The advanced version of the Contracts Management module supports the ability for Vendors to access an online portal where they can view their contracts, and if permitted, perform certain activities against those contracts (such as raising variations, reporting against KPIs, and more). 

Each organisation determines and manages vendor access to its Contracts Management system. Each organisation has its own portal that vendors can be invited to access at their discretion.

The below will provide details on how you as a Vendor can log in to each system, view the details of the contracts, perform activities against those contracts and update your company profile.

Accessing a Contracts Management system

If an organisation has invited you, you'll be sent an email notification from VendorPanel which will contain the following:

• A link to the login page
• Your username (which will be the email address against your account)
• Your initial password.

When you are sent the invitation email, use the link in the email to access the system. Use the 'username' and 'password' fields to login to your account.

Once you log in with your email address and temporary password, you can go through and change your password by following the below steps:

1. Click on the user icon in the top right-hand corner and select 'Edit your profile'.
2. Then, select 'Change Password'.
3. Enter your new and old passwords and then click on 'Save'.

Using the Contracts Dashboard

Once logged in, on the Home page you will find two options: Contracts Management and Company Profile.

Under the 'Contracts Management' section, you will be able to view the contracts you've been given access to and potentially also perform actions against them where you've been permitted to do so.

On the Contracts Dashboard where you will find the following sections:

• My Contracts: A list of all the contracts you have with the organisation that you have been given access to.
• Requests for Information: A list of all questions you have asked against your contracts.
• KPI Performance: A list of all the KPIs against your contracts where you can record your results for each review period.
• Payment Certificates: A list of all the payment certificates added to your contracts.
• Work Orders: A list of all work orders added against your contracts.
  • Please note, you won't be able to submit your own Work Orders, but you can review any added by the organisation.
• My Submissions: A list of all pending and historical approval submissions added against your contracts.

Viewing the Details of a Contract

Under the 'My Contracts' section you will see a table of contracts that you can access. You can click on the name of the contract to open and review the details in a pop-up window.

Under the 'Overview' tab you will find the below sections:

• Details: Contains high-level details of the contract as entered by the organisation. You can also review who internally at the organisation is assigned to the roles on the contract.
• Duration: Contains information around the initial, current and maximum end dates on the contract.
• Value: Contains information around the initial and current value (including any variations) of the contract.
• Documents: Here you will be able to view any files that the organisation has given you permission to download and also provides you with the ability to upload your own documents against the contract.

The next tab is for your details as the second party on the contract. This may be labelled as 'Vendor', 'Contractor', 'Supplier' or something else as determined by the organisation. Under this tab you will be able to do the following:

• Click the 'View Vendor Record' button to view and update your company profile (see more details below).
  
  
  
  
• Review or create and link Contacts for the people internally at your end who will be working with the organisation on the specific contract. The organisation may have already assigned contacts, but you can update this to keep the organisation informed who they should be contacting.
  
  The table will display any linked contacts. You can click on these to update any details. Alternatively, there will be buttons below to create new and link existing contacts.
  
  
  
  
• Review or create and link Compliances to upload your certificates and documentation. Examples would be certificates of currencies for insurance and licences. The organisation may have already created and linked these to your contracts, but you can update these yourself.
  
  The table will display any linked compliances. You can click on these to update any details and upload files. Alternatively, there will be buttons below to create new and link existing compliances.
  
  

The last tab will be labelled 'Registers'. This will only be visible if the organisation has permitted you to perform actions against the contract. We go into more detail on these in the next sections.

Completing Actions against your Contracts

If you've been permitted to do so, against your contracts you can submit Variations, Extensions, Payment Certificates, Requests for Information and your Performance Review Results.

There are two ways to start raising one of these against a contract:

• From the Contracts dashboard, utilise the 'Contract Specific Actions' section at the top of the page. Select the contract, select the appropriate option, and click 'Go'.
  
