Create and Submit Contracts

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Explain the contract-creation process.
  
• Create a contract and contract document.
  
• Explore a contract record and contract documents pages.
  
• List contract tasks.
  
• Submit and sign a contract.
  

Meet the Contract-Creation Process

Here’s what happens during contract creation. A salesperson generates a contract from various objects such as an opportunity, quote, order, standard object, or custom object. You can also create a standalone contract, which is generated from a contract object. Standalone contracts are typically created and managed within Salesforce and without dependencies on other contracts or external systems. The contract type, such as Sales or Service Contract, categorizes the contract and affects the fields, templates, and compliance requirements. Contract line items provide a detailed breakdown of the products or services included. These details either come from opportunities, quotes, and orders, or are added manually.

Contract document versions capture changes and updates over time, maintaining a historical record and ensuring transparency. Each new contract includes a contract document record that represents the first version. You can apply a document template and create additional versions of the contract document as you customize it.

So far, Candace and her team have won numerous deals. But each sale involves multiple contracts, which can be hard to manage. With contract types and the state model already defined for Cloud Kicks, Candace manages multiple contracts with ease.

In this unit, you follow along to create a contract, generate the contract document, and execute the contract.

Sign Up for a Developer Edition Org with Salesforce Contracts

To complete this module, you need a special Developer Edition org that contains Salesforce Contracts and our sample data. Get the free Developer Edition and connect it to Trailhead now so you can complete the challenges in this module.

A Developer Edition (DE) is a free, fully featured Salesforce org separate from your organization’s Salesforce org. It's a place where you can experiment and try new things from a blank slate or special configuration. In this module, you sign up for a DE org that includes configured Salesforce Contracts tools and features, plus sample data so you can start to experiment right away.

Note that this Developer Edition is designed to work with the challenges in this badge, and might not work for other badges. Always check that you’re using the Trailhead Playground or the special Developer Edition org that we recommend.

1. Sign up for a free Salesforce Contracts Developer Edition org.
   
2. Fill out the form.
   

• For Email, enter an active email address.
  
• For Username, enter a username that looks like an email address and is unique, but it doesn’t need to be a valid email account (for example, yourname@example.com).
  

3. After you fill out the form, click Sign me up. A confirmation message appears.
   
4. When you receive the activation email (this might take a few minutes), open it and click Verify Account.
   
5. Complete your registration by setting your password and challenge question. Tip: Save your username, password, and login URL in a secure place—such as a password manager—for easy access later.
   
6. You’re logged in to your Developer Edition.
   

Now connect your new Developer Edition org to Trailhead.

1. Make sure you’re logged in to your Trailhead account.
   
2. In the Challenge section at the bottom of this page, click the playground name and then click Connect Org.
   
3. On the login screen, enter the username and password for the Developer Edition you just set up.
   
4. On the Allow Access? screen, click Allow.
   
5. On the Want to connect this org for hands-on challenges? screen, click Yes! Save it. You’re redirected back to the challenge page and ready to use your new Developer Edition to earn this badge.
   

Create a Contract

It’s time to create a contract from an existing quote.

1. From the App Launcher , find and select Salesforce Contracts.
   
2. From the Navigation menu, select Quotes and change the list view to All Quotes.
   
3. Select the Acme Sneakers Quote.
   
4. Click in the quick actions bar and select Create Contract.
   

A new contract record is created based on the default record, and the Details tab has a link to the parent object record.

Meet the Contract Record Page

From the contract record page, you can modify the record, contract header, contract states, and tabs.

To explore the contract record page, click each plus icon () on the image.

Add Contract Details and Generate a Contract Document

After adding basic contract details, such as the contract start date and the duration, you’re ready to generate a new contract document.

1. On the Details tab, specify:
   
   • Contract Start Date: Today’s date
     
   • Contract Term (months): 12
     
2. Save your work.
   
3. Notice the contract start and end dates and the contract terms are updated in the contract header.
   
4. Click Create Contract Document.
   
5. Ensure that Generate Contract is selected.
   

5. In the Template search box, click Cloud Kicks Quote Agreement and Generate Document.
   
6. Click Continue and OK. The document template is displayed.
   
7. Click Check In and Check In again
   

Good job! You’ve generated Version 1 of the contract document. Click View Documents to find Word and PDF versions attached.

Contract Tasks

You generated a contract document, but there’s more you can do with the app. Select the tabs to learn about the capabilities.

Explore the Contract Documents Page

The Contract Documents page shows contract document versions and their attached files. Each time someone modifies a contract, a new version is created. The object state definition controls the operations available for each contract version, who can perform the operations, and at which point in the lifecycle.

To explore the Contract Documents page, check out this interactivity. Click each plus icon () to learn about the elements of the page.

Submit and Sign the Contract

Once the contract document is created, send it for internal approval.

1. Click the Submit for Approval contract action. The contract status updates to In Approval Process, and the approver receives an email notification.
   
2. Click in the top right, and then click the contract approval request notification. This opens the Contract Approval Request page, which shows a status of Pending.
   
3. Click Approve, enter Approved, and click Approve again. The Contract Approval status changes to Approved.
   
4. Go back to the Contract record page tab, and refresh the page. Notice the contract status is Negotiating, and the actions have changed. The contract is ready to send to the customer for e-signature.
   

If your Salesforce Contracts system is integrated with Docusign, you can send the contract for e-signature using the Send for Signature action. Once signed by the recipient, a copy of the signed document is attached to the contract record. Finally, you’re ready to activate the contract.

Update a Contract

Contracts often need updates to reflect changes in terms, products, services, or other details.

At Cloud Kicks, Candace needs to update a contract because the supplier requested ‌a change in the delivery schedule and pricing for certain products. Before doing so, she changes the contract status from Activated to Draft. She navigates to the contract, clicks Edit, updates the contract status field.

Then on the relevant opportunity, order, or quote record page, she clicks Update Contracts to update the existing contract.

You can also change or add new contract line items and create new document attachments.

To use the Update Contracts action button, the contract must be in Draft state and have been created with the Create Contract action button.

Manage Contracts with Ease

In this module, you learned how Salesforce Contracts makes it easier and faster to manage contracts. At Cloud Kicks, Candace and her team can now focus on their core competencies, manage more clients, and increase efficiency.

How can your organization use Salesforce Contracts in your daily work?

Resources

• Salesforce Help: Create Contract and Update Contracts
• Salesforce Help: Use Salesforce Contracts Application
• Salesforce Help: Workflow for Submitting a Contract for E-Signature
• Salesforce Help: Integrate Docusign with Salesforce Contracts