Understanding Amendments Linked to Source Transactions

This topic describes special considerations regarding source transactions, including purchase order and purchasing contract transactions and amendment processing as it relates to using bind values in amended documents. The descriptions use a purchasing contract as the example source transaction, but you can apply the descriptions to purchase order transactions as well.

This list provides information about how the system processes each amendment process option when it re-creates or refreshes bind values as part of a purchasing contract amendment:

• Amend Contract Only

  You do not use separate amendment files with this option, instead you update a new version of the fully amended contract document. Thus, all transactional bind variables that exist in the original contract document also exist in the amended contract. In this case, when you create an amendment, the system uses the last executed version of the contract document as the starting point for the amendment. An amendment configurator is not required.

  While the system enables you to re-create the fully amended version of the contract document, you would not typically re-create the document because you would lose any manual edits to the original contract in the new version of the amended contract document. You can; however, use the Refresh Document option since it automatically updates all bind values from the existing transactional purchasing contract into the fully amended version of the contract. The system attempts to keep all of the previous manual edits as part of refreshing the document.

  See Refreshing and Re-creating Documents.

• Amend Contract with Amendment Files

  This option is similar to the Amend Contract Only process option. But, in addition, you are simultaneously maintaining a separate amendment file for each amendment that highlights the changes related to each amendment. In this case, re-create and refresh processing for the fully amended contract document are the same as those discussed in the previous bullet for the Amend Contract Only process option. In addition, during the creation of the separate amendment file, the amendment configurator is important for controlling content.

  Initially, the system generates the separate amendment file, and during the process, it retrieves transactional binds from the purchasing contract for inclusion in the separate amendment file only. The system includes the current information on the transactional purchasing contract in the amendment file.

  Depending on the type and order of changes to the transactional procurement transaction, refreshing or re-creating information in the amendment file can be of value. For example, if you change items on the transactional contract only after you execute an amendment, you might include the current list of items to generate the first time the amendment file is created, followed by an automatic or manual update for an additional or changed item within the amendment file. After you execute the amended document, you can update the transactional procurement contract for the additions and changes.

• Amendment Files Only

  This option is similar to the Amend Contract with Amendment Files process option when you are working with the separate amendment file, and re-creating and refreshing the amendment file. With this option, you never modify the original contract, and each amendment starts with a new, separate amendment file.