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Initiation Phase

The Initiation Phase is the first phase in a workflow, in which the Initiator initiates a new workflow that will result in an executed contract. The user initiating the workflow is referred to as the Initiator, regardless of their user role (or roles).

Once the Initiation Phase is completed, the workflow moves to the next phase. In most workflows, a Form Phase follows the Initiation Phase.

Workflows canceled before initiation cannot be recovered.


Roles and Participants

Typically, only an Admin, Phase Owner, or Phase Mediator can initiate a workflow on a new contract.

However, if a workflow template defines the Phase Manager as *Initiator, users with these roles may also initiate workflows:

  • Reviewer

  • Approver

  • Signatory

An Admin or an Editor can initiate a workflow on an existing contract.


Initiating Workflows

Workflows can be initiated for a new contract or for an existing contract.

  • A workflow cannot be initiated on an existing contract if the contract has been archived. (An Archived badge would appear on the contract summary page.)

  • The form fields on the initiation page will be based on the selection of the Is this a new or existing contract? field. The default form for initiating a workflow is a new contract.

  • To reduce the chance of initiating a workflow on the wrong contract, we recommend initiating any workflow on an existing contract from the contract summary page.


For a New Contract

  • On the worklist page, click Initiate New Workflow.

  • On the initiation page, complete the form.

Select the Priority.
  • This field defaults to Normal.

  • If you change the priority to Critical:

    • The Critical badge will appear on the workflow.

    • Workflow participants will be able to filter for critical workflows by clicking the [# critical] badge above the worklist.

Select New Contract.

The Is this a new or existing contract? field defaults to New Contract.

Select Contract Location.
  • This field defaults to the contract location or locations of the current contract.

    • To remove the selection, click the x.

    • To add a contract location to the current selection, click the caret and select the node you want to add.

  • You will only see contract locations that you have permission to view.

  • Clicking on the contract location field will reveal the organization tree. The typical organizational tree is four nodes deep: Organization > Entity > Site > Department.

    • Click Expand All to see all the nodes.

    • Click Collapse All to collapse all but the first and second-level nodes.

    • Click a caret to expand the leaves of a single node. Click the caret again to collapse the node.

You cannot select only the Organization (top) node of the contract location tree. If you select only the Organization node, then a modal will prompt you to select all locations below it.

  • If you click No, then your contract location selection will be cleared.

    • If you click Yes, then all the child nodes, e.g. all the Departments, Entities, and Sites beneath the Organization node will be added to the contract location field.

  • If you select a child node, then all its ancestors will auto-select.

  • If you select a parent node, then you’ll be asked if you want to add all of its descendant nodes.

  • If you remove a parent node, its descendant nodes will automatically be removed.

Select the Contract Type.
  • You will only see contract location that you have permission to view.

  • You can filter Contact Types by contract category:

    • Click Filter by Contract Category.

    • In the new dropdown, select a Contract Category.

    • The Contract Type dropdown will only show contract types within the selected contract category.

    • To remove the filter, click Hide Contract Category Filter.

You must select the contract location before selecting the contract type.

If you update the contract location after selecting the contract type, then the contract type field will be cleared.

Select the Primary Other Party.
  • The Primary Other Party refers to vendors and/or providers.

  • If you don’t yet know the other party name, select AAA VENDOR/OTHER PARTY NAME to proceed. The Primary Other Party can be updated later in the workflow.

Optional: Select the Secondary Other Party(s).

Secondary Other Party(s) can be updated later in the workflow.

Optional: Link the workflow to one or more contracts.

You can filter the Linked to Contracts list by Other Party, contract category, or contract type.

Select a Workflow Template.

You must select the contract location and contract type before selecting the workflow template. If there are no workflow templates available, verify with your Admin that there is an active workflow template for the contract location and contract type you selected.

Optional: Add any attachments.

If you skip adding attachments during initiation, you can upload them after the Initiation Phase.

Optional: Add any comments.
  • You can add comments in the Comments panel on the right. The default panel is Phase Info.

  • If you skip adding comments during initiation, you can add them after the Initiation Phase.

  • When finished, click Initiate Workflow.
    OR
    To exit without initiating the workflow, click Cancel.


For an Existing Contract

  • On the worklist page, click Initiate New Workflow.

  • On the initiation page, complete the form.

Select the Priority.
  • This field defaults to Normal.

  • If you change the priority to Critical:

    • The Critical badge will appear on the workflow.

    • Workflow participants will be able to filter for critical workflows by clicking the [# critical] badge above the worklist.

