Contracts Admin Setup

BigChange offers a comprehensive solution for managing contracts, allowing you to store and organise all related documents in one place. This includes everything from scanned agreements to financial documents.

The system simplifies business processes by enabling scheduled invoicing and easy access to emails or PDF downloads of documents.

This article will guide you through setting up and managing contracts within BigChange.

Contracts Admin Settings

There are a few settings you can customise for contracts in BigChange:

1. Automatic Reference setup.
2. Web User Permissions.
3. Contract Custom Fields
4. Contract recurrence patterns.
5. Importing and Exporting data.

Automatic Referene setup.

To setup Contract Automatic Reference, navigate to the [Top menu] Account settings then Settings:

1. 1. [Side menu] Finacial
   2. Financial documents & Sales opps
   3. Select Contract from the list
   4. Automatic reference (icon).

• The Reference Prefix is used to identify.
• The Format determines the numbering style, similar to Excel.
• The Next Number determines the starting number for the references.

For a detailed article on automatic referencing please visit the article on Automatic Referencing for Job Types. 

Web User Roles

• Additional permissions for Web Users are available for managing contracts.
• Navigate to: [Top menu] Account settings (icon) → Settings → [Side menu] Web Users → Roles.
• User roles include viewing, creating, editing/deleting contracts, and editing jobs within contracts.
• Users without permissions will receive an error message if they attempt to edit contracts.

Contract Custom Fields

Creating custom fields for contracts allows you to add any bespoke fields to the contract form to suit your business needs. These new fields will appear on the 'Details tab' of the contract window in BigChange.

To begin, navigate to:

• [Top menu] Account settings (icon)
• Settings
  1. [side menu] Financial
  2. Financial document’s custom fields
  3. Select 'Contract' from the drop down list.

Custom Field Options

1. Field Label:- This is the name of the field and visible on the contract.
   
2. Type:- This is the type of field. There are numerous options:
   • Yes/No:- Simple yes or no option
   • Decimal:- Can only enter a decimal
   • Whole number:- Only enter a whole number
   • Text:- Enter free text
   • Long text:- Enter free text
   • List:- Allows you to create a list of options where resources can select one of or multiple.
   • Date:- Select a date from calendar picker
   • Time:- Users can enter a time (09:00)
   • Statement:- This allows a statement to be entered, where it is read by user.
   • System list:- Allows users to select either a resource, web user or vehicle from the system.

Depending on what type of field is choosen the system will display addition fields relating to the type. This may differ depending on type.

3. Possible Answer: This option appears when the ‘Mandatory’ option is ticked. It ensures a specific response is essential before continuing.

4. Default Value: This conditional field appears when ‘Date’ is selected.

5. Mandatory:- This option makes it so that the field must be filled out or completed before the contract can be saved.

Copying Custom Fields to Multiple Groups

Should you copy the custom fields from one group to another, any pre-existing custom fields in the group you are copy the fields to, will be deleted and replaced. 

Before you complete the copying of custom fields, you will receive an on-screen warning reminding you of this.

Deleting a custom field in BigChange is a permanent action and cannot be undone. All the data associated with that field will be lost. Therefore, it's crucial to double-check and confirm that the data in the field is no longer required before proceeding with deletion. 

The system will provide an on-screen warning asking are 'Are you sure you want to delete this custom field?' before the deletion process is completed to remind you of this.

Conclusion

BigChange provides a robust platform for managing contracts efficiently. By customising fields, setting up recurrence patterns, and defining user roles, you can streamline your contract management processes. Start by setting up your back office and explore the flexibility BigChange offers to meet your business needs.