Assignments

In Fabasoft Contracts, assignments are used to manage and organize contract manager files. For example, a contract is contained in a contract folder that defines the scope of the contract’s settings. However, that alone does not provide any concrete information about who the contractual partner is, if said partner is a customer or a supplier, or if the contract is associated with a certain project. Hence, assignments fulfill the purpose of providing such information quickly and clearly.

Assignments are an umbrella term for assignment target and assignment instances. Assignment targets such as the previously mentioned suppliers, customers and projects are effectively containers. They are superordinate to concrete assignment instances, e.g. meaning suppliers A and B, customers C and D, as well as projects E1 to F9.

In contract folders, legal areas, and configuration lists, assignment targets can be managed and concrete assignment instances can be created. In addition to the, contract folders and legal areas can also use assignment targets. This means that if said contracts folders and legal areas are subordinate to a configuration list, all assignment targets managed therein (as well as their respective assignment instances) can be accessed.

By default, a contract manager file is assigned to one instance per target. However, several instances per target are possible as well. An example to better illustrate the idea:
A legal file can access the previously mentioned assignment targets “Suppliers”, “Customers” and “Projects”. It could thus be assigned to one supplier instance, two customer instances and for project instances – all at the same time.

Assignment Targets

Assignment targets are tools for classification that can be associated with contract manager files in order to organize and file them in a more structured manner. The numerous assignment targets’ behavior is virtually identical, yet can be clearly distinguished due to their name.
The following assignment targets are available:

• Suppliers
• Customers
• Clients
• Corporations
• Committees
• Unions
• Companies
• Scopes
• Industries
• Areas
• Brands
• Products
• Projects
• Licenses
• Business Units
• Cost Types
• Cost Centers
• Profit Centers

You can assign contracts, legal files and requests to e.g. desired supplier in order to illustrate the context in which the file finds itself. For example, if two contracts are both assigned to supplier A and project B, one of the contracts might still be assigned to cost center A, while the other is assigned to cost center B.
Consequently, the use of assignments allows you to manage and organize your contract manager files in more detail than by just using contract manager lists.

Managing Assignment Targets

Contract manager lists (i. e. contract folders, legal areas, configurations lists) can manage assignment targets and create concrete assignment instances.

Note: In order to make the topic easier to grasp, the assignments are consistently explained using the example of suppliers.

In order to manage an assignment target, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate into the desired contract manager list.
2. Click the action “Settings”.
3. Switch to the tab “Assignments“.
4. Activate the management of the desired assignment target. If, for example, you want to manage suppliers in a contract folder, activate the options Manage Suppliers and Use Suppliers.
   Note: The second option is not available in configuration lists.
5. If you want to add a default category to new instances of assignment targets, you can do so as well. If a category should be added to new suppliers, define one in the field Default Category for New Suppliers.
   Note: The category must be the released version of a form.
6. Click on “Next”.

Using Assignment Targets

Contract folders and Legal Areas can also use assignment targets and their instances. This means that if a configurations list is superordinate to contract folders and legal areas, they can access the assignment targets therein.

In order to assign contract manager files to a certain assignment instance, the usage of the corresponding assignment target must be active in the desired contract folder or legal area.

In order to use an assignment target, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate into the desired contract folder or legal area.
2. Click on ”Settings“.
3. Switch to the tab ” Assignments “.
4. Activate the usage of the desired assignment target. If you want to use, for example, suppliers as assignment targets, activate the option “Use Suppliers”.
   Note: This field is only visible if the option Manage Suppliers is active in the superordinate configuration list.
5. If you want to assign a contract or a legal file to several instances of the same assignment target, activate the option Multiple (e.g. if a contract relates to several suppliers).
6. If the instances of the assignment target should be displayed as a pick list in the contract or legal file, activate the option Use Pick List. This is recommended if only few instances of a target exist.
7. Click on “Next”.