Select Existing Contract.
  • The Is this a new or existing contract? field defaults to New Contract.

  • Upon selecting Existing Contract, the form fields will change.

Select Contract Location.
  • This field defaults to the contract location or locations of the current contract.

    • To remove the selection, click the x.

    • To add a contract location to the current selection, click the caret and select the node you want to add.

  • You will only see contract locations that you have permission to view.

  • Clicking on the Contract Location field will reveal an organization tree. The typical organizational tree is four nodes deep: Organization > Entity > Site > Department.

    • Click Expand All to see all the nodes.

    • Click Collapse All to collapse all but the first and second-level nodes.

    • Click a caret to expand the leaves of a single node. Click the caret again to collapse the node.

  • You cannot select only the Organization (top) node of the contract location tree. If you select only the Organization node, then a modal will prompt you to select all locations below it.

    • If you click No, then your contract location selection will be cleared.

    • If you click Yes, then all the child nodes, e.g. all the Departments, Entities, and Sites beneath the Organization node will be added to the Contract Location field.

  • If you select a child node, then all its ancestors will auto select.

  • If you select a parent node, then you’ll be asked if you want to add all of its child nodes.

  • If you remove a parent node, its children will automatically be removed.

Select the Contract Number.
Select Action Type.

You must select the contract location and Contract Number before selecting the action type. If the desired action type is unavailable, verify with your Admin that there is an active workflow template for the contract location and action type you selected.

Select Workflow Template.

You must select the action type before selecting the workflow template. If there are no workflow templates available, verify with your Admin that there is an active workflow template for the contract location and action type you selected.

Optional: Add or remove documents and/or attachments.

When initiating a workflow from an existing contract, all documents and attachments in the contract summary page are imported by default. If you do nothing with documents and attachments, every single document and attachment from the current version of the contract go into the workflow, and upon activation, the updated version of the contract. 

  • The imported documents and attachments appear in the workflow accordion.

  • If there are no documents or attachments to import from a contract, the cloud icon will be gray and unclickable.

  • A confidential attachment can only be viewed and imported by the user who uploaded the attachment or the users who were given permission to access the attachment.

  • If you skip adding attachments during initiation, you can upload them after the Initiation Phase.

  • If you remove an imported document and attachment during initiation, you cannot import it after the Initiation Phase. However, you can download the document or attachment from the contract summary page, then upload it into the new workflow.

To add an attachment:

  • Click the (+).

  • Select the attachment from your computer.

  • Click Open.
    OR
    To close the window without uploading the attachment, click Cancel.

To remove an imported document or attachment:

  • Hover over the document or attachment that you’d like to remove.

  • Click the ellipsis (…).

  • Click Delete,

  • In the modal, click Delete Document or Delete Attachment.
    OR
    To close the modal without deleting the document or attachment, click Cancel or ✖.

If you’ve deleted a document or attachment and would like to import the document again, click the cloud icon in the Documents or Attachments accordion, select the document or attachment, then click Import.

To manage documents or attachments within a table:

  • Click the cloud icon in the Documents or Attachments accordion.

  • In the modal, you can sort, filter, manage columns, export the table, and view or download the documents or attachments.

Optional: Add any comments.
  • You can add comments in the Comments panel on the right. The default panel is Phase Info.

  • If you skip adding comments during initiation, you can add them after the Initiation Phase.

  • When finished, click Initiate Workflow.

    • If you initiate a workflow on a contract that has another workflow in progress, you’ll see a confirmation modal. To initiate the workflow anyway, click Initiate. To cancel, click Take Me Back.

Other Workflows in Progress for this Contract

The following other workflows are in progress for this contract. Documents, attachments, and field values in these workflows may overwrite each other. Because the order in which these workflows are activated will affect the final contract, you should work with the other Phase Managers or Admins to ensure these workflows are activated in the correct order:

<Workflow Name> | Current Phase Manager: <Fist Name Last Name as mailto link>
<Workflow Name> | Current Phase Manager: <Fist Name Last Name as mailto link>

The following rules will be enforced where conflicts exist:

  • Documents and attachments in the last workflow to be activated will be the documents and attachments that appear in the new version of the contract.  

  • Field values entered in the last workflow to be activated will be the values that appear in the new version of the contract. However, if an empty field value exists at the start of a workflow and persists through activation, then that empty field value will not overwrite a populated value entered in another workflow.

OR

  • To exit without initiating the workflow, click Cancel or ✖.


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