Contract Functionality Implementation: Configuration Prerequisites

[1]janice.paganiniThis focus is not right--the topic should cover what you do before starting to implement the contract management functionality, not WHILE you implement the functionality. That is, these topics are supposed to be about the things you do BEFORE the tasks described in the chapter, not the things you do WHILE performing the tasks described in the chapter.2022/10/0114:11:22-04:00Before starting to create contracts, you should be sure that [2]janice.paganiniThese two are (or should be) part of the chapter itself, though, so they are not within the scope of this topic. The topic should cover only prerequisites--things that have to be done in the system before the Contract Management feature and before ANY contract-specific entities are created, even non-stock items. (Alternatively, you could cover NS items here and not cover them in the General Information topic, beyond perhaps a mention that they must be created if they don't already exist.)2022/10/0114:21:58-04:00the needed feature has been enabled, the needed settings have been specified, and the applicable entities have been created, as described in the following sections.

Enabling the Needed Feature

On the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form, the Contract Management feature must be enabled.

[3]EFeoktistovaOr On the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form, the minimum set of features has to be enabled. For details, see Company Without Branches: To Configure a Company Without Branches?otq_wrr_1vb2022/07/2609:45:11+03:00janice.paganiniThis section should not be in this topic. According to the topic guidelines guidelines, "This topic briefly lists the features that must be enabled and the configuration tasks that must be performed before the implementation part described in the chunk." So this should cover only the things that must be done BEFORE all the things covered in the chapter, shouldn't it? That is, as you mention here, it should cover the minimum set of features, but the enabling of the Contract Management feature must be covered in our other concept topics--either in the General Information topic or in a separate topic about the system configuration of the chunk. Also, non-stock items are covered in the chunk itself, so it seems that they should not be here. 3otq_wrr_1vb32022/10/0100:07:08-04:00

Configuring Project Identifiers

The CONTRACT segmented key on the Segmented Keys (CS202000) form defines the identifier of the contracts. By default, this segmented key specifies that the contract identifier is an alphanumeric string of up to 10 characters. For the key, you can define how many segments it is to have, what values may be used, whether these values should be validated, and whether auto-numbering should be used in one of the segments. You can also divide item identifiers into segments with specific values. For more information on configuring segmented keys, see Segmented Identifiers.

Configuring the System

[4]janice.paganiniShould AR functionality be mentioned in this section? The GI topic mentions it as a part of the implementation of this chapter, but it seems that it instead should be done before the chapter. Contract implementation is not really about AR implementation even though it's part of AR; we would assume that AR is in place so that we don't have to document AR implementation *here*.2022/10/0212:34:03-04:00

You need to make sure the following tasks have been performed in MYOB Acumatica before you begin to create contracts:

[6]AVinsert2025/02/2517:54:33+01:00Contract Numbering

As a part of the preparation for contract creation, you need to develop a strategy for assigning identifiers to contracts. A segmented key, which is defined on the Segmented Keys (CS202000) form, defines the structure of identifiers for a certain entity and then serves as a template when a user creates an identifier for a new record of the type.[7]AVinsert2025/02/2517:55:03+01:00 You can either configure the segmented key to be auto-numerated, so that the system will generate the new numbers automatically, or make the segmented key manually numbered, if you want to have some meaningful titles for the contracts.

Contract identifiers are based on the CONTRACT segmented key, which inherits its structure from the PROJECT segmented key.[8]AVinsert2025/02/2517:42:07+01:00 If you are using the same structure for both segmented keys, and auto-numbering is disabled for them, you will not be able to create contracts with the identifiers that are already used in existing projects or project templates. [9]AVinsert2025/02/2517:46:54+01:00Also, you cannot use the identifier that is specified as the non-project code on the Projects Preferences (PM101000) form as an identifier of a contract.[10]AVsplit2025/02/2517:42:03+01:00