Note:

• If assignment targets are managed or used in a contract manager list, the contract manager dashboard or the dashboard of the contract or legal file displays a distinct area for each assignment target (for example ”My Suppliers“ in the case of suppliers).
• You can see only targets and instances that you have access rights to via the corresponding contract manager list.

Assignment Instances

Assignment instances are the concrete derivations of assignment targets, for example the suppliers A and B, customers C and D, as well as projects E1 to F9.

Areas

Assignment target are divided into the following areas:

• Contracts
  Displays the contracts that are assigned to the supplier.
• Legal Files
  Displays the legal files that are assigned to the supplier.
• Requests
  Displays the requests that are assigned to the supplier.
• Assigned Contract Folders
  Displays the contract folders that are assigned to the supplier.
• Assigned Legal Areas
  Displays the legal areas that are assigned to the supplier.
• Documents
  Displays the documents provided by the supplier (see chapter “Imports”).

Note:

• The areas “Contracts” and “Assigned Contract Lists” are only visible if a contract folder is subordinate to a configuration list managing suppliers (see chapter ”Managing Configuration Lists“).
• The areas “Legal Files“ and ”Assigned Legal Areas“ are only displayed if a legal area is subordinate to a configuration list managing suppliers (see chapter “Managing Configuration Lists”).
• The “Requests” area is only displayed if the option Allow Requests is active in the contract folder or legal area that is subordinate to a configuration list wherein suppliers are managed (see chapter ”Allowing Requests“).

Actions

You can perform the following actions:

• Create Contract
  Creates a new contract.
  Further information can be found in chapter ”Creating a Contract“.
  Note: This action is only visible if there is at least one contract folder in the configuration.
• Create Legal File
  Creates a new legal file.
  Further information can be found in chapter ”Creating a Legal File“.
  Note: This action is only visible if there is at least one legal file in the configuration.
• Create Request
  Creates a new request.
  Further information can be found in chapter “Requests“.
  Note: This action is only visible if there is at least one contract folder or legal area in the configuration wherein the option Allow Requests is active.
• Add Remark
  Adds a remark. In this dialog, you can also paste shortcuts to documents or upload them from the file system.
• Refresh
  Refreshes the object.
• Consolidate
  Replaces the current assignment instance with another.
• Create Report <report name>
  Creates a report based upon a report template.
  Note: This action is only visible if a report template is available for this area. Further information can be found in chapter ”Reports“.
• Properties
  Opens the properties of an assignment instance.

Properties

In the properties of an assignment instance, you can specify the following:

Tab “Permissions“

• Contract Manager List
  Defines the contract manager list wherein the assignment instance is managed.
• Signers
  Defines one or more signers for the assignment instance. The order in which in signers are entered is the same order in the signature process.
• Full Control for all External Rooms in Assigned Contract Manager Files
  Grants full control to members in external rooms in the “Documents” area of assigned contract manager files.
• Change Access for all External Rooms in Assigned Contract Manager Files
  Grants change access to members in external rooms in the “Documents” area of assigned contract manager files.
• Read Access for all External Rooms in Assigned Contract Manager Files
  Grants read access to members in external rooms in the “Documents” area of assigned contract manager files.

Note: Further information can be found in chapter ”

External RoomExternal rooms allow internal members to make documents available to a select group of external members. This is usually done when the contract and its related files are ready for the signature process in order to have the external users view, discuss and, if applicable, object to the documents before the conclusion of the contract.Setting up an External Room“.

