Creating new Contracts is easier than ever with Scout Contracts. Scout Contracts create increased functionality for you and your team as you build and manage Contracts.

In this article we will cover how to create a New Contract as well as the integral parts of the Contract Page including:

• Contract Summary
• Auto-renewal Panel
• Docusign Integration
• New Custom Field Starter Kit
• New Contract Project States

How to Create a New Contract

Creating New Contracts in Scout is easy! The first step is to first go to the Contracts Workbench. To begin, first hover on the Navigate button on the top of your screen. From the dropdown menu, select Contracts:

You are now on the Contracts Workbench! For more information on the Contracts Workbench, click here .

Your Contracts Workbench provides clear visibility to your Contracts-related tasks at hand. This is also where you will create your New Contracts. To begin creating your New Contract, look to the top right of your screen and click New Contract:

You are now brought to the Contract Builder page! You will notice that the New Contract page looks very similar to the Project Page in Pipeline. Some key differences that set the Contract Page apart from Projects include ‘Contract’ appearing in all hint fields, and the Supplier section is at the very top of your page:

To begin adding your Supplier to your Contract, select Open Supplier Directory. Here, you may select the Supplier that you would like to add to the Contract. Please note, Contracts in Scout will only allow you to add one Supplier to the New Contract.

Contract Summary

The Contract Summary section of your New Contract is where classifying key details of your Contract will be housed. Here, you will enter the Contract Title, Description, the Category of your Contract, as well as start/end dates and fields for tracking the Contract Spend.

Auto-Renewal Panel

Keep track of your Renewals in Scout with Contract’s Auto-Renewal Panel. 

Your contract requires you to make a selection regarding this contract and auto-renewal. The options available to you on your renewal panel under Auto Renewal are, ‘Yes’, ‘No’, and ‘Evergreen’. If you make no selection, your New Contract will default to No Auto Renewal.

If you choose either No or Evergreen, the page will then disable the renew terms field:

'Yes'

If you select ‘Yes’ as your Auto Renewal terms, the following fields will become editable:

• Renewal Term
• Renew Number of Times
• Auto Renewal term is created on Contract End Date
• Contract end date is updated in Contract Summary

DocuSign Integration

Scout is proud to introduce our DocuSign integration into the Contracts Module! To begin utilizing this exciting integration, your Company Admin will first need to authorize your DocuSign account with your Scout account.

New Custom Field Starter Kit

To help you get started in Scout Contracts, all Contracts now have a ‘Starter Kit’ of custom fields waiting for you in your New Contract! Your Starter Kit includes the two Custom Field Groups: Legal Details and Operations

New Contract Project States

Easily manage the state of your Contract progress with Contract States. The five Contract Project states available to you are: In Progress, Approved, Active, Expired, and Terminated.

In Progress: Contracts designated as In Progress are currently open. These statuses are comparable to Active for Pipeline Projects. The Sub-statuses within In Progress are configurable on the Settings Panel. The out of the box sub-statuses include:

• Internal Review
• External Review
• Awaiting Approval

If a start date is provided, and the contract is still listed as In Progress on that date, it will be flagged as Needs Attention.

Approved: Contracts move into Approved state once it is approved by all relevant approval groups. In order for the Contract to be in Approved, the required Custom Fields must be validated, as well as end date-- so long as the Auto Renewal is not designated Evergreen.

Active: Contracts whose current date falls between the start date and end date are classified as Active. Once the start date condition is met, the transition from Approved to Active is automatic.

Expired: The signed contract end date has passed and you have classified Auto Renew as ‘No’.