Save.
Use this setup to number clauses automatically during creation.
Guidelines
In all responsibilities that create clauses, set the Sequence Numbering profile option to yes.
For more information on setting this profile option, see the Oracle E-Business Suite Setup Guide.
Additional Information: You can only delete a numbering scheme that is not assigned to a contract template.
If you define a numbering scheme with the "a,b,c," numbering type and a specific level with more that 26 entries, the system does not create further alphabets. Instead, the system uses symbols for all entries beyond 26. Preview the template or contract, as applicable, and make sure the numbering scheme used is changed to use some other type.
Steps
Log in to the System Administrator responsibility.
Define a document sequence.
Navigation: Application > Document > Define
Enter a sequence name, the Contracts Core application, an effective date, Automatic type, and an initial value.
Define a sequence category.
Navigation: Document > Categories.
Define the category using OKC_ARTICLES_ALL as the table to be associated.
Assign the category to a set of books.
Navigation: Document > Assign.
Associate the category defined with the set of books and sequence.
Set the OKC: Clause Sequence Category profile option with the sequence created above.
Value sets are used in Oracle Procurement Contracts while creating user-defined variables and in Contract Expert. For more information, see the Defining Value Sets section of the Oracle E-Business Suite Developer's Guide.
For all user-defined variables, value sets are supported subject to the following conditions:
Format Types: The supported format types are Number, Character, and Standard Date. You must only use the supported format types when defining value sets for user-defined variables.
Validation Types: The supported validation types are None, Independent, and Table. You must only use the supported validation types when defining value sets for user-defined variables.
Based on the value set definition, the system displays the list of values in the following formats:
Table: A drop-down list or a list of values.
Independent: A drop-down list or a list of values.
None: an input field in the authoring, based on the following format types:
For the CHAR format type, the system displays an input field.
For the Number format type, the system displays an input field. However, users can only enter numeric values in this field.
For the Standard Date format type, the system displays a Date type field.
Note: Value set information is used in user-defined variables in the Contract Terms Library. Deleting the value from a value set or deleting the value set could cause data issues that impact the following:
Contract templates containing clauses that use user-defined variables.
Business documents that use user-defined variables in standard and non-standard clauses.
Oracle Procurement Contracts enables organizations to control users' access to contact authoring features. In this way, users with different roles, such as contract negotiators, contract administrators, and contract approvers, can have access to only those features they need to use. For example:
Contract negotiators may have standard authoring privileges allowing them access to standard clauses and pre-approved alternates from the library.
Contract administrators may have additional privileges allowing them to author non-standard clauses or remove contract terms.
Contract approvers or super users may have privileges that allow them to override standard authoring controls. For instance, with override authoring privileges, users can delete a mandatory clause from a business document or edit a protected clause.
In Oracle Purchasing, the seeded Super User menu has full access to the features provided by Oracle Procurement Contracts. To restrict a specific function, choose one of the following options:
Exclude the corresponding function from the user's responsibility.
Create a new menu without the corresponding function, and associate the menu with the user responsibility.
The type of access to a business document is governed by the security features in Oracle Purchasing, Oracle Sourcing, and Oracle iSupplier Portal. In addition to these existing security features, Oracle Procurement Contracts provides the following levels of access for authoring contractual terms and managing deliverables associated with a purchasing or sourcing document:
No Authoring Privileges: User may be able to create a purchasing or sourcing document, but without contract authoring privileges they would not be able to author contract terms to a business document.
Standard Authoring Privileges: Users can add or remove standard clauses, update variable values, and change the contract template.
Non-standard Authoring Privileges (Default): In addition to the available functions in the Standard Authoring Privileges level, users can author non-standard clauses and remove all the contract terms on a business document. The default access is set at the Non-standard Authoring Privileges level.
Override Authoring Controls Privileges: In addition to the available functions in the Non-standard Authoring Privileges level, users can delete mandatory clauses and edit clause text on protected clauses.
For more information on function security, see the Seeded Data appendix.
For information on implementation considerations for function security, see Establish Authoring Roles and Controls .
Setting Up Function Security for Contract Repository
Functional security provides control over the user’s access to certain functions in the repository. A user can have View-Only, Authoring, or Administrator responsibility. The following table displays the functions that each responsibility has access to:
| Function | View-Only Responsibility | Authoring Responsibility | Administrator Responsibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| View contract | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Create and update contract | No | Yes | Yes |
| Change status from Approved to Signed | No | Yes | Yes |
| Manage deliverables | No | Yes | Yes |
| Manage risk | No | Yes | Yes |
| Terminate contract | No | Yes | Yes |
| Update contract administrator of a contract | No | No | Yes |
| Change status from Draft directly to Signed | No | No | Yes |
| Import contracts | No | No | Yes |
| Use Repository Setup tab | No | No | Yes |
You can use the clause import feature to import existing clauses from external sources that your organization uses. You also can use this feature on an ongoing basis, where clause updates are continuously imported into the clause library, in order to stay current with changes in business process or government regulations. See: Importing Clauses .