• Full Control for all Assigned Contract Manager Lists and Files
  Grants full control to members in external rooms in the “Documents” area of assigned contract manager lists and files. Additionally, these members must at least hold restricted access rights in the corresponding contract manager lists and files.
• Change Access for all Assigned Contract Manager Lists and Files
  Grants change access to members in external rooms in the “Documents” area of assigned contract manager lists and files. Additionally, these members must at least hold restricted access rights in the corresponding contract manager lists and files.
• Read Access for all Assigned Contract Manager Lists and Files
  Grants read access to members in external rooms in the “Documents” area of assigned contract manager lists and files. Additionally, these members must at least hold restricted access rights in the corresponding contract manager lists and files.
• Available for Assignments by Users with Read/Restricted Access
  Defines if users with read access or restricted access are allowed to access and configure the assignment instance.
• Escalation Contacts
  Defines escalation contacts for the assignment instance. These are comparable to the primary contacts of contract folders or legal areas, and have read access to the contract manager files that the assignment instance is assigned to.
  Note:
  • This field is only visible if there is at least one member defined in any of the fields ending with for all External Rooms in Assigned Contract Manager Files or for all Assigned Contract Manager Lists and Files.
  • If necessary, the list of escalation contacts can be used as a role in the workflow of a process lane. If the deadline of a workflow activity is exceeded, an escalation is sent to these members.
• Assigned Contract Folders
  Displays the contract folders assigned to the instance.
• Assigned Legal Areas
  Displays the legal areas assigned to the instance.

Tab “Address“

• Official Name
  Defines the official name of the assignment instance.
• Alternative Names
  Defines alternative names of the assignment instance.
• Street, Zip code, City, Country
  Defines the address data of the assignment instance.
• Billing Information
  Defines the billing information of the assignment instance.

Tab “Remarks“

• Enter Remark
  Allows adding remarks.
• Add Attachments
  Allows adding attachments.

Creating an Assignment Instance

In order to create an instance of an assignment target (e.g. supplier), proceed as follows:

1. Navigate into the desired configuration list, contract folder or legal area.
2. Navigate, for example, into the area “Suppliers”.
3. Click the action “Create Supplier”.
4. In the field Name, enter the name of the supplier.
5. Optionally, in the field Subject, enter a description of the supplier.
6. Click on “Next“.

Defining Permissions

In order to grant change access to specific members to allow them to see, for example, all contracts assigned to a supplier, proceed as follows:

1. In the contract manager dashboard, navigate into the area “My Suppliers”.
2. Navigate into the desired supplier and click the “Properties” action.
3. In the field Change Access for all Assigned Contract Manager Lists and Files, add the desired members.
4. Click on “Next“.
5. Navigate into the contract folder containing the contracts assigned to the supplier.
6. Click the “Team” action and grant restricted access to the same members that you granted access rights in the supplier before.

Note: This set of instructions is exemplary for numerous permissions that can be granted in an assignment instance that is assigned to any kind of contract manager list and file. Other permissions may better meet your requirements (see chapter “Properties”).

Defining Address Data

You can also add address data to an assignment instance. This is helpful especially when an instance is used as a standard signatory and its address needs to be managed (see chapter ”Managing Signatories via Assignment Instances“).

In order to add address data to an assignment instance, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate into the desired assignment instance.
2. Click the “Properties” action.
3. Switch to the tab ”Address“.
4. Enter the address data.
5. Optionally, in the field Alternative Names, enter further names for assignment instance as free text.
6. Optionally, in the field Billing Information, enter relevant billing information as free text.
7. Click on “Next“.

Consolidating an Assignment Instance

Consolidating an assignment instance replaces the current instance with another. In the course of this, all assigned contract manager lists and files are assigned to the selected target instance.

In order to consolidate an assignment instance, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate into the desired assignment instance.
2. Click the “Consolidate” action.
3. In the dropdown menu, select the desired target instance.
4. Click on “Next“.

All assignments are then moved to the target instance, while the original instance is left empty.

Creating a File From an Assignment Instance

In order to create a new contract manager file from an assignment instance and have both objects reference each other, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate into the desired assignment instance.
2. Click the desired action (“Create Contract“, “Create Legal File”, or “Create Request“) and enter the metadata of the contract manager file.
   Note: If necessary, follow the instructions in chapters ”Creating a Contract“, “Creating a Legal File”, or ”Creating a Request“.
3. The contract manager file and the assignment instance now reference each other.

Note: If you have configured the use of structural thesauri in the contract manager configuration, this may change the create dialog. Further information can be found in chapter ”Structural Thesauri“.