1.14 Create & Process a Request with Contracts enabled

When the Contracts or Invoices functionality is enabled and a request is created, the system will verify the service entitlement status of the Customer and if a valid contract is not in place, the new request is assigned a status of Pending - No Contract and locked until a valid contract is associated with the request.

In a Request Group where the Customer and Organizational Unit does not have a Contract, if an Item applied to a request has a Contract and another does not, a relevant status will be applied to each request. The User will be able to edit the request with a valid Contract, but the request without a Contract will be locked down to a Pending - No Contract status, until a valid Contract is applied to the request.

The Customer is automatically sent the NoContractCreateRequestSummary email when the request is saved with the Status. A reminder email can be sent to the assigned Customer by the Technician from within the Summary tab by clicking .

Two types of Contracts are used by the system, these include Per Item or Per Request Contracts. They are defined as follows:

  • Per Request - covers the period of time for which the request is open and work is done

  • Per Item - covers the Item, regardless of the number of requests logged against the Item and can be defined as:

Subscription - a contract that covers a specified period of time

Time Limited Subscription - a contract that covers either a specified period of time or number of support hours, whichever limit is reached first

Support Hours - a contract that defines the number of support hours covered

Support Hours by Month - a contract that covers a total number of support hours purchased for a defined timeframe and allocated on a per month basis.

1.14.1 Request with Per Item Contract

To create a Per Item Contract for a request within the Summary tab of the request:

  1. Click the Pending - No Contract link

    The Contract tab is displayed with Contract Type and Service Level drop-down options.

  2. Select the Contract Type of Per Item

    For the Per Item Contract Type the Time Period for the Contract can be defined as one of the following:

    Subscription if selected, the Start and End Dates are automatically set to a year from the date of creation, but can be edited if required

    Time Limited Subscription if selected, the Support Hours field is displayed and the number of support hours purchased by the Customer should be entered. Also, the Start Date and End Date fields should be completed manually by entering the length of time for the subscription period, or the system will default to entering a year from the date of creation

    Support Hours if selected, the number of support hours purchased by the Customers should be entered

    Support Hours by Month if selected, set the number of hours purchased per month and define which day of the month the contract is to rollover to start the new month. The Total Support Hours will automatically be calculated based on the Start and End Dates set for the Contract.

    (If a Contract is forward dated with a Start Date set in the future, the Pending Contract status is assigned. See Pending Contracts.)

  3. Click Save

    The maintenance contract is created.

  4. Click Next to continue to create the request by defining the Classification and Description.

  5. NOTE:If Invoices are enabled, a new invoice is automatically saved within the Finance>Invoices screen for the newly created Contract.

1.14.2 Request with Per Request Contract

To create a Per Request Contract for a request within the Summary tab of the request:

  1. Click the Pending - No Contract link

    The Contract tab is displayed with Contract Type and Service Level drop-down options.

  2. Select the Per Request Contract Type

    (The SLA Price and Tax option box is displayed, if Invoices are enabled for the system.)

  3. Select the SLA

    (If required, check the box to indicate if tax is to be applied to the Invoice, which will be applied to the Invoice that is automatically saved within the Finance>Invoices screen when the newly created Contract is saved.)

  4. Click Save

    (If the Service Level selected for the request has a cost associated with it, the request will be assigned with the status Pending - No Contract. Work cannot commence on the request until payment for the invoice is received.)

  5. If the Service Level has no cost i.e., Warranty, the maintenance contract is created and work can commence on the request immediately

  6. Click Done.

    The screen defaults to the Summary tab.

1.14.3 Grouped Requests and Contracts

Contracts can be applied to all requests within an Incident Group when a Per Request contract is created within the Contract tab of a grouped request. The following options are available:

  • Per Group - applies the Contract to the Request Group as a whole and assigns a single charge for the Contract. On the associated Invoice, if relevant, the SLA Price is distributed evenly across each Request line-item

  • Per Request - applies the Contract to the Request Group but assigns the SLA Price as an individual charge to each request within the Group. On the associated Invoice, if relevant, the SLA Price is applied to each request line-item.

1.14.4 Processing an Invoice

If invoice payment for the SLA contract is required before the User can commence work on the request, the following system message is displayed:

When a request is flagged with this status, the Edit button will not be available within the Summary tab and a User assigned the Finance Role must process invoice payment before the request can be edited.

To process payment for an invoice see: Invoice Payment and Delivery

1.14.5 Invoice Cancellation

To cancel an Invoice for a request:

  1. Select the Request # id

  2. Select the Request with the Status Pending - No Contract

  3. Click the Cancel hyperlink in the Summary tab.

    This will cancel the Invoice and change the request Status to Cancelled - Unpaid.