You can organize clauses under different folders for easier retrieval.
For more information, see Managing Folders .
Oracle Procurement Contracts supports the use of business variables (tokens) in clause text.
For more information, see Managing Variables .
When creating contract templates, you can apply a numbering scheme to the sections and clauses structure. This numbering scheme is applied to business documents in which the contract template is used.
Use the Contract Terms Library to set up and manage numbering schemes.
Steps
Log in to the Contract Terms Library Administrator responsibility.
Navigate to the Numbering Schemes page.
Navigation: Library > Numbering Schemes tab> Create Numbering Scheme button
Enter the Scheme Name.
Optionally, enter a Description for the scheme.
Optionally, select the Number Clauses check box to automatically number the clauses in the contract.
Click the Add Another Level button to define the first numbering level.
Enter the following information for the numbering level:
In the Sequence field, choose a sequence from the list of values.
Optionally, enter an End Character. For example, a close parentheses ()).
Optionally, select the Concatenate with Child check box to ensure that the child level includes the numbering of its parent during previewing and printing of the contract.
For instance, you would set up the numbering scheme as:
First level:
a,b,c
end character is "."
Concatenate with Child check box selected
Second level:
I,II,III
end character is ")"
The document will be numbered as:
First Level = a.
Second Level = a.I)
Click the Refresh button to preview the layout.
Optionally, add additional numbering levels.
Click Apply to save and close the Numbering Scheme page.
Managing Numbering Schemes
You can make changes to your existing numbering schemes. You can also delete any numbering scheme that is not assigned to a contract template. If the numbering scheme has been updated in the Contract Terms Library, the next time a contract template using that numbering scheme is used to create a new contract, the latest numbering scheme updates are applied. For contracts that already use the numbering scheme you must manually apply the numbering scheme to reflect the updates onto the contract.
Log in to the Contract Terms Library Administrator responsibility.
Navigate to the Numbering Schemes tab.
Navigation: Library > Numbering Schemes.
The system displays the list of available numbering schemes.
To make changes to a numbering scheme, click the Update icon.
To delete a numbering scheme click the Delete icon.
You can only delete the numbering schemes that are not used in contract templates.
Sections are headings under which you organize contract clauses. The headings provide structure and organization to a printed contract document. You can define sections that can be used in authoring templates and contracts.
For more information, see Managing Sections.
A standard clause is the text that describes the legal or business language used to author a contract. Clauses are drafted based on both business and statutory requirements.
For more information, see Managing Standard Clause.
Oracle Procurement Contracts enables you to define a standard set of templates to easily default contract terms for contracts authored by your organization. You can create templates that include both clauses and deliverables.
You can apply a new contract template to a sourcing or purchasing document from the Update Contract Details page. The Apply Template LOV enables you to select an approved template and add the clauses and deliverables. You can add multiple templates to the solicitation, award, or modification document. When you apply multiple templates duplicate clauses are not added.
For more information, see Managing Contract Templates .
Set up the Contract Terms Library.
Set the Use Contract Expert profile option toYes at the site level.
For more information, see the Setting Up Profile Options section.
Note: Contract Expert uses Oracle Configurator to process and evaluate the Contract Expert rules on business documents. To function properly, in Oracle Configurator the SSL port requires a special setting.
To use Contract Expert on business documents, you need to set up Contract Expert rules in the Contract Terms Library. To set up Contract Expert rules:
Create and activate a library of rules and assign them to appropriate contract templates
Determine the sequence of display of questions when Contract Expert is used on a business document
Since the release of Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Contracts has provided the ability to author and maintain contract terms in buy-side and sell-side Oracle applications. For example, contract terms can be added to purchase agreements that are created in Oracle Purchasing, or to quotes that are created in Oracle Quoting.
Oracle Contracts enables you to create miscellaneous contracts such as license agreements, nondisclosure agreements, and merger agreements, which are not specifically related to the functionality of other Oracle applications. You can also create purchase or sales agreements for miscellaneous items that are outside the normal purchasing or sales flows, for which full execution capabilities are not required.
These types of contracts are stored in the Contract Repository, and are called repository contracts. Each repository contract will have a user-defined contract type, unlike the contracts that are created in other Oracle applications, which have system-defined contract types.
You can relate an existing repository contract to other repository contracts and to purchasing documents using the Add Related Contracts page. Relating these documents to each other enables contract administrators to track documents that are important for managing the existing contract. For example, you might include exhibits, contracts for related commodities, subcontracts, and governing agreements, and contracts that preceded or succeeded the contract. When you add a related contract, you must select a Related By value, which describes the relationship between the contracts. For more information about Related By values, see the Relationship Types, Oracle Contracts Implementation and Administration Guide.
