Common Elements Used When Managing Contract Agreements

Activity Status

The current status for the step. When you add the agreement to the contract, the status is automatically set to Not Started. The step owner or contract administrator can use this status to track the progress of the step.

Values are:

• Cancelled: Indicates that this step is no longer a requirement to meet the terms of the agreement.

  The step's activity status is automatically set to Cancelled if the agreement is canceled.

• Completed: Indicates that the task has been completed.

  Be sure to enter the verification results prior to setting the status to complete. If you do not enter attachments or comments, a date/time, or a yes/no indicator, the system displays a warning that the verification results have not yet been completed. Once set to complete, the associated fields are disabled and not accessible. You must set the status back to Not Started to update the appropriate fields.

• Failed: Indicates that the task has not been completed to the satisfaction of the contract administrator or in accordance with the agreed upon terms.

• In Process: Indicates that the verification process has started or the task is in the process of being completed.

• Not Started: Indicates that the step owner has not started the verification process.

The Last User to Update and Last Update Timestamp fields are updated each time the status is changed. The system also records the status change, and if the step is set up to notify interested parties with status changes, then the change triggers workflow notifications. This notification occurs the next time the system runs the Workflow Notifications process.

Clause Assignments agreement clause assignments

Click to access the Assign Agreement Clauses Page, where you can select a clause for this agreement.

Compliance Status

The system displays the current status for the agreement. The initial value for this field is Not Set. Values include:

• Cancelled: the agreement has been canceled. The system assumes that the agreement and all of its verification steps are no longer valid and does not issue reminders when the target date or due date of the steps is approaching.

  When the agreement is set to Cancelled, all of the associated steps are also set to Cancelled. If you decide to reactivate the agreement, you must manually reset the steps to Not Started or In Process.

• Compliant: the verification steps are completed and the agreement is in compliance with the set terms.

  When you select this option, the system verifies that all agreement steps have been completed as specified. If the associated steps are still in the status of In Process or Not Set, or if an attachment is required but not yet linked, the system issues a warning that specifies which steps need to be completed.

  Note: Be sure to first enter the actual results and any compliance comments before setting the status to Compliant.

• Not Compliant: the verification steps have been completed, but the agreement is not in compliance with the agreed upon terms.

• Not Set: the compliance has not yet been determined. The system automatically assign this status to the agreement when the agreement is added to the contract.

  If the agreement is currently set to Cancelled, Compliant, or Not Compliant and changes are made to the agreement on the contract, the status is automatically reset to Not Set.

With each change of status, the system updates the Last User to Update and Last Update Date/Time fields. The system also records the status change, which triggers workflow notifications if the agreement is set up to notify interested parties with status changes. The notification occurs the next time the system runs the Workflow Notifications process.

Due Date

The date on which the step should be completed. You set this date when the agreement is added to the contract and you can base it on the target date of the agreement. You can change the due date on the Contract Maintenance pages.

Financial Implication

Enter a statement that relates to the financial implication if an agreement is compliant or not compliant. The statement can describe whether a bonus is paid or a penalty assessed if the agreement is met or not met. The system displays the financial implication on the contract if the agreement is selected. The actual bonus payment or collection for the penalty is a manual process.

Include In Contract Document

Select to include this agreement and its associated clauses on the purchasing contract when you author the contract document and dispatch it to the supplier. You can set up the agreement so that it serves only as an internal reminder to collect certain documentation or to perform steps before the completion of the contract. In these cases, the information should not be sent to the supplier or used in the wording of the contract document.

Last User to Update and Last Updated On

Displays the last user to update the status of the agreement and the date.

Method or Verification Method

The verification method used to indicate the task has been completed. Methods include:

• Attaching Supporting Document: Indicates that verification can be made by using an attachment.

  The verification owner can attach supporting material using the Update Agreement Statuses pages. If attachments are required and are not attached, the system displays a warning message when the activity status is changed to Completed

• Comments: Indicates that verification can be made by entering text or comments about the verification step.

  When this method is selected, a text box is available for entry. If comments are not entered, the system displays a warning message when the activity status is changed to Completed.

• Date/Time Stamp: Indicates that verification can be made by entering a date and time stamp.

  When you select this method, the Date Verified and Time Verified fields are available for entry. If you do not enter a date and time, the system displays a warning message when the activity status is changed to Completed.

• Notify Only: Use this option when no action is required to signify the step is completed.

  If a notification is assigned to the step, the system notifies selected roles when the due date of the step is approaching. You can use this method to send periodic informational notifications or reminders to interested parties.

• System: Indicates that the Procurement History Update process provides verification information, such as percentages, for this step.

  This verification method is only valid for metric result types. If you use a metric result type, you must set up and use a system verification method. At least one system verification step that uses System as the verification method must exist for a contract agreement with a metric result type.

• Online Verification with Y/N: (online verification with yes or no) Indicates that verification can be made by entering a Yes or No response.

  Use the Yes/No Verification field to enter a response. If a yes or no response is not entered, the system displays a warning message when the activity status is changed to Completed.

Metric ID and Metric Description

The metric ID that the system is using to track performance against the agreement. The field is available when the value in the Result Type field is Metric.

Values for the field include:

• On-time Quantity Performance

• On-time Receipt Performance

• PO/Receipt Qty Performance (purchase order/receipt quantity performance)

• Quality Performance

• Quantity Performance

For a definition of each value, see Metric Measurement Types.

