- This feature is disabled by default
- To enable, have your Designated Support Contact (DSC) log a service request
- Below are the following highlights of the feature:
- Open XML based document formatting replaces bookmarks from classic authoring: no more dependency on Desktop File Sync and the Internet Explorer browser
- Drag and drop document imports
- Review and process changes in SAP Ariba
Exploring the Contract Authoring
Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
- Review how to enable the Enhanced Contract Authoring feature.
- Define Assembled Documents.
- Explain Document Structure.
Enabling Enhanced Contract Authoring
Contract Authoring At a Glance
Document Prep in Microsoft Word is generally performed by someone highly skilled in Word. Once the documents are prepared, they can then be handed to a Template Creator to add a Main Agreement to the Contract Workspace Template, or to a Clause Library Team member to add to the Clause Library.
Main Agreement
- Non – Assembled Document (Flat File)
- Can be created with any application, and has no internal structure or subcomponents.
- Assembled Document
- A Microsoft Word document that can be assembled from blocks of text organized into sections and clauses.
- Is either a Main Agreement or Contract Addendum.
- A CW can have only one Main Agreement but can have multiple Contract Addendums.
- Special Functionality
- Microsoft Word Integration
- Outline View
- Automated Field Population
- Detailed Track Changes
- Detailed Version Control
- Clause Library Access
- Always has an extra tab in View Details within the document
Main Agreement Template Introduction
As the Template Administrator, you create the contract workspace templates that users use as a starting point for their contract workspaces. In the Documents section of the contract workspace template, you create the Main Agreement template. Just as there can only be one Main Agreement within a contract workspace, there can only be one Main Agreement template within a contract workspace template.
The Main Agreement template contains the contract language appropriate for the type of contract workspace template in which it resides. For example, if you design a contract workspace template specifically for Business Services, the Main Agreement template will contain sections and clauses that pertain to business services. You may design several contract workspace templates, and each of them may contain their own unique Main Agreement template.
Once contract authors create contract workspaces from a contract workspace template, they may change the language within the Main Agreement as they deem necessary for their particular contract workspaces. Other users then review and/or approve these changes if your template included Review and/or Approval tasks. In other words, the Main Agreement template provides a starting point for the contract language, but the contract author can make clause substitutions, modifications, additions or deletions so the language is specific for their contract workspace.
In addition to creating the Main Agreement, you may also create a Contract Addenda. These optional documents serve as additional text to the Main Agreement document. They are similar to the Main Agreement, but you can have multiple Contract Addenda within each contract workspace or contract workspace template.
When adding documents to the template, you must indicate what type of document you are adding. As shown above, the menu includes Main Agreement and Contract Addendum. When you load one of these two types of documents and you enable Desktop File Synchronization, the system provides additional special functionality on these documents.
The focus of this course is how to use this special functionality.
Main Agreement Use with Clause Library
The Main Agreement is made up of sections and clauses. A clause corresponds to one major point or piece of information, and often corresponds to one paragraph within the document. Several related clauses can be organized into a section.
How you have designed your sections and clauses will impact other things. For example, clauses in Main Agreement templates are typically published to the Clause Library for reuse in other documents. Therefore, the clauses should be succinct and use standard language that can be applied in other contracts. The organization of sections and clauses across all Main Agreements should follow a similar structure to make it easier for contract authors to read and make clause substitutions. Also, a standardized structure across all Main Agreement and Contract Addendum documents will facilitate the style mapping process, which controls the formatting and numbering of your documents. It is likely that you will create several Main Agreement or Contract Addendum templates, (or masters) to address major categories. e.g. business services, capital equipment, computer products, etc. It’s also likely that you will use your existing contracts as a starting point to create these templates.
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