Repository contracts are integrated with Contract Terms Library to enable Structured Terms Authoring. A repository contract can include supporting documents and amendments, deliverables with notification capabilities, and risk information. Repository contracts support a flexible approval and signature process, and a bulk import process is available for loading legacy contracts into the system.
You can define user attributes or commonly referred to as the user defined attributes, which are used to obtain and save additional information for a contract. Before you can define a user attribute, an attribute group must be created. For example, attribute groups defined as lines can be used to provide line details for a specific contract type. You can edit the attribute group in any of the following contract statuses: Draft, Pending Approval, Approved, Pending Signature, Signed, Terminated, and Canceled.
The contracts workbench administrator can define attribute templates, attribute groups, functions, and value sets using the User Attributes Setup tab. A single or multiple attribute template can be associated with a single contract type. Attribute groups are added to the attribute template. The attribute template name must be unique. You can freeze only one template for the combination of effective dates, operating unit, and contract type or deliverables. The header region of a contract contains the following subtabs: Notes, Controls, and a tab for each attribute page created using the User Attribute Setup tab.
Content Search enables you to search for words or phrases in contracts and in text contained in the attached contract documents. You can search for words or phrases both in structured content, such as contract number, and in unstructured text, such as content contained in attached contract documents.
Limitations of content search are that you cannot search for:
Special characters such as -, =, (, and so on
Stoplists containing words that are not indexed such as, a, and, and so on
Image files
For more information about special characters and stoplists, see Oracle Text Reference.
The content search feature uses Oracle Text indexing and requires certain concurrent programs to be run periodically. To perform the content search, first you must run the Create Contract Content Search concurrent program. Then, based on your requirement, you must run the following concurrent programs periodically:
Synchronize Contract Content Search Index
Optimize Contract Content Search Text Index
Content Search: Generate Draft Attachments
To search for a word or phrase in contracts and in the attached contract documents:
On the Contracts Content Search page enter the word or phrase and, optionally, enter additional search criteria.
The following table maps the Status Group LOV and what it means for a contract in the contract repository, in a purchasing document, and in a sourcing document:
| Status Group Value | Contract Repository | Purchasing Document | Sourcing Document |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active | Approved Signed |
Approved Reserved Open |
Active |
| Draft | Draft Pending Approval Pending Signature |
Incomplete In Process Pre-Approved Requires Re-approval |
Preview |
| Inactive | Canceled Rejected Terminated |
Rejected Returned Hold Frozen Cancelled Not Reserved Closed |
Closed Awarded Canceled |
Click Go. View the search results on the same page.
Click the icon in the Contract File column. The Contract File page opens. This page lists the document names as links that can be downloaded.
Expand the Details column to view snippets containing the word or phrase that you have searched for.
This section covers the following topics:
A single view of all enterprise contracts is essential for effective management of contract activities and for reporting and analysis of outstanding supplier, customer, and partner commitments. Oracle Contracts provides a centralized Contracts Workbench that gives access and visibility to all contractual agreements in the enterprise. Contracts Workbench enables contract administrators to see which contracts require attention, provides extensive search capabilities, and provides shortcuts to common tasks such as creating or approving a contract. A flexible security model ensures that contracts can be viewed or updated only by authorized users.
Contracts Workbench provides a single view of the following types of contracts:
Procurement and Sales contracts: Contracts that are created in buy-side and sell-side of Oracle applications, such as purchase orders, purchase agreements, negotiations, orders, quotes, and sales agreements.
Repository contracts: Oracle Contracts provides visibility to all enterprise contracts, including procurement and sales contracts, from a common workbench. Oracle Contracts also allows authoring of standalone contracts, such as partnership agreements, that are not part of a sales or purchase order. These types of contracts are stored in Contract Repository and are called Repository contracts.
Oracle Framework includes the OA Personalization Framework, which enables you to personalize the appearance of Contracts Workbench without modifying any underlying code.
The following are the most common ways to personalize Contracts Workbench:
The default bins for the Contracts Workbench are:
Notifications
Recent Contracts
Expiring Contracts
Contract Deliverables
Contracts at Risk
You can use the personalization option to add the Bookmarks bin, remove any of these bins, or change the order in which the bins are displayed.
The default columns for the Advanced Search Results page are:
Contracts Number
Contract Name
Operating Unit
Party Name
Contract Type
Intent
Status
Effective Date
You can use the personalization option to remove any of these columns, change the order in which the columns are displayed, or add any of the following columns:
Contract Administrator
Overall Risk
Version
Expiration Date
Termination Date
Amount
Currency
Authoring Party
The personalization also impacts the Export option. After performing a search, you can export the search results to a Comma Separated (CSV) file. The exported file will include only the columns that are shown on the screen. After personalization, columns that are available for personalization but not selected will not be included in the CSV file.