Negotiated Result

When you select a result type other than None, this field becomes available. The negotiated result is the expected outcome of the agreement and represents the value of that outcome. The value for this field depends on the option you selected in the Result Type field. If you selected:

• Date enter a date.

• Monetary or Numeric, enter the amount .

• Text an expanded field appears for you to type instructions or descriptions of up to 256 characters.

• Metric: this value represents the target percentage for the agreement. For example, for an on-time performance by receipt metric, you might be expecting a 95 percent on-time measurement for this contract.

Notification Assignments

Click to access the Agreement Notification Page, where you can assign the criteria by which the system sends notifications. Notifications can be sent for an agreement, verification steps, or both. When supply-side updates of agreement activities (deliverables) are enabled, you can define the notification for an external user ID. The supplier can then be notified using an e-mail that contains a URL and provides the supplier access to the specific deliverable through the supplier portal.

Notification Comments

Enter up to 254 characters as a description of the agreement that the system uses when it sends notifications. When notifications are external they appear in the agreement notifications sent to the supplier.

Text that appears in the workflow notification worklist, if workflow is set up for the agreement.

Perf Tolerance (performance tolerance)

The tolerance allowed for a measurement. You establish this value when you assign the agreement to the contract on the Contract Header Agreement Assignments Page.

For example, if you selected Metric in the Result Type field, and your negotiated results is 95 percent, then a five percent performance tolerance for on-time deliveries implies that 95 percent or better is acceptable, between 90 and 95 percent is considered a warning condition, and below 90 percent is unacceptable.

The system can use the resulting actual values during procurement history calculations against these targets to determine whether warning or unacceptable performance notifications should be sent to interested parties. See Metric Measurements.

Result Type

Indicates how you are measuring the results of the agreement. If you selected a predefined agreement code, the system displays the default value from that code. When any result type except None is selected, the system provides a Negotiated Result field.

Values include:

• Date: Indicates that you want to use a calendar date as the type of result for measuring the output of the agreement.

  You typically use this result type when an agreement is dependent on a calendar date. For example, if a function must be completed within 30 days of the start of the contract, you can track the actual completion of the function by entering a date for the results.

• Metric: Indicates that you want to measure the performance against a contract agreement using a metric-based type.

  When you select this type, the Metric ID field becomes available and you can select the type of metric you want to use to measure performance against negotiated terms for contract agreements at the header and line level. The system can use notifications to verify the negotiated metrics on the agreement against procurement history.

• Monetary: Indicates that you want to use a monetary amount that relate to the agreement as the result measurement.

  For example, the supplier must provide you with the cost of an extended warranty.

• None: Indicates that there are no compliance requirements.

  Use this option if you want to track steps or milestones without designating compliance, or if you want to include certain clauses in the document.

• Numeric: Indicates that you want to use figures, such as the number of hours a day a crew has access to the work site, to measure the agreement.

• Text: Indicates that you require text, such as a description of work completed.

  This text might include observations by an on-site inspector or comments by the contract administrator.

• Yes/No: Indicates that you want to use a yes or no indicator as the measurement of whether the agreement is compliant.

Step or Verification Step

This is the step that defines the order in which verification is completed. The system begins the sequence number with 10, but you can change the sequence value to maintain the order when you insert new rows. You should leave gaps between the step numbers in case you want to insert additional verification steps at a later date.

Verification steps define the criteria necessary to fulfill the agreement. After you define information for any field for the step, the system assumes you are adding verification steps to the agreement. You can delete steps on an existing contract without affecting the basic agreement.

The system uses the step value to help order and locate specific verification requirements.

Step Owner or Verification Step Owner

The name of the person assigned this task and responsible for verifying that the step was completed. The owner can be either an internal or external person. The owner does not have to be associated to a user ID.

Verification could include the step owner collecting documents or notifying the contract administrator whether a step is compliant.

For additional information about maintaining external users, see Maintaining Supplier Contact Information, External Users and Document Collaboration, and Understanding Contract Deliverable Verification Steps.

Target Date

The date by which the terms of the agreement must be completed to be compliant. You enter the date when you assign the agreement to the contract. Or, you can let the system automatically determine the date based on when an existing agreement code is selected. The date is based on the contract start or end date, or a specified number of days prior to or past the contract start or end date.

Methods include:

• Contract End Date: Select to use the end date that is defined for the contract as the default target date. If you select this value, the system provides zero as the default value in the Number of Days field and disables the field.

• Contract End Date + N days: Select to use the contract end date plus the number of days that you enter in the Number of Days field.

  For example, if you enter 10 in the field, the verification of the agreement is due ten days after the contract end date.

• Contract End Date – N days: Select to use the contract end date, minus the number of days that you enter in the Number of Days field. This action makes the verification agreement due before the contract end date.

• Contract Start Date: Select to use the start date that you defined for the contract as the default target date. If you select this value, the system provides zero as the default value in the Number of Days field.

• Contract Start Date + N days: Select to use the contract start date plus a specified number of days after that date to establish the due date for agreement verification.

• Contract Start Date – N days: Select to use a specified number of days before the contract start date as the due date for agreement verification.

Upload a File and Upload Another File

Upload one or more documents by clicking the Upload a File link. After a file has been attached to the verification step, the Attachments section appears at the bottom of the page. You can add additional attachments by clicking the Upload another File link.

Version

Displays the version of the contract. Versions enable you to create and maintain multiple versions of the contract in the system. Versions provide a snapshot of the contract at a point in time and make it easier for you to view information in older contract versions.