  
  
  OR
  
  
• From the Contracts dashboard, click on the contract title to open up the details. Go to the 'Registers' tab and you'll find options for each of the actions. Click on the big plus (+) button on the right to create a new item for each action.
  
  

Raising an Extension against a Contract

When adding a new extension, you'll be able to specify the duration by entering a specific end date or entering the duration in years, months and days.

You may also have a section where you can specify the value of the extension. This value will need to be excluding tax and then you can specify the tax type to either calculate or manually enter the tax amount applicable to the extension.

You can also select the 'Attachments' tab at the top to upload any files.

Your extension is now ready to be submitted for review and approval by the organisation. Click here to find more information on this.

Raising a Variation against a Contract

A variation can be submitted for a variation to duration, value and/or terms and conditions. When submitting the details, you will need to provide a title and the details of the variation, select a category of the variation and then there will be additional optional fields to capture further information.

Next, you can select multiple variation types which will then display sections to capture that information:

• Variation to contract duration: specify the end date of the variation as either a specific date or enter as a duration.
• Variation to contract value: specify the value of the variation excluding tax and select the tax type to calculate or manually enter the tax value.
• Variation to contract terms and conditions: specify the reference and details

You can also select the 'Attachments' tab at the top to upload any files.

Your variation is now ready to be submitted for review and approval by the organisation. Click here to find more information on this.

Raising a Payment Certificate against a Contract

When adding a payment certificate, on the 'Details' tab you will be able to specify a date of issue and an invoice number.

On the 'Claim' tab, you will then add the details of each item including the description of work, unit of measurement, rate value and claim amount.

You can add as many lines as you need to by hovering over the table and clicking on the plus button on the right.

You will also be able to enter the retention sum value and the applicable tax percentage.

The Financial Summary table will provide you with an overview of the current state of the contract balance.

Once completed, your payment certificate is now ready to be submitted for review and approval by the organisation under the 'Approval' tab. Click here to find more information on this.

Submitting a Request for Information

If you need to ask a question to the organisation in regards to the contract, you can utilise the Request for Information section to do so. You will be able to submit your question and attach documents to your request.

Once submitted, the Contract Manager at the organisation will be notified and can respond to your request via the system, at which point you'd be notified.

Submitting your Performance Review Results

Under the KPI Performance section on the Contracts dashboard, you will find a table of your review periods for each contract that you can review and submit results against.

By clicking on the line you will open up the details of that period. On the 'Details' tab you can review the title, target, review period and due date. Then, enter your achieved value, date of result and select the final result.

Before submitting, you can use the other tabs to enter more information. The 'File Notes' tab allows you submit your own notes and review notes made by the organisation in regards to the specific review period. The 'Attachments' tab will provide you with a space to upload files in regards to the specific review period.

When you're ready, click on the 'Submit Result' button at the bottom of the 'Details' tab. This will notify the Contract Manager to go in and review your results.

Viewing and Updating your Company Profile

Once logged in, on the Home page you will find two options: Contracts Management and Company Profile.

Under the 'Company Profile' section you will be able to see the details of your company that have likely been already set by the organisation. If you need to make any changes, you can click on the 'Update Details' button at the bottom:

This will then provide you with the opportunity to update your company name, business number, contact and address/postal details.

Once completed, you will likely need to submit your proposed changes to be reviewed by the organisation. Click here to find more information on this.

Seeking Approval for your Submissions

After submitting either an extension, variation or payment certificate against your contracts or updating your company profile you will likely need to submit for approval by the organisation.

After adding in the details, you'll need to select the 'Prepare approval submission' button at the bottom of the page.

This will take you to the Approval Submission page where you can add notes and attach reference documents. Further down the page, you will find the list of required approvers which will automatically populate for you. When ready, hit the 'Submit' button.

The required approvals will be notified of your submission request. They will review it and either approve or decline it, at which point you'll be notified.

On the Contracts Dashboard, the 'My Submissions' section at the bottom of the page will list your historical and pending approval submissions. You can click on these to review.