1. Setting up Contracts & Retentions
Before “Contract & Retentions” can be used, you need to do a few configurations. To access the configuration and settings pages, navigate to “Contract & Retention” – “Maintenance” – “Settings”. This will bring you to the following overview:
1.1. Contract & Retentions settings
In the “Contract & Retentions” settings you can set some defaults for the module. These are as follows.
1.1.1. Autolink new transactions to contracts
Enabling this setting sets a trigger on supplier transactions. This trigger looks for a contract for the supplier with the same GL account (based on linked SDBIP) as the supplier and GL account that are used for supplier transactions created in Evolution. If there is a unique contract for the supplier in Contract & Retentions, this supplier transaction is automatically linked to the contract in “Contract & Retentions”.
1.1.2. Allow to create / cancel / release / write-off a retention in closed periods
When these options are checked, you can either create, cancel, release, or write-off a retention in a period that is blocked in Sage Evolution. Otherwise, the “Contract & Retentions” module will block these transactions in blocked periods.
You can save the settings made, using the “Save” button in the upper right corner.
1.2. Transaction Codes
You need to set the Transaction Codes under “Maintenance” for “Contracts & Retentions” (“Settings” >> “Transaction Codes”).
These settings will allow you to select which transaction code is to be available for retention transactions. Note that these transaction codes are generated from the Evolution database. You need to check the tick box for each transaction code to be used.
1.3. Retention Transactions
Once you have set the transaction codes, you can navigate to “Retention Transaction Setup”. This can be found under “Contract & Retentions” – “Maintenance” – “Settings” – “Retention Transaction Setup”. This setup page contains two tabs: “Retention transaction descriptions” and “Retention transaction settings”.
On the “Retention transaction descriptions” you can select the transaction codes to be used for the different retention types. The transaction codes, showing in the dropdown menu, are as set in the “Contract & Retention” settings.
The “Retention transaction setup” allows you to select the General Ledger (GL) accounts to be used for posting the transactions to Evolution. It also allows you to create a filter for which GL accounts to be available for selection when writing off a retention (“Write off a Data GL account filter”).
Once you have set the retention transactions, you can set the settings, using the “Save” button in the upper right corner.
1.4. Contract defaults
When the setup of “Contract & Retentions” is completed, you need to set the contract defaults. These can be set under “Contract & Retentions” - “Maintenance”. Before you can set the contracts, the “Contract status”, “Contract type”, “Contract party type” and “Contract category” are to be created.
1.5. Contract status / Contract type / Contract party type / Contract category
These defaults are all set in a similar manner. First, the type of default data to be set is to be selected (Status, Type, Party type, Category). This gives you an overview of all currently saved data. If you are using “Contract & Retentions” for the first time, this list will be empty. New data can be added, using the “+” button, and by filling in the required data.
2. Setting contracts
You can set contracts under “Contracts” (“Contract & Retentions” – “Maintenance” – “Contracts”). You can add a new contract, using the “+” button, resulting in the following overview page.
2.1. General details
You need to fill in the following general details for the creation of a new contract.
Field | Data to enter |
|---|---|
Code | Enter a unique code for the contract. |
Name | Enter a name for the contract. |
Active (tick box) | Indicate if this contract is active or inactive. |
Description | Enter a description for the contract. |
Status | Select a status for this contract, e.g. on hold or cancelled. See paragraph 1.5 for the setup of this data. |
Bid / quotation number | Enter a bid or quotation number. |
Type | Select a type for this contract. See paragraph 1.5 for the setup of this data. |
Category | Select a category for this contract. See paragraph 1.5 for the setup of this data. |
Supplier | Select the Evolution supplier for this contract. Please note that multiple contracts can be set for one supplier. |
SDBIP | Select a SDBIP for this contract. |
Start date | The start date of the contract. |
Proposed end date | The agreed upon end date of this contract. |
Actual end date | The date on which the contract actually ended. Please note that this can differ from the proposed end date. |
Contract value | The total value (or cost) of the contract. |
Internal order number | A reference number for internal use can be entered here. |
External reference | The reference number of the supplier can be entered here. |
Internal contact person, Email and Phone | Enter the contact details of the person of your organization, appointed for the current contract. |
External contact person, Email and Phone | Enter the contact details of the person of your supplier’s organization, appointed for the current contract. |
Retention | The percentage to be retained. |
Retention method | Can be set to either the end date of the contract or to the invoice date. This is the moment that the retention period will begin. |
Retention period | The amount of days that the retention lasts. |
2.2. Transactions
On the “Monitoring” tab, you can see all transactions related to the current contract. The transactions shown are collected from Sage Evolution, based on the supplier, selected on the “General details” tab. The first tab, “Invoices”, has a solely informational purpose. The second tab, “Retentions”, is where you can take action on the transactions. On the various lines, four options are available, as follows.
- On hold (set this transaction on hold)
- Cancel retention
- Write-off retention
- Release retention
The final tab, “Possible new retentions”, provides suggestions for retentions you might want to create. These suggestions are based on supplier invoices, booked in Sage Evolution. You can create retentions for the provided suggestions, using the “Create new retentions” button, as shown below.
2.3. Cession transaction / Variation orders
The tabs “Cession transaction” and “Variation orders” work in a similar manner. By clicking on the “+” button, you can add new cession transactions or new variation orders. Under “Cession transactions” you can either sav transactions or posted them directly to Evolution.
2.4. Purchase orders / People / Incidents / Attachments
The “Contract costs”, “People” and “Incidents” tabs are informational. The data shown on these tabs is derived from Evolution.
You can only use the “Attachments” tab in combination with the Document Management System (DMS) module. When “Contract & Retentions” is integrated with DMS, you will be able to upload documents and link them to a contract.
3. Contract & Retention Transactions
3.1. New retention
You can create new retentions, based on a supplier lookup and a “from” and “to” date under “New retention”. This function has the same purpose as the “Transaction” tab under Contracts. However, in this menu the retention is not limited to one contract. You can search for possible new retentions for any supplier and any contract, based on a date filter. You can create a new retention with the selected transaction, you can link a transaction to an existing contract, and you can discard changes, using the according buttons in the upper right corner.
3.2. Release retention
“Release retention” has the same functionality as the “Release retention” option on an existing contract. The difference is that you can search for possible new retentions based on a supplier search and a date filter. The selected retention can be released, using the button in the upper right corner.
3.3. Transaction history
The transaction history tab provides an overview of all the transactions, related to “Contract & Retentions”, based on a date filter and a supplier search. Like with the “New retention” and “Release retention” menus, the user can either select a specific supplier to do a search for or view the transactions for all suppliers in the selected date range.
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