Common Elements Used With PeopleSoft Contract Management

Field or Control

Description

Approval Status

Used to indicate the authorized use of a clause or section within a document. While pending clauses and sections can be used within a document configurator, they are not included in a generated document unless their approval status is Approved.

Bind Variable

A variable that can be defined in the system and used within clauses, sections, and rules. Bind variables are defined as transactional or wizard types. For example, transactional types might be fields within a transactional contract. Wizard types are user-defined variables for use within the wizard entry during document generation. When the system generates a document, it replaces bind variables with either transactional data or defaults supplied by the wizard.

Clause

The basic building block for a document, clauses can include the wording for contract terms and conditions that you store, update, and reuse within a document. You can enter simple clause text directly within the PeopleSoft system, and add rich text to clauses through Microsoft Word integration.

Clause Group

Provides a means for categorizing clauses according to a standard user-defined class or group structure. For example, you might have a group of clauses that relate to indemnification for work that is performed at the buyer's site.

Contract Document

A textual document created in PeopleSoft Supplier Contract Management that you can base on an ad hoc contract, a PeopleSoft Purchasing contract, or a purchase order.

Contract Syndication

The process of making contract information available or allocating the information to third-party systems for execution and capture. The Supplier Contract Management system is the primary contract system of record for syndication activities.

Contract Version

Contract versions refer to the revision of a procurement contract transaction that has been entered through the Contract Entry component. This functionality provides you a method to revise the transactional contract as a new draft version while the prior version of the contract is still active within procurement.

Contract Wizard

A utility that asks questions about a contract. Based on the responses and previously defined rules for the wizard, the system selects appropriate clauses from the library and adds them to the document. You also use the wizard to create question sets that guide you through developing nontransactional information for a document.

Digital Signatures

The capability to create a digitally signed document within Peoplesoft Supplier Contract Management. A digital signature document can be prepared, where the system locks the main document, and routed for multiple signatures internally as well as sent or placed online for external supplier signatures. Supplier Contract Management supports the creation of digital signatures using Adobe Acrobat PDF format or using the digital signature features enabled by preparing a Microsoft Word .docx signature document. The .docx file format is used for signatures only.

Document

Refers to the actual generated document with all clauses, terms, and conditions as is produced using the Supplier Contract Management document authoring feature. You can create documents from a Purchasing transactional contract or on an ad hoc basis. You can use ad hoc documents for legal documents outside of the PeopleSoft Procurement system, such as a nondisclosure statement.

Document Configurator

A predefined but dynamic structure that serves as a template for building documents. Document configurators are made up of clauses, sections, and rules that can be sequenced to provide a logical grouping of clauses to start and complete documents. Document configurators are dynamic in that they consist of pointers to content, such that when the system generates a document, the correct (typically, the most recent) clauses, sections, and rules are incorporated into the document.

Document Library

A repository of documents and their components that include sections, clauses, and document configurators. Using elements from the library, you can create and update documents, track versions, collaborate on contracts, and dispatch and execute contracts.

Document Type

A document categorization capability that you can use in the contract management system. Using a document type, you can define settings and options that can help tailor the use of the document to make it more usable for certain business situations. For example, you can define a document type for ad hoc documents to generate a contract request, another for a contract summary, and another for formal contracts. You enable the use of document types through installation options. Some features, such as the configurator selector wizard and requests for contracts, require the use of document types.

Document Version

A separate version control feature provided within PeopleSoft Supplier Contract Management for contract documents. This feature enables you to create new versions of the contract document independent of the transactional contract.

Effective Date

The date on which a table row becomes effective; or the date that an action begins. Within Supplier Contract Management, use effective dating to control versions of clauses, sections, and rules.

Local System

The PeopleSoft system of record that publishes and maintains contract information for the parent contract.

Question Group

A set of questions that guide you through developing nontransactional information for a document. The questions are defined as a set of preconfigured questions and are associated with a question group that is used by a wizard.

Repeating Element

A document element, such as a clause, section, or rule, that is based on transaction information, such as binds, that might have multiple values for a contract. For example, contract items in a purchase order contract, or contact information in an ad hoc contract.

Rule

A set of query-like conditions that produce specific true or false results. The system uses these results to include additional or alternative sections or clauses within documents. You can use rules within:

  • Clauses to define alternate clauses.

  • Sections to optionally include additional clauses.

  • Document configurators to include optional clauses and sections.

Since the rules themselves generate structured query language (SQL) and can have performance implications, they should only be defined and maintained by technical personnel.

Run Control ID

An identifier that, when paired with a user ID, uniquely identifies the process that you are running. In addition, the run control ID enables the availability of important parameters for a process when it runs. This ensures that when a process runs in the background, it does not have to prompt for any additional values. All parameters are stored within the system and associated with run control IDs and user IDs.

SetID

An identification code that represents a set of control table information or tablesets. A tableset is a group of tables (records) that are necessary to define an organization's structure and processing options. Most contract information is managed and maintained at the SetID level.

Status

Indicates whether a row in a table is Active or Inactive. You cannot display inactive rows on transaction pages or use them for running batch processes. The Inactivate value also enables you to maintain an audit trail of data that you no longer use. Approval statuses are also used along with the status.

Within Supplier Contract Management, clauses are typically considered to be in an Active status even when they are not yet in the approval status of Approved. For example, clauses might be in an Active status but are still in the approval status of Initial or Pending Approval. However, for a clause to be included within a generated document, it must be in both an Active and Approved status. To retire a clause or to put a clause on hold, you can use the status of Inactive.

Transactional Contract

Refers to the transactional portion of the contract as it exists in the Purchasing application. The transaction generally has an associated document. A transactional input to a document might include a fixed price, where the contract document can use the value to determine progress payments.