Configuration of Contractual Changes

This article is for users with an Administrator role in organisation subscribing to Advanced or Enterprise Aidi platform. The aim of this article is to introduce the different elements that define contractual modifications and to help you understand how to apply them to your organization. You can manage the various elements from the application's Admin page.

Change Groups and Types

Contractual Change Groups

Contractual Change Approval Chains

Contractual Change Types

Characteristic of Change Types

Contractual Change Access Management

Define Custom Fields for Contractual Change Groups

 

Change Groups and Types

The 2 main elements in this module are contractual change groups and types.

1. A group is a set of contractual changes of the same type. 

Examples: DDC, ODC, Avenant, etc.

2. The type defines the characteristics of the contractual modification. 

Examples :

• DDC: Non-binding request 
• ODC: Administrative Change Order

You can customize your own groups and types of contractual changes:

3. Click on the frame set to create a new Group.
4. Click on the + to create a Type.

Contractual Change Groups

✏️Note: Aidi limits the number of groups that can be created per environment to 10.

In Aidi, the following elements of contractual changes are defined by group:

• Approval chains
• Permissions for all change types within a group (user role)

Contractual Change Approval Chains

A contractual change approval chain is linked to a group and defined in a specific purchase order. 

The structure of the approval chain is defined by group, for all the types of modification attached to it. The purchase order defines its scope.

In short, the approval chain for the same group may vary from one purchase order to another, while within the same purchase order, the different types of changes within the same group will follow the approval chain structure defined for the group in the purchase order.

Example:

In Purchase Order A, I set up an approval chain for the Directive group and designate John Doe as the approver. No matter what type of directive I create within this group, binding or non-binding, for this purchase order, it will be John Doe who must approve. Alternatively, I can set up an approval chain for the Change Order group in Purchase Order A and designate Jane Doe as the approver. She will be responsible for approving all change order types.

Let’s say I then setup Purchase Order B, I can set new approval chains for each of the groups, e.g. Directive, Change order, etc., that are different than the ones in the previous Purchase Order.

For more information on the configuration of approval chains, see the related article.

Contractual Change Types

It is possible to define a separate type of contractual change. This change type always applies to a previously defined group. 

To create a new change type, click on the + button (Add type).

1. Enter the Prefix you want displayed for this change type.
2. Define the name of this change type.
3. Select the group to which this type is associated.
4. Select the Characteristic.
5. You can check the box so that this type of contractual change is allowed by default on each purchase order.

• • For each purchase order, you can specify which types of contractual change are allowed. However, the administrator can define the types of modification permitted by default at the creation of any purchase orders. 
  • The user, when creating the purchase order, can review the permitted types, and can add or delete any before sending it for approval.

6. This type of change may or may not be billable: 

• • It is possible to define whether the type of contractual change will have an impact on purchase order amounts. All billable changes, when approved, will appear in payment requests and invoices. 
  • Conversely, non-billable changes have no Costs section in the detail view and will be hidden from payment requests and invoices.

7. Save this information.

Characteristic of Change Types

Contractual change types refer to 2 distinct business processes and define the nature of the contractual change.

• 2-step process
• 1-step process

2-step process: 2 step_1 and 2 step_2

• 2 Step_1: for contractual changes that are attached to a 2 step_2 contractual change.
  
  It serves as a separate object which must always be attached to an approved 2 step_2 change before officially committing the approved amounts on purchase orders.
  
  This process is generally assigned to change types in the Directive group.
   
• 2 Step_2: for contractual changes that groups together all or part of the 2 step_1 category changes attached to it and commits the total amounts approved on the purchase order.
  
  This process is generally assigned to change types of the Change Order (CO) group. 

Example: If Directives are categorized in 2 step_1 and Change orders (COs) are categorized in 2 step_2, at least one Directive must be created in order to create a CO, and they will be associated when the CO is created.

1 step Process

1 step category changes must not be linked to another 2 step_2 category of change. This is useful, for example, when you want to commit approved amounts without going through a Directive before producing a Change order.

Contractual Changes Access Management

Permissions and access to contractual changes are defined by group in the Access Profile Configuration section of the Admin menu. The permissions available for a single group are:

• • General access (view, create, modify and delete group changes)
  • Approval (permission to approve in an approval chain linked to the group)
  • Cause box (box in detailed view of 2 step_1 and 1 step changes)
  • Approval chain (see the approval chain, including its approvers and progress)
  • Estimated cost (box in the detailed view of a 2 step_1 and 1 step change)

These permissions are therefore applied at group level, and are the same for all change types within the same group.

In the Access List, you'll find the following Resources related to contractual change groups: 

1. contact_modification_1 to 10

• • The number corresponds to the order in which the group is listed in the Contractual changes page of the Admin menu.
  • Defines access to all group types.

2. contract_modification_approval_1 to 10

• • The number corresponds to the order in which the group is listed in the Contractual changes page of the Admin menu.
  • A person with this permission can be added to the approval chains linked to the group.
  • Write access must be the only access added.

3. contract_modification_cause_1 to 10

• • The number corresponds to the order in which the group is listed in the Contractual changes page of the Admin menu.
  • Defines accesses for the Causes box in the group's contractual changes.

4. contract_modification_circuit_1 to 10

• • The number corresponds to the order in which the group is listed in the Contractual changes page of the Admin menu.
  • Allows people with this permission to view the approval chain.
  • Read-only access must be the only access added.

5. contrat_modification_data_1 to 10

• • The number corresponds to the order in which the group is listed in the Contractual changes page of the Admin menu.
  • Provides access to data related to this editing group (may be required for other functions)
  • Read-only access must be the only access added.
  • It is recommended to give this permission for all groups on all roles to avoid errors in the application.

✏️Note: Granting access to this permission will not allow the user to consult the contractual change pages of one or more groups.

6. contract_modification_estimated_costs_1 to 10

• • The number corresponds to the order in which the group is listed in the Contractual changes page of the Admin menu.
  • Defines accesses for the Estimated amount field in the Costs section.

Define Custom Fields for Contractual Change Groups

In contractual changes, the Custom fields section allows you to enter important information relating to the change. The fields displayed in this section are specific to your organization and must be configured from the Admin menu.

In the Admin menu, select the Custom fields menu tab.

1. Click the Create button.

2. Enter the field name as it will appear in the Custom fields section of the Contractual changes page.
3. Select the contractual change group to which this additional field applies. The groups available for adding additional fields are Change Notice and Change Order. 
4. Select the type of information the new field will display, e.g. a checkbox, date, dropdown, etc.
5. Save.

This additional field is now available in the Custom field section of Directives. 

To learn how to create a contractual change, please refer to the Create Contractual Changes section of the Aidi Quick Start Guide.