Master Agreement Types Explained - Part 1

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Introduction

Master Agreement Types are a foundational structure in Contract Lifecycle Management which:

• Determine the features and functions that will be available on an actual Master Agreement or a Master Agreement Template
• Give you the ability to define a Numbering Table to be used with a particular Master Agreement Type
• Enable you to do Page Customizations to determine how the pages will be configured for a specific Master Agreement Type
• Allow you to write Scripts to drive specific logic that applies to a particular Master Agreement Type
• Enable you to query agreements in the system by Master Agreement Type

Before you can create a Master Agreement or a Master Agreement Template, you must define at least one Master Agreement Type in Setup.

Generally, Master Agreement Types will be defined in the system according to your current business usage and the types of agreements that you intend to store in the system.  Examples of Master Agreements Types that are commonly defined include:

• Master Goods Agreement
• Master Services Agreement
• Lease Agreement
• Statement of Work

Although you must have at least one Master Agreement Type defined in the system, the number of actual Master Agreement Types that are defined should reflect your business needs.

Who can Define Master Agreement Types in the System?

Generally, Master Agreement Types are a business concept and should be defined according to the business needs.  In order to define Master Agreement Types, a user must have the appropriate Security Profile.  There are different approaches that organizations take in assigning the necessary permissions to users.

For example, permissions might be assigned to:

• A “Super User” who both understands the business needs and the necessary system configuration
• A team including an IT System Administrator and a knowledgeable Business User

Because Master Agreement Types should reflect the needs of the business, key business users should always be involved in their definition.

Configuration of Master Agreement Types

When defining a new Master Agreement Type, there are five (5) sections that need to be reviewed and configured:

There is also a sixth section on the Master Agreement Type that does not require configuration:

The Change History section also captures the user’s name that created the specific Master Agreement Type as well as the date and time when they created it.  It also captures the user’s name that last changed the Master Agreement Type and, again, the date and time when they changed it.

In another blog, Master Agreement Types Explained – Part 2, each configuration item in a Master Agreement Type will be further explained.