[11]AVinsert2025/02/2517:49:16+01:00If both Contract Management and Projects features are in use in the system, a number of entryMany[12]AVMany2025/02/2517:50:03+01:00 forms have a Project/Contract element[13]AVinsert2025/02/2517:50:08+01:00 (box or column) [14]AVinsert2025/02/2517:50:26+01:00in which [15]AVinsert2025/02/2517:50:35+01:00you select the project or contract that is related to a record on the form (such as an invoice or credit memo) or a detail line of a record (such as a line of an expense claim)[16]AVinsert2025/02/2517:50:48+01:00. In a lookup table that opens for such UI element, and both projects and contracts are [17]AVinsert2025/02/2517:51:34+01:00listedavailable for selection in the lookup table[18]AVavailable for selection in the lookup table2025/02/2517:51:39+01:00. [19]AVinsert2025/02/2517:52:13+01:00If you want to provide the users the ability to distinguish between projects and contracts in these lookup tables, you need to reserve one segment of the key for a value that designates whether the identifier belongs to projects or contracts. You can use one of the following approaches to defining the keys:

  • You can [20]AVcan 2025/02/2517:58:21+01:00configure two segments in the PROJECT segmented key: a two-letter segment with two possible character strings (such as PR and CT) to designate the type of identifier, and a 10-character auto-numbered segment to identify the particular project or contract. For the second segment of the CONTRACT segmented key, you can [21]AVcan 2025/02/2517:58:29+01:00assign a different numbering sequence than the one used for to maintain the numbers for contracts independently from those of projects. Numbering sequences are created and modified on the Numbering Sequences (CS201010) form.
  • If you decide to define a one-segment structure for the PROJECT segmented key with an auto-numbered segment, you can assign different numbering sequences to the PROJECT and CONTRACT keys. On the Numbering Sequences form, create the sequence intended for projects with PR as a prefix, and define the sequence intended for contracts with the CT prefix.

Defining Entities

You need to define the following MYOB Acumatica entities before you create contracts:

    [22]janice.paganiniThis, by the way, assumes that AR functionality is in place, which is why the setup of AR functionality and the Accounts Receivable Preferences form must be mentioned in this topic.2022/10/0212:49:09-04:00
  • Customer accounts and locations: The customers you will specify in contracts must be created on the Customers (AR303000) form. Also, the needed customer locations must be created on the Customer Locations (AR303020) form, which is available if the Business Account Locations feature is enabled on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form. When you create a contract on the Customer Contracts (CT301000) form and select a [23]janice.paganiniIMPORTANT: On some forms, if the customer location is copied, settings are copied from the customer LOCATION on the Customer Locations form instead of being copied from the customer on the Customers form. Please check whether the location settings are used instead if the Location box is filled in. If so, we should add after this "If a customer location is specified for the contract, these settings are instead copied from the [Customer Locations] form." Don't trust the reference form on this; it was among the earliest ones documented and has not been revisited in depth. Not only did we not consistently document dependencies back then, but we also didn't know them unless a developer thought to explain them. So it may or may not tell us.vn4_1vp_bwb2022/10/0212:58:02-04:00EFeoktistovaI am not sure that we should to describe the variant of Janice, because the Business Account Locations feature is enabled and locations are predefined in U100. Previous version: Customer accounts and locations: The customer account, that you select for a contract provides the billing and location details that are specific to the customer. When you create a contract, in addition to specifying the contract template, you specify the customer account, which causes the system to fill in appropriate settings that are specific to the customer. 9vn4_1vp_bwb92023/01/0511:47:11+01:00customer account, the system fills in the applicable billing and location[24]EFeoktistova and location2023/04/2512:38:27+02:00 settings that have been specified for the customer.
  • Discount: If you want to give any customer a discount for services provided recurrently through the contract, you should create the needed discount code, which determines the discount rate, the application rules, and the non-stock items it is applied to. You will specify this discount code when you create a contract. You create each needed discount code on the Discount Codes (AR209000) form and the discount sequences of each discount code on the Discounts (AR209500) form. For details on creating discounts, see Customer Discounts: General Information.
  • Contract template: A contract is based on a contract template, which provides the default settings of the contract. For each type of contract (such as a service agreement or support plan) your company has with its customers, you can create a contract template. Then when you create a contract, you select the appropriate contract template, which causes the default settings of the contract to be filled in. A contract template may also provide a list of products and services that you want to sell. These services and products are represented by contract items, which